Israel’s Barak dismisses talk of attacking Iran

Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on April 3, 2011


Defence Minister Ehud Barak today played down speculation that Israel intended to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, saying it had not decided to embark on any military operation.

“War is not a picnic. We want a picnic. We don’t want a war,” Barak told Israel Radio ahead of the release this week of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran’s nuclear activity.

“(Israel) had not yet decided to embark on any operation,” he said, dismissing Israeli media speculation that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had chosen that option. ― Reuters

Calls for tougher sanctions against Iran following IAEA report

A UN nuclear watchdog report is expected to show concern that Iran benefited from foreign expertise to help develop technology that could be used to build atomic bombs, Western officials said yesterday.

Tehran is “clearly trying to reach out to nuclear scientists around the world,” a Western diplomat accredited to the UN agency in Vienna said, suggesting it was a case of Iran contacting individuals rather than their governments.

Other Western officials painted a similar picture of suspected foreign involvement in providing know-how for activities seen as geared to developing a nuclear weapons capability, but it was unclear how extensive it had been.

China warns of turmoil over Iran, mute on sanctions

A general view shows the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, about 1,215km south of Tehran, in this file photo of November 30, 2009. China warned on November 9, 2011 against turmoil in the Middle East from action over Iran’s nuclear programme.


China warned today against turmoil in the Middle East from action over Iran’s nuclear programme, but declined to comment on the possibility of new sanctions following a UN report that Iran appears to have worked on designing an atomic weapon.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was “studying” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, and repeated a call to resolve the issue peacefully through talks.

UN report reinforces worries over Iranian threat

Germany says it will push for resolution urging Iran to return to negotiating table; Hague: Britain considering how to raise pressure on Iran.

'Western military strikes unjustified' - World divided on allied action in Libya

How British forces could enforce a no-fly zone

British forces will be heavily involved in the attempt to prevent Gaddafi crushing the uprising in Libya.

Military experts predict the RAF’s Typhoon fighter jets – which are not fully deployed in Afghanistan – are likely to be among the first sent out to establish and police the no-fly zone.

The multi-role jets are capable of delivering the latest high-accuracy bombs, and their capabilities as fighter aircraft far exceed those of Gaddafi’s ageing Russian jets.

UK seeks to up Gaddafi pressure

The UK and France have sought to ramp up the pressure on Col Gaddafi ahead of Friday's EU summit, saying the Libyan leader has "lost any legitimacy".

Gaddafi's son 'caught on video urging loyalists to sacrifice themselves until the last bullet'

Colonel Gaddafi's son has been caught on video brandishing a semi-automatic rifle in the air and urging paramilitaries to sacrifice themselves until 'the last bullet'.

The chilling footage, shot in Tripoli at the weekend, makes a mockery of London School of Economics-educated Saif Al-Islam's claims he can reform Libya following 42 years of rule by his tyrant father.

Rather than looking like a moderate reformer, the 38-year-old looks like a 'rabble-rousing gangster', according to a pro-democracy protester who leaked the video after recording it on his mobile phone.

 Defiant: Video footage apparently shows Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam brandishing a rifle and calling on supporters to fight 'to the last bull

 'Gangster': The footage, filmed secretly on a mobile phone, was taken near Green Square in Tripoli

'Moderate': Saif has claimed Tripoli was peaceful in TV interviews and the scale of the violence was exaggerated

Libya: more bloodshed in battle for Misrata-Libya: fighting continues in key towns -Britain urges Libya to end violence - Sanctions to hit Libya include asset freeze, passport ban and no arms sales

World raises pressure on Libya, battles for key towns

Anti-government rebels carry ammunition in a base for training and recruiting rebels for the army in Benghazi on February 28, 2011

Foreign powers accelerated efforts to help oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi yesterday as rebels fought government forces trying to take back strategic coastal cities on either side of the capital Tripoli.

Gaddafi’s forces have been trying for days to push back a revolt that has won over large parts of the military, ended his control over eastern Libya and is fending off government assaults in western cities near Tripoli.

It is difficult for reporters to move around western Libya and reports of fighting were hard to verify independently.

Ahmadinejad tells UN most blame US government for 9/11

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the United Nations yesterday most people believe the US government was behind the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, prompting the US and European delegations to leave the hall in protest.

Addressing the General Assembly, he said it was mostly US government officials and statesmen who believed al Qaeda Islamist militants carried out the suicide hijacking attacks that brought down New York’s World Trade Center — less than 6km from where the Iranian president was speaking.

Ahmadinejad walks alone as he does on most things, heading to an official meeting in Tehran Dec 14, 2009

Iran’s Ahmadinejad calls for TV debate with Obama

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on US President Barack Obama yesterday to face him in a televised one-on-one debate to see who has the best solutions for the world’s problems.

The proposal comes as Iran deals with a new wave of international sanctions driven by Washington aimed at putting pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme.

“Toward the end of summer we will hopefully be there for the (UN) General Assembly and I will be ready for one-on-one talks with Mr Obama, in front of the media of course,” Ahmadinejad told a conference of Iranian expatriates in Tehran.

Brazil offers asylum to Iranian woman facing stoning

Lula said the Iranian president would accede to his request if their ties meant anything.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to allow a woman sentenced in Iran to death by stoning to accept an offer of asylum in Brazil, local media reported.

The sentence imposed on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for an extra-marital relationship, which she denies, has caused an international outcry. It has been suspended pending a review by Iran’s judiciary but could still be carried out.

“I call on the supreme leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to permit Brazil to grant asylum to this woman,” state radio reported him as saying yesterday.

Iranian women's rugby team take to the field wearing modesty-preserving headscarves and tracksuits

Arrival: The team enters the playing field for the 'Cortina' seven-a-side tournament

On the ball: Iran's Zohre Eyni, left, is challenged by Italy's Sara Pettinelli during the clash which Italy won

Come back here: Iran's Farzaneh Navab Rad, right, is challenged by Italy's Federica Carlet

If the rugby-playing women of Iran's national sevens team had cauliflower ears, no-one could tell.

Kitted out in tight-fitting headscarves and full tracksuits to protect their modesty, the players caused quite a stir when they played in Europe for the first time.

Taking to the field in a women's seven-a-side tournament in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, they were dealt a 10-0 by the host nation and then suffered a further 33-0 setback in a second game.

Iran says to give crushing response to possible U.S. attack-Iran stocks hit all-time high despite sanctions

Tehran Stock Market

An Iranian military officer said Monday that Iran's armed forces have prepared a crushing plan to respond to any possible aggression of the U.S. or the Zionist regime of Israel, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Political Deputy of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Yadollah Javani made the remarks reacting to the Sunday statement of the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, the report said.

EU envoys endorse sanctions against Iran

BRUSSELS — The European Union reached agreement Thursday on a package of sanctions against Iran which targets Tehran's energy sector over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear work, an EU diplomat said.


A general view shows the Bushehr nuclear power plant

Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states met in Brussels to endorse the sanctions, which include measures against the oil and gas industry and must be approved at a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday to come into force.

Clinton Denounces North Korean Belligerence, Myanmar Oppression

"A key element of our strategy is to strengthen regional and global institutions," Hillary Clinton said

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced North Korean aggression and urged Myanmar to make its first elections in two decades more democratic.

Clinton Announces New Sanctions Against NKorea-US-South Korean war games a threat to peace, says North

US to hit NKorea with more sanctions in August

From left, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan, participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the Korean War Memorial, on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in Seoul, South Korea. Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton are participating in talks with their Korean counter parts and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.

WASHINGTON — Tightening the screws on North Korea, the Obama administration said Wednesday it would expand and strengthen sanctions against the isolated regime and its nuclear weapons program, a tactic which in the past has been undercut by North Korea's knack for finding loopholes and escape hatches.

US-South Korean war games a threat to peace, says North-Clinton Announces New Sanctions Against NKorea