VP reveals Ahmadinejad's UN message -Iran, US take their nuclear cases to UN stage

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York to take part in the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his address in New York will foil US efforts to isolate Tehran over it civilian nuclear program, says his vice president.

Ahmadinejad's message to the UN nuclear disarmament conference is that "Iran will not give up even a portion of its inalienable nuclear rights," Vice President Lotfollah Forouzandeh was quoted by Fars News as saying on Monday.

He added that the president's New York visit also "conveys the Iranian nation's message of peace and friendship to the world and shows that the Islamic Republic is empowered more than ever, while the global arrogance is weakened."

President Ahmadinejad arrived in New York early on Monday to take part in the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The conference, which will run from May 3 to May 28, aims to monitor global progress in fulfilling disarmament obligations set out in the NPT.

"The participation of Ahmadinejad in the NPT Review Conference shows that Iran seeks lasting peace and security in the world and it is the colonialist countries that threaten others with nuclear bombs," Forouzandeh said.

The US and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful enrichment program and are vying to rally support for UN Security Council sanctions against the country.

Iran, a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the NPT, has repeatedly dismissed the allegations, maintaining that its nuclear program is solely aimed at civilian applications of the technology.

26/11: Kasab guilty; Ansari, Sabauddin Shaikh acquitted

Pakistani terrorist, Ajmal Amir Kasab, charged with the deaths of 166 Indians and foreigners, has been pronounced guilty of all charges by a special court in Mumbai. The two Indians, who were named as co-accused in the case-- Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh, have been acquitted.

The argument on quantum of sentence to Kasab will be held tomorrow.

Kasab has been convicted on all 86 charges against him. He was found guilty or murder and waging war against the nation, the court said while delivering the judgment.

"You have been found guilty of waging war against India, and killing people at CST (train station), killing government officials and abetting the other nine terrorists," Judge M.L. Tahaliyani said as he announced his verdict. They were the most serious charges laid against Kasab, a 22-year-old Pakistani who was arrested after the Mumbai siege.

The conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan, the judge said.

US embassy warns of terror attack threat in Delhi -Travel advisory warns of dangers in Indian bazaars -Terrorists are attracted to Commonwealth games in India.

The advisory steps up a warning issued last month


CM Sheila Dikshit and Sports Minister M S Gill at a sports complex in New Delhi.Coming Commonwealth Games in India is said to face threats from terrorists attacks.

The US Embassy in India has warned of possible "imminent attacks" by militants in the capital, Delhi, and advised US citizens to be vigilant.

"There are increased indications that terrorists are planning imminent attacks in New Delhi," said a statement on the embassy's website.

It urged people to avoid several locations popular with Westerners.

Militants linked to Pakistan-based Islamist groups have been blamed for previous attacks in the city.

The advisory, which steps up a warning issued last month, said that popular shopping areas such as Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash, Karol Bagh, Mehrauli, and Sarojini Nagar, should be avoided.

It said US citizens travelling or living in India should maintain "a high level of vigilance", and be aware of their surroundings or any unattended packages.

Greece braced for more violence as finance leaders ready to sign multi-million euro bailout with EU

As a petrol bomb explodes at their feet, policemen leap out of the way at a May Day rally in Athens

Part of his uniform on fire, an officer sprints to safety

Police walk in front of a burning broadcast van belonging to state TV. It was set on fire by a petrol bomb

Demonstrators and police fight outside the Greek Parliament during a Mayday demonstration to protest against impending austerity measures

Cash-strapped Greece is braced for more violence today as country leaders get ready to announce a deal with the EU for a controversial multi-million euro financial bailout.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund are expected to confirm the aid, which will come in return for tough austerity measures, at a meeting this afternoon.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is hoping the three-year deal – expected to reach up to 120 billion euros (£104.5billion) - will help stem a crisis that has hit the euro and shaken markets worldwide.However, thousands of angry protesters took to the streets of Athens yesterday over proposed conditions to the bailout, including draconian budget cuts which demonstrators believe will only affect the poor and will drag the country further into recession.

Clashes broke out between anarchists throwing petrol bombs and rocks towards riot police, who used tear gas to control the crowds at the May Day rallies.

Protesters could be heard chanting, ‘No to the IMF's junta!’, referring to the military dictatorship which ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974, and: ‘Hands off our rights! IMF and EU Commission out!’

Oil spill grows, with little success stopping flow

An oil boom stretches across an opening in Lake Eloie near Shell Beach, La., Saturday, May 1, 2010. The oil spill resulting from last week's explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is expected to reach the area shortly.



A dead sea turtle is seen along the shoreline, Saturday, May 1, 2010 in Breton National Wildlife Refuge, La. Wildlife in the region is vulnerable to the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.


Out of work fishermen enlist to be hired to lay oil booms to protect their fishing grounds in preparation for the looming oil spill from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in Hopedale, La., Sunday, May 2, 2010.

BP's chairman defended his company's safety record and said Sunday that "a failed piece of equipment" was to blame for a massive oil spill along the Gulf Coast, where President Barack Obama was headed for a firsthand update on the slick creeping toward American shores.

BP PLC chairman Lamar McKay told ABC's "This Week" that he can't say when the well a mile beneath the sea might be plugged. But he said he believes a dome that could be placed over the well is expected to be deployed in six to eight days.

The dome has been made and workers are finishing the plan to get it deployed, McKay said. He said BP officials are still working to activate a "blowout preventer" mechanism meant to seal off the geyser of oil.

"And as you can imagine, this is like doing open-heart surgery at 5,000 feet, with — in the dark, with robot-controlled submarines," McKay said.

BP spokesman Bill Salvin said McKay was talking about the blowout preventer as the failed equipment that caused the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 people. The blowout preventer typically activates after a blast or other event to cut off any oil that may spill.

The cause of the blast remains undetermined, and Salvin said "we're not ruling anything out."

Crews have had little success stemming the flow from the ruptured well on the sea floor off Louisiana or removing oil from the surface by skimming it, burning it or dispersing it with chemicals. The churning slick of dense, rust-colored oil is now roughly the size of Puerto Rico.

Adding to the gloomy outlook were warnings from experts that an uncontrolled gusher could create a nightmare scenario if the Gulf Stream current carries it toward the Atlantic.

Long tendrils of oil sheen made their way into South Pass, a major channel through the salt marshes of Louisiana's southeastern bootheel that is a breeding ground for crab, oysters, shrimp, redfish and other seafood.

Venice charter boat captain Bob Kenney lamented that there was no boom in the water to corral the oil, and said BP was "pretty much over their head in the deep water."

"If they weren't, they would have cut the oil off by now," he said.

"It's like a slow version of Katrina," he added. "My kids will be talking about the effect of this when they're my age."

Mogadishu blasts kill 34, injure almost 70: medics-Blasts at Somali mosque kill at least 30: witnesses

Somalia's transitional government condemned the blasts

Causality figures in the Mogadishu mosque explosions on Saturday include 34 dead and almost 70 wounded, hospital sources said.

Local hospitals and emgercy services say that the death toll now stands at 34 while almost 70 others have been admitted to the Daynile Hospital on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.

Witnesses at the scene of the blast speak of carnage and confusion, with dozens of dead and wounded people lying on the floor of the mosque following the twin explosions in the packed mosque in the main Bakara market in Mogadishu

An Islamist official of the Al Shabaab Islamist groups was among the injured in the attack on a mosque frequented by supporters of Islamist Al Shabaab movement.

The group's senior leader Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, who was at the mosque at the time and "slightly" injured in the arms, was the target of the attack, according to Al Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamoud Rageh.

Rageh accused foreign security firms operating inside Mogadishu of being behind the attack.

The Al Shabaab spokesman vowed to tighten security and be more alert to any future attacks from what he called the foreign security firms' "local collaborators."

Angry mob of Lebanese villagers lynch murder suspect in town centre in gruesome vigilante attack

Vigilante attack: Hundreds of Lebanese villagers gather around the hanging body of Egyptian Mohammed Msallem after he was stabbed to death and paraded through town

Shocking: Lebanese women take pictures of the dead murder suspect with their mobile phones

Looking on: The villagers attacked Msallem after he was arrested on suspicion of murdering two girls and their grandparents

Exit: A Lebanese soldier removes the body from the scene and takes it away in an army truck

A mob of angry Lebanese villagers stabbed to death an Egyptian man and then lynched his naked body in the centre of town over allegations he killed four members of a local family.

Mohammed Msallem, a 38-year-old Egyptian who worked as a butcher in Ketermaya, had been arrested a day earlier on suspicion of shooting to death an elderly couple and their two young granddaughters, aged seven and nine.

He was leading police investigators through a re-enactment of the killings when dozens of residents attacked him with sticks and knives, security officials said.

Police rushed Msallem to the intensive care unit of a nearby hospital, but residents broke in, dragged him out and pounded him with sticks.A security official said police at the scene could not stop the attackers, who blocked streets in the village to prevent police reinforcements from reaching the scene.

After killing Msallem, the attackers stripped his bloody body down to the victim's underwear and drove it through town on a car hood, with several local men standing on the hood cheering.

They then hanged the body from a pole in the centre of town as hundreds of residents cried 'Allahu Akbar,' or God is great. Some villagers even took photos of the dead man with their mobile phones.
His body hung from the pole for about ten minutes before Lebanese army troops took him down and drove him away in a jeep.

Obama opines on love _ and birth certificates-Jokes around in White House Correspondents' Association

President Barack Obama nibbles on fruit during the White House Correspondents' Association fundraising dinner, at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, May 1, 2010, in Washington.President Barack Obama makes humorous remarks as he speaks to the White House Correspondents' Association fundraising dinner, at the Washington Hilton Hotel

Pearls of wisdom from President Barack Obama: Few things in life are harder to find and more important to keep than love.

"Well, love and a birth certificate," he quipped at Saturday's black-tie White House Correspondents' Association dinner, poking fun at the birther movement, which questions whether the president was born in the United States.

"I happen to know that my approval ratings are still very high in the country of my birth," Obama joked.

The president then took aim at Jay Leno, the comedian headlining the dinner, saying the talk-show host was "the only person whose ratings fell more than mine."

Obama also cracked jokes about Vice President Joe Biden and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

But Republicans were the butt of many presidential punch lines.

Although his poll numbers are down, he said, he hears he's popular on Twitter and Facebook.

"Or as Sarah Palin calls it, the socialized media," he added.

Leno later picked up on the same theme, saying the president isn't as aloof as some critics claim.

"He loves to socialize — health care, car companies," Leno said, naming industries where the Obama administration has intervened.

U.S. to keep heat on BP to stop oil leak - Salazar-Administration team defends oil spill response

UPDATES map with latest information; map locates the progression of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico since April



The U.S. government will keep a "boot on the neck" of BP Plc, as it responds to a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatens to become an economic and ecological catastrophe, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Sunday.

"Our job basically is to keep the boot on the neck of British Petroleum to carry out the responsibilities they have both under the law and contractually to move forward and stop this spill," Salazar told CNN's "State of the Union" program.

He said there was "no doubt" that a mechanism that prevents oil from blowing out of the BP well was defective, adding that 100,000 barrels or more of oil could leak per day in a worst case scenario.

President Barack Obama awaited a firsthand update on the Gulf Coast oil spill as two members of his Cabinet on Sunday outlined the "very grave" environmental impact and sought to counter criticism the government had reacted slowly.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the administration had treated the explosion at the BP rig April 20 as a potential disaster from the beginning.

"The physical response on the ground has been from day one as if this could be a catastrophic failure," she said. "Every possible resource was being lined up on shore."

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said it was uncertain when the oil, spewing from a pipe nearly a mile beneath the water, would be plugged.

"The scenario is a very grave scenario. You're looking at potentially 90 days before you ultimately get to what is the ultimate solution," said Salazar. But then "a lot of oil could spread."

Obama planned to fly to Louisiana for briefings on the underwater spill, which remained unstopped and impossible to measure, raising fears it could be pouring more oil into the Gulf than earlier believed.

The Coast Guard estimated that at least 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers on an offshore rig. In the Exxon Valdez disaster, an oil tanker spilled 11 million gallons off Alaska's shores in 1989.

First New York City car bomb since 1993 at World Trade Center

Police and Bomb Squad investigate this dark colored SUV at the corner of 45th and 7th Avenue in Times Square on Saturday night closing at least 4 to 5 blocks.

The smoking vehicle that shut down Times Square Saturday night is the first car bomb set off in the city since 1993's deadly explosion at the World Trade Center.

In late February 1993, six people were killed and 1,042 were injured when a 1,300-pound bomb in a yellow Ryder van was detonated below the north tower, blowing a hole half the size of a football field in its basement.

The attack, financed by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was a precursor to the 9/11 attacks, since the goal of the six convicted bombers was to knock down both towers.

The stunning bombing is now viewed as the opening chapter in a new era of terrorism on U.S. soil, though its significance was not immediately recognized - and, indeed, the terrorists later succeeded in their goal.

"It should have been a wake-up call for America," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The Associated Press on the attack's 10th anniversary. "We simply didn't see it as an international conspiracy to destroy our society."

New York's finest deserve praise for stopping Times Square car bomb

"It looked like someone tried to detonate it and we got to it in time," a police source said. "This is a big deal. It has the makings of a real car bomb."

Three heroic cops and a quick-thinking street vendor stopped a madman from detonating a car bomb in the heart of Times Square last night, law enforcement officials told the Daily News.

The bomb squad used a robot to get inside the car. The running SUV was packed with three propane tanks, two red 5-gallon plastic jugs of gasoline, a clock, electrical components and a canister of gunpowder, police sources said.

Police said the blue Pathfinder appeared to be stolen and had Connecticut license plates belonging to another car.

"I did a lap around the vehicle. The inside was smoking," Rhatigan told the Daily News. "I smelled gunpowder and knew it might blow. I thought it might blow any second."

The T-shirt vendor - a Vietnam vet - told Officer Wayne Rhatigan (above) there was smoke coming from a Nissan SUV on the southwest corner of 45th St. and Broadway about 7 p.m., sources said.

Last fall's subway bombing plot was stopped by some sharp and hard-working federal agents and counter-terrorism cops.

Saturday night, our saviors were a mounted cop and two rookies.

Most nights, tourists and theatergoers might have asked the foot cops for directions or posed for pictures with the cop on the horse.

That snapshot is always big with the folks back home.

Saturday night, there were visitors who might very well owe their lives to those cops who might otherwise have seemed just one of the Big Apple sights.

After them came the firefighters and the bomb squad. The people who had come to see a Broadway show instead saw a drama for which our emergency services are constantly rehearsing.

The propane tanks and gasoline in the SUV would have been familiar to anybody who remembered the unexploded car bombs found in London in 2007.

Time Square car bomb: Cops evacuate heart of NYC after 'potential terrorist attack'

The scene at the corner of W 45th St. and Broadway in the heart of Times Square, where a car was found last night, that contained cans of flammable liquid and other explosive devices.

Police are investigating this dark-colored SUV at the corner of 45th and 7th Ave.

Officer Wayne Rhatigan grabbed two female rookie cops to help push people away from the smoking vehicle.

Three heroic cops and a quick-thinking street vendor stopped a madman from detonating a car bomb in the heart of Times Square Saturday night, law enforcement officials told the Daily News.

"It looked like someone tried to detonate it and we got to it in time," a police source said. "This is a big deal. It has the makings of a real car bomb."

The federal government views the incident a "potential terrorist attack," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday.

"We're taking this very seriously," Napolitano told CNN's "State of the Union" program. "We're treating it as if it could be a potential terrorist attack."

Cops evacuated and shut down the Times Square are Saturday night, but all streets were reopened by 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

The T-shirt vendor - a Vietnam vet - told Officer Wayne Rhatigan there was smoke coming from a Nissan SUV on the southwest corner of 45th St. and Broadway about 6:30 p.m., sources said.

Rhatigan approached the car, saw the smoke and sprang into action.

"I did a lap around the vehicle. The inside was smoking," Rhatigan told the Daily News. "I smelled gunpowder and knew it might blow. I thought it might blow any second."

He alerted two rookie female cops patrolling the area. Together, they pushed hundreds of people away from the scene as they called for backup, he said.

Tourists, locals recall terrifying evacuation after car bomb nearly goes off in Times Square

A car bomb triggered a massive evacuation of busy Times Square Saturday night.

What started as a beautiful evening in New York City turned into a nightmare for thousands of panicked people.

"It's terrifying," said Christian Borgo, 32, of the upper West Side, who was shopping at the Swatch store across the street from the SUV when cops told people to move away fast.

"They said there might be a bomb and everyone had to go," he said. "There was smoke coming from the car. They were clearing out everyone. People were afraid. I'm still shaking."

"When I saw this happening I immediately thought, 'terrorism,'" said Marie Saint Claire, 52, vacationing from Switzerland. "It makes me scared to know how close I was to being blown up. This is life in New York now?"

Sharon Marques-Feinstein was on her way to see "Billy Elliot" when she was forced to clear out of Times Square.

"Whoever it was obviously wanted to kill people and inflict a lot of damage," she said. "If there was a timer, they knew what they were doing. This was a message, you know? I'm very afraid. You have to be vigilant now."

"It's like something out of one of those end of the world films," said Scott Dennis, 39, of midtown who was in a taxi heading home when police stopped the car and told them to turn around.

"Gasoline? Gunpowder? If that had blown here on a Saturday night, it would have been horrifying."

Brooklyn resident Celine Rapp was relaxing in the pedestrian plaza near the SUV when police cleared the area.

"I saw a bomb squad robot roll up to the SUV as well as guys in bomb squad gear investigating the trunk area," she said. "I am scared, but I'm thankful it didn't go off. There would have been more mass panic."

"I could have been past the SUV before the fire and thought nothing of it," said James Marion of London, who was admiring the bright lights of Times Square. "I could have been there at the wrong moment, so naturally it's rattling," he said.

"When I saw them going at it with the bomb-checking machine, I thought, 'My God, I was close to disaster.'"

Oil spill trims U.S. offshore natural gas supply

Spilled oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana last week.

The government on Saturday said two offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were shut as a safety precaution -- the first sign that the giant oil slick was affecting the region's energy production.

But analysts said the location of the spill was well east and north of the heart of the region's oil and gas production -- which accounts for about 15 percent of U.S. natural gas supply. It also provides 25 percent of crude oil output.

The Minerals Management Service -- the arm of the Interior Department that oversees offshore oil and gas activity -- said the two platforms were shut down as a safety precaution due to the oilspill.

They account for less than 0.1 percent of daily Gulf of Mexico output. Some 6.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas production are involved, the service said.

The MMS did not identify the names or companies that own the affected platforms, and said more platform shutdowns may be ordered as the spill spreads eastward.

BP documents show it did not plan for oil spill disaster at Gulf Coast rig

Ablaze: A fleet of tugs attempt to extinguish the fire on the sinking oil rig Deepwater Horizon, off Louisiana

Efforts to stem the flow: A Subsea Dispersant Injection System will be deployed by BP to contain oil below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico

Fishermen listen as a BP company representative outlines a plan to clean up the oil spill which threatens their livelihoods

BP is facing a £3billion fine for the oil spill on America’s Gulf Coast which is threatening to become the worst ecological disaster in history - and is now under fire for not foreseeing the catastrophe.

Documents emerged yesterday showing BP had previously downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at the rig.

It suggested in a 2009 exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well that an accident leading to a giant oil spill – and damage to beaches, fish and animals – was unlikely or virtually impossible.
The plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, filed with the Federal Minerals Management Service, said repeatedly that it was ‘unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities’.

BP conceded a spill would impact on beaches, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas but argued that ‘due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected’.

Environmental lawyer Robert Wiygul said he saw nothing in the document suggesting that BP had addressed the technology needed to control a spill at such a depth.

‘The point is, if you’re going to be drilling in 5,000 feet of water for oil, you should have the ability to control what you’re doing,’ he said.
Two dozen lawsuits have been filed in the US accusing BP of lying about safety plans and downplaying the likelihood of a catastrophe.