Chavez: Syria, Venezuela to 'build new world' free of U.S. control

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that he and Syria would "build a new world" free of U.S. domination. "We have decided to be free. We want to cooperate to build a new world where states' and people's self-determination are respected," Chavez said after a 2 1/2-hour meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad at his presidential palace in Damascus. "Imperialism's concern is to control the world, but we will not let them despite the pressure and aggression," the Venezuelan leader said, speaking through an interpreter. Speaking at Damascus airport on his arrival late Tuesday, Chavez said both countries agreed to stand up to the United States. "We have the same political vision and we will resist together the American imperialist aggression," he said.

Netherlands reports 1,000 heatwave deaths in July

The Netherlands recorded 1,000 extra deaths during July when the country was hit by a summer heatwave, the Central Bureau of Statistics has said. In the first week of July, 200 more people were reported dead than the average figure for that period. Like other statistical agencies in Europe, the CBS did not directly blame the additional deaths on the heatwave. It noted however that deaths increased in particular on days following high temperatures.

International concerns about a possible North Korean nuclear test

Kim Jong-il may have crossed the border into China to explain his military provocations to uneasy allies in Beijing. According to the South Korean media, satellites have tracked a special North Korean train, the usual form of transport for Mr. Kim, entering Chinese territory. If confirmed, it would be his second trip to Beijing in less than a year - an unheard-of flurry of diplomacy for a notoriously travel-shy figurehead. The reports are impossible to verify, but they come amid growing signs of Chinese anger with Mr. Kim over last month's missile tests, and regional anxiety about his next move. Earlier this month, the South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, requested an emergency summit with Beijing's leaders.

Ahmadinejad defiant, challenges Bush to TV debate

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced defiance on Tuesday as a deadline neared for Iran to halt work the West fears is a step toward building nuclear bombs, and challenged President Bush to a televised debate. "Peaceful nuclear energy is the right of the Iranian nation. The Iranian nation has chosen that based upon international regulations, it wants to use it and no one can stop it," he told a news conference. The U.N. Security Council has given Iran until Thursday to suspend uranium enrichment -- a process which can produce fuel for civilian reactors or explosive material for warheads -- and has threatened sanctions unless it does so. Ahmadinejad said Iran had laid out a framework for talks in its reply to an offer by world powers of incentives in exchange for a suspension of enrichment. That framework provided an "exceptional opportunity" to solve the nuclear dispute. Asked specifically if Iran would halt enrichment, even for a short period, he replied: "In that (Iran's response to the six-nation offer) we announced that any kind of dialogue should be based upon the certain rights of the Iranian nation." He did not elaborate. Ahmadinejad condemned the U.S. and British roles in the world since World War Two. "I suggest holding a live TV debate with Mr. George W. Bush to talk about world affairs and the ways to solve those issues," he said.

Plan for Enhanced Federal IDs Could Open Door to a Biometrics Boom

In the coming months, a wave of government initiatives could start making such high-tech methods of identification commonplace -- beginning with the replacement this fall of federal employee IDs. Similar cards are planned for transportation workers, first responders and visitors to the United States. Packed with biometric data such as fingerprints and containing a computer chip with room to expand the amount of information stored, the new IDs represent a potential boon to technology companies eyeing an estimated $8 billion in identity-related contracts.

Hezbollah Building Bunkers Near Israeli Border

Hezbollah, with the help of Iran, has started building underground war bunkers in Palestinian camps in south Lebanon just a few miles from the Israeli border, according to senior Lebanese officials. During its 34-day confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel destroyed scores of complex Hezbollah bunkers that snaked along the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border. Military officials said they were surprised by the scale of the Hezbollah bunkers, in which Israeli troops reportedly found war rooms with advanced eavesdropping and surveillance equipment they noted were made by Iran. A senior Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told WND Hezbollah has started building a new set of bunker system, this time in Palestinian refugee camps. ‘The Lebanese Army doesn't have the authority to patrol inside the camps,’ said the official. ‘Hezbollah knows it is safe there to rebuild their war bunkers, and they began doing so with Iranian help.

U.S. Official Says Iran Is 'Central Banker Of Terror'

A U.S. anti-terrorism official says Iran is providing money to finance terrorism carried out by the militant group Hezbollah - calling the country quote - ‘the central banker of terror’. In an interview with the Associated Press Monday, Stuart Levey said Iran is a country that has terrorism as part of its budget. Levey - the U.S. Under-Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism - spoke as Iran faces a Thursday, August 31 U.N. deadline to stop enriching uranium or face possible sanctions.

Iran says it's not worried over deadline

Iran said Monday it is not concerned about this week's U.N. deadline demanding it suspend a key part of its disputed nuclear program or face political and economic sanctions. The U.N. Security Council has given Iran until Thursday to suspend a key part of its nuclear program — the enrichment of uranium, a process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or material for weapons. But Iran has refused any immediate suspension, calling the deadline as illegal. "Moving in the international framework is not a matter of concern for us," said government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham.

North Korea Warns Of Counter-Measures Against U.S. Financial Sanctions

North Korea has warned it will take ‘all necessary counter-measures’ against US financial sanctions amid reports the communist state may be preparing for a nuclear test. A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said, in a first response late Saturday to intensifying US hunts for Pyongyang-owned bank accounts overseas, that Washington was ratcheting up the pressure in vain. ‘It is the height of folly for the US to think that it can solve any issue by means of sanctions and pressure,’ the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It said the US Treasury Department was tracing North Korea-opened bank accounts in ‘at least 10 countries’ in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian states as well as Mongolia and Russia. ‘Now that the Bush administration is escalating its pressure upon the DPRK through the tightened financial sanctions in a bid to keep itself politically alive, the DPRK is left with no other option but to take all necessary counter-measures to protect its ideology, system, sovereignty and dignity.’

Israel 'Not Fooled' By Iran's Nuclear Assurances

Israel said it was not fooled by assurances from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Tehran's nuclear program was no threat to the Jewish state. ‘Israel is not fooled by such declarations, the sole aim of which are to avoid sanctions being imposed on Iran’ by the UN Security Council, government spokesman Avi Pazner told AFP. Ahmadinejad ‘has often stated his true intentions concerning Israel,’ he said, a reference to repeated calls by the Iranian president for the country's destruction. Ahmadinejad said Saturday that ‘one cannot deprive any nation from its rights. The Iranian nation will defend its rights to nuclear technology with force.’

Experts warn U.S. is coming apart at the seams

A pipeline shuts down in Alaska. Equipment failures disrupt air travel in Los Angeles. Electricity runs short at a spy agency in Maryland. None of these recent events resulted from a natural disaster or terrorist attack, but they may as well have, some homeland security experts say. They worry that too little attention is paid to how fast the country's basic operating systems are deteriorating. "When I see events like these, I become concerned that we've lost focus on the core operational functionality of the nation's infrastructure and are becoming a fragile nation, which is just as bad — if not worse — as being an insecure nation," said Christian Beckner, a Washington analyst. The American Society of Civil Engineers last year graded the nation "D" for its overall infrastructure conditions, estimating that it would take $1.6 trillion over five years to fix the problem. "I thought [Hurricane] Katrina was a hell of a wake-up call, but people are missing the alarm," said Casey Dinges, the society's managing director of external affairs.
British oil company BP announced this month that severe corrosion would close its Alaska pipelines for extensive repairs. Analysts say this may sideline some 200,000 barrels a day of production for several months. Then an instrument landing system that guides arriving planes onto a runway at Los Angeles International Airport failed for the second time in a week, delaying flights. Those incidents followed reports that the National Security Agency (NSA), the intelligence world's electronic eavesdropping arm, is consuming so much electricity at its headquarters outside Washington that it is in danger of exceeding its power supply. "If a terrorist group were able to knock the NSA offline, or disrupt one of the nation's busiest airports, or shut down the most important oil pipeline in the nation, the impact would be perceived as devastating," Beckner said. "And yet we've essentially let these things happen — or almost happen — to ourselves."

Iran tests submarine-to-surface missile

Iran test fired a new submarine-to-surface missile during war games in the Persian Gulf on Sunday, a show of military might amid a standoff with the West over its nuclear activities. A brief video clip showed the long-range missile, called Thaqeb, or Saturn, exiting the water and hitting a target on the water's surface within less than a mile. "The army successfully test fired a top speed long-range sub-to-surface missile off the Persian Gulf," the navy commander, Gen. Sajjad Kouchaki, said on state-run television.
Iran routinely has held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and to test equipment including missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers. But Sunday's firing of the missile came as Iran remains defiant just five days before a deadline imposed by the U.N. Security Council for Tehran to suspend the enrichment of uranium, which can produce both reactor fuel and material usable in nuclear warheads.

Iran opens nuclear reactor, defying U.N.

Iran's hard-line president on Saturday inaugurated a heavy-water production plant, a facility the West fears will be used to develop a nuclear bomb, as Tehran remained defiant ahead of a U.N. deadline that could lead to sanctions. The U.N. has called on Tehran to stop the separate process of uranium enrichment — which also can be used to create nuclear weapons — by Thursday or face economic and political sanctions. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that his nation's nuclear program poses no threat to other nations, even Israel, "which is a definite enemy." Ahmadinejad said in a speech that Iran would never abandon what he once again called its purely peaceful nuclear program. "There is no discussion of nuclear weapons," he said. "We are not a threat to anybody even the Zionist regime, which is a definite enemy for the people of the region." Though the West's main worry has been enrichment of uranium that could be used in a bomb, it also has called on Iran to stop the construction of a heavy-water reactor near the production plant that Ahmadinejad inaugurated. A senior Israeli lawmaker warned in a statement that the plant inauguration marks "another leap in Iran's advance toward a nuclear bomb." Israeli legislator Ephraim Sneh of the Labor Party, a partner in the ruling coalition, said that the Jewish state must "prepare itself militarily." Ahmadinejad last year called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Nuclear test possible, says pro-North Korea paper

A nuclear test by North Korea cannot be ruled out if the United States steps up what Pyongyang calls its hostile policy toward the communist country, a pro-North Korea newspaper published in Japan said on Saturday. The news comes amid reports that Pyongyang might be preparing a nuclear bomb test. "We cannot say for sure there will be no nuclear test by North Korea to strengthen its self-defence, if the Bush administration steps up the hard-line stance in military and other areas," said an editorial in Chosun Sinbo, run by ethnic North Koreans living in Japan. The editorial, posted on the newspaper's Web site, said last month's North Korean missile tests were also a response to Washington's threats, notably financial sanctions targeting Pyongyang and joint military exercises with South Korea.

Ahmadinejad would sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, if he ever became the supreme decision maker in his country, would "sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel". At present, Eiland stressed, the ultimate decision maker in Iran was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 67, whom he said was "more reasonable." But, Eiland went on, "if Ahmadinejad were to succeed him - and he has a reasonable chance of doing so - then we'd be in a highly dangerous situation." The 49-year-old Iranian president, he said, "has a religious conviction that Israel's demise is essential to the restoration of Muslim glory, that the Zionist thorn in the heart of the Islamic nations must be removed. And he will pay almost any price to right the perceived historic wrong. If he becomes the supreme leader and has a nuclear capability, that's a real threat."

Syria will try for Golan Heights

Syria is satisfied with Hizbullah's performance against the IDF, and is encouraging the organization to oppose its disarmament, OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He also said Damascus would try to recover the Golan Heights by any possible means, diplomatic or military, and was studying the recent campaign to learn how to conduct successful operations against Israel. "Hizbullah does not intend to leave southern Lebanon or to disarm. At most, it would be willing to stash away its arms in the [south Lebanon] sector," said Yadlin. It was important to note, said Yadlin, that Hizbullah had used more weapons provided by Syria than by Iran. While Iran provided training and funding, Yadlin said it was Syrian supplies that were enabling Hizbullah forces to remain active. The intelligence chief said that despite widespread skepticism over the army's effectiveness, Syria and Hizbullah had been "impressed" by the IDF's performance. He also said, "Syria and Hizbullah were surprised by the determined stand made by the Israeli home front during the course of the war." "They expected Israel to sustain more casualties when they fired close to 4,000 rockets and they expected there to be greater chaos and disorder within Israeli society," he said. Yadlin said Hizbullah was gaining support in Lebanon by rehabilitating areas damaged during the war.

South Korea certain North has nuclear bombs

South Korea is certain North Korea has nuclear weapons and Seoul's best estimate is Pyongyang has produced one or two bombs, its defense minister said on Friday, amid reports that the North may be preparing a nuclear test. Another senior official said South Korea and China had agreed to cooperate in preventing the North from conducting a test, which would pose a grave situation in the region. Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ing said he believed the North had one or two nuclear weapons, but his remarks in parliament on Friday were among the strongest yet on the North's possession of atomic bombs. "It is estimated that the North has one or two," Yoon told a parliamentary hearing when asked about the North's nuclear arsenal. When asked if the South has no doubt about the North's possession of a nuclear weapon, Yoon said: "That's correct."

Big Brother Will Be Watching In 13 Months

Tied into GPS navigation computers, EDRs could give interested parties the ability to take automated ticketing to the next level. Since the data recorders can continuously monitor most of the operating parameters of a vehicle as it travels -- and the GPS unit can precisely locate the vehicle in "real time," wherever it happens to be at any given moment -- any and all incidents of "speeding" could be immediately detected and a piece of paying paper issued to the offender faster than he could tap the brake. Probably they'll just erect an electronic debiting system of some sort that ties directly into your checking account -- or the other chip, the one in your hand -- since the paperwork could not keep up with the massive uptick in fines that would be generated.

Iranian Warship Attacks Gulf Oil Rig

In the first such incident in decades, an Iranian warship has attacked a European-operated oil rig in the Gulf. Romania said the Iranian Navy attacked an oil rig operated by a Romanian company off the coast of Iran on Tuesday. The rig, located near Kish island and involved in an Iranian court case in 2006, was captured and at least 20 Romanians were detained. Sergiu Medar, a national security adviser to Romanian President Traian Basescu, said Iran's action stemmed from a commercial dispute. Medar did not elaborate, but officials said the Foreign Ministry planned to send a team to the rig, operated by Oil Services Group in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates. Iran and the UAE have a territorial waters dispute. ‘We are dealing with a commercial dispute that is being treated in an extreme way by the Iranian authorities,’ Medar said.

Israel may 'go it alone' against Iran

Israel is carefully watching the world's reaction to Iran's continued refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, with some high-level officials arguing it is now clear that when it comes to stopping Iran, Israel "may have to go it alone," One senior source said on Tuesday that Iran "flipped the world the bird" by not responding positively to the Western incentive plan to stop uranium enrichment. He expressed frustration that the Russians and Chinese were already saying that Iran's offer of a "new formula" and willingness to enter "serious negotiations" was an opening to keep on talking. "The Iranians know the world will do nothing," he said. "This is similar to the world's attempts to appease Hitler in the 1930s - they are trying to feed the beast." He said there was a need to understand that "when push comes to shove," Israel would have to be prepared to "slow down" the Iranian nuclear threat by itself.

Iran planning nuclear 'surprise'

A senior official in Teheran said Wednesday that in the next few days, a "surprise" was expected regarding Iran's nuclear program, Al-Jazeera reported. Teheran's apparent refusal to suspend uranium enrichment set the stage for a showdown at the UN Security Council later this month. The United States said Wednesday that a proposal by Iran for nuclear negotiations falls short of UN demands for a halt to enrichment, and began plotting "next moves" with other governments.

VeriChip Corporation Now Lobbying Pentagon For Right To Microchip All Military Personnel

A microchip company with powerful political connections is lobbying the Pentagon for the right to implant chips under the skins of the nearly 1.4 million U.S. military personnel. VeriChip Corp., which is based in Florida and planning to offer its stock to the public soon, has been one of the most aggressive marketers of radio frequency identification chips. Company officials have touted the chips as versatile, able to be used in a variety of situations such as helping track illegal immigrants or giving doctors immediate access to patient’s medical records. Now the company is “in discussions” with the Pentagon, spokeswoman Nicole Philbin said. She added that VeriChip wants to insert the chips under the skin of the right arms of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen. The idea is to be able to scan an arm and obtain that person’s identity and medical history. “The potential for this technology doesn’t just stop at the civilian level,” Philbin said. VeriChip hopes that the chips will replace the metal dog tags that have been worn by U.S. military personnel since 1906. The company has political muscle in the form of Tommy Thompson. A former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Thompson is a partner at the lobbying law firm of Akin Gump and is a director of VeriChip.

Iran now the key power in Iraq, says UK think-tank

A series of strategic errors by the Bush Administration in its War on Terror has left Iran holding virtually all the cards in the power play of the Middle East, according to a report by Britain's most influential think-tank published today. The report from the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House - entitled Iran, its neighbours and the regional crises - paints a bleak picture of the prospects for the United States and its Western allies as they try to put a cap on Iran's nuclear programme. It describes Iran as a state that sits with "confident ease" in the region and says, crucially, that Iran has replaced the United States as the most influential power in Iraq, able to influence events on the street and not just behind the security barricades of Baghdad's Green Zone. "There is little doubt that Iran has been the chief beneficiary of the War on Terror in the Middle East," says the report from Chatham House's Middle East Programme. "The United States, with coalition support, has eliminated two of Iran’s regional rival governments - the Taleban in Afghanistan in November 2001 and Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq in April 2003 - but has failed to replace either with coherent and stable political structures."

EU seeks troops for peacekeeping force

European Union nations made a renewed attempt Wednesday to raise troops for a U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, but many remained wary of committing soldiers without safeguards to ensure they do not get sucked into the conflict. There were expectations nations would come forward at a meeting Wednesday of ambassadors at EU headquarters with at least tentative offers of more troops, diplomats said. But any major breakthrough in overcoming the delays in mustering the force of 15,000 is unlikely before a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Friday.

Iran defiant as world awaits response on nuclear package

Iran is set to respond to an international deal to suspend nuclear work but Washington was already baying for UN sanctions in the face of a defiant rejection from the regime's supreme leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all key policy issues, said Iran was determined to press ahead with its nuclear programme despite an August 31 UN Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment. Officials said Iran would give a comprehensive response Tuesday to the package offered by world powers but wanted to address "ambiguities" over its right to nuclear technology under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. "The Islamic republic has made up its mind and on the nuclear programme and other issues it will continue on its path with strength, with God's help," Khamenei was quoted as saying on state television Monday. "Arrogant powers, led by the United States, are fearful of progress of Islamic countries in various dimensions," he said.

North Korea Threatens Retaliation for U.S.-South Korean Exercises

The North Korean army said Tuesday that continuing U.S.-South Korean military exercises were tantamount to war and threatened to take action, saying the drills rendered "null and void" the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. The statement from the North's Korean People's Army outpost at the truce village of Panmunjom comes amid renewed concerns that the communist nation is possibly planning to test a nuclear weapon, following its provocative missile launches last month. The U.S. and South Korea on Monday launched annual military exercises, which the North had previously said would be considered a declaration of war. The North Korean army "reserves the right to undertake a pre-emptive action for self-defense against the enemy at a crucial time it deems necessary to defend itself," the military said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. It wasn't immediately clear whether the North has previously made such a direct declaration calling the Korean War armistice "null and void." However, it commonly issues heated statements warning that the peninsula stands on the brink of renewed war.

Ahmadinejab Planning The Apocalypse Today?

Intelligence sources report that information rated “highly credible” has reached US undercover agencies of a secret report presented to Iran’s supreme ruler Ali Khamenei by Abdollah Shabhazi, one of the heads of the Supreme National Security Council. He claims to expose a mega-terror plot against Jerusalem scheduled for August 22, which aims at killing large numbers of Jews, Arabs and Christians. This atrocity will reportedly arm the United States and Israel with the pretext for hitting Iran’s nuclear installations, as well its capital, Tehran, and other big cities. “In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time - Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam… Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22.

Hizbullah: Israel will be destroyed

In the course of the last month a war waged between the IDF and Hizbullah on Lebanese territory, but Iran is also busy with evaluations of the situation and summaries, following the ceasefire. A conference was held on Sunday in Tehran under the banner "Clarifying the results of the Lebanon war and the future of the Middle East". During the conference, Hizbullah's representative in Iran, Muhammad Abdullah Sif al-Din said: "We think this war has one significance and it is the destruction of the Zionist regime." "The Zionist regime is a not a real regime," said the envoy, who was quoted by an Iranian news agency.

Iran denies inspectors access to site

Iran has turned away U.N. inspectors wanting to examine its underground nuclear site in an apparent violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty, diplomats and U.N. officials said. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the information, told The Associated Press that Iran's unprecedented refusal to allow access to the facility at Natanz could seriously hamper international efforts to ensure that Tehran is not trying to make nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader said Tehran will pursue nuclear technology despite a U.N. Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment by the end of the month or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has made its own decision and in the nuclear case, God willing, with patience and power, will continue its path," said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to state television.

Tehran Official: Many Weapons Waiting For Hizbullah

Iran, and Syria are working feverishly to rearm Hizbullah ahead of the next round. A senior officer of the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran said that huge quantities of weapons – including weapons of various sources – reached Damascus during the last three weeks, and are waiting to be transferred to Lebanon. According to London based Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awast, the Revolutionary Guard formed an emergency committee on logistics in Damascus, which will be responsible for supplying Hizbullah's military needs. A senior figure in the Iranian foreign ministry also said his country was preparing to provide aid for areas destroyed in Lebanon, despite claims by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other sources, according to which Hizbullah is not receiving money from Iran for recovery efforts in Lebanon.

U.S. facing wave of murders and gun violence

In a shift from trends of the past decade, violent crime is on the rise, fueling criticism of Bush administration policies as a wave of murders and shootings hits smaller cities and states with little experience with serious urban violence. From Kansas City, Missouri, to Indianapolis, Indiana, places that rarely attract notice on annual FBI crime surveys are seeing significant increases in murder. Boston, once a model city in America's battle against gun violence, is poised to eclipse last year's homicide tally, which was the worst in a decade. Explanations vary -- from softer gun laws to budget cuts, fewer police on the beat, more people in poverty and simple complacency. But many blame a national preoccupation with potential threats from abroad.

Iranian army training: Preparing for 'insane' enemy

Iran holds large exercise with participation of all arms of military. During training General Salkhi says his country's armed forces need to be prepared for operation undertaken by 'insane' enemy Israel. Comander-in-chief of Iran's army, Ataollah Salehi, said Saturday that the armed forces of his country are prepared for any operation Israel may launch against Iran. He spoke in a press conference during the largest, most extensive exercise the Iranian army has ever held.

Iran test-fires 10 short-range missiles

Iran test-fired 10 surface-to-surface short-range missiles on Sunday, a day after it launched a series of large-scale military exercises throughout the country, state-run television reported. The Saegheh missile had a range of between 50 and 150 miles, the report said. It did not specify whether the missile was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, but it was not believed to be. State-run television said the missile was built based on domestic know-how, although outside experts say much of the country's missile technology originated from other countries. Iran said it launched the new military exercises Saturday to introduce a new defensive doctrine. "We have to be prepared against any threat and we should be a role model for other countries," local newspapers quoted army spokesman Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, as saying earlier this week.

Over 80% Of Britons Believe US Losing 'War On Terror', Want Britain Distanced

Four out of five Britons believe the west is losing the "war against terror" and want Tony Blair to distance British foreign policy from the United States, a poll revealed today. Tony Blair's policy of standing shoulder to shoulder with President Bush on foreign policy, most recently seen in his backing of the US stance in the Israel-Lebanon war, is only supported by 14% of the public, according to the poll.

Egypt warns against any military strike on Iran

The conflict between the United States and Iran must be resolved through diplomatic channels and direct dialogue, because any strike on Iran means the end of stability in the region and the world, Mubarak said in an interview published on Saturday in Egypt's Akhbar al-Youm newspaper. Iran has set itself an August 22 deadline to respond to an offer of economic incentives designed to persuade it to comply with the suspension demand. Egypt has not had full diplomatic relations with Tehran in more than 25 years and high-level contacts are rare, usually limited to international meetings. But Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki came to Egypt last week for talks with Mubarak on the conflict in Lebanon and other regional issues. In April, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit received a telephone call from Mottaki on the nuclear issue, and the ministers agreed to stay in touch. "Iran is an important country in the region, and relations between countries are governed by pacts and treaties and agreements that prohibit interference in any internal matters of the countries," Mubarak said in the interview.

Pastors say court's ruling in Houston Bible case 'breath-taking'

A few more court decisions like this week's over a display of a Bible in Houston and the United States will be approaching the "China-level" for Christian persecution, according to a leader in the midst of that battle. The ruling from the Fifth Court of Appeals said the display of a Bible on public ground in Houston to honor the founder of a mission has to go, not because it was unconstitutional itself, but because it became unconstitutional when a Christian group rallied around it. The pastor's group said that means any monument, building, or even feature of nature is an illegal "establishment of religion" if a church ceremony is held there.

North Korea preparing for test of a nuclear bomb

"It is the view of the intelligence community that a test is a real possibility," said a senior State Department official. A senior military official told ABC News that a U.S. intelligence agency has recently observed "suspicious vehicle movement" at a suspected North Korean test site. The activity includes the unloading of large reels of cable outside P'unggye-yok, an underground facility in northeast North Korea. Cables can be used in nuclear testing to connect an underground test site to outside observation equipment. The intelligence was brought to the attention of the White House last week.

Iran to conduct large-scale military maneuvers

Iran will launch a series of large-scale military maneuvers across the country and has not made plans for an end to the ongoing war games, the army said. "The maneuvers are aimed at introducing Iran's new defensive doctrine," military spokesman Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani was quoted as saying by state-run television. He said the exercises would begin on Saturday in the south east of the country. "It will continue in the whole of Iran, stage by stage for an unspecified period," Ashtiani said.

'Hybrid Mutant' Found Dead in Maine

Residents are wondering if an animal found dead over the weekend may be the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and been the subject of local legend for half a generation. The animal was found near power lines along Route 4 on Saturday, apparently struck by a car while chasing a cat. The carcass was photographed and inspected by several people who live in the area, but nobody is sure exactly what it is. Michelle O'Donnell of Turner spotted the animal near her yard about a week before it was killed. She called it a "hybrid mutant of something." "It was evil, evil looking. And it had a horrible stench I will never forget," she told the Sun Journal of Lewiston. "We locked eyes for a few seconds and then it took off. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I've never seen anything like it." For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal with chilling monstrous cries and eyes that glow in the night. The animal has been blamed for attacking and killing a Doberman pinscher and a Rottweiler the past couple of years. Loren Coleman, a Portland author and cryptozoologist, said it's unlikely that the animal was anybody's pet. After reviewing photos of the carcass, Coleman said he was bothered by the animal's ears and snout. It reminded him of a case years ago in northern Maine in which an animal shot by a hunter could not be identified. In the end, wildlife officials got a DNA analysis that showed the animal was a rare wolf-dog hybrid, he said. Mike O'Donnell, who is married to Michelle O'Donnell, said the animal looked "half-rodent, half-dog" to him. It was charcoal gray, weighed between 40 and 50 pounds and had a bushy tail, a short snout, short ears and curled fangs hanging over its lips, he said. It looked like "something out of a Stephen King story." "This is something I've never seen before. It's an evil-looking thing," he said.

Staph skin infections on rise in U.S.

A once-rare drug-resistant germ now appears to cause more than half of all skin infections treated in U.S. emergency rooms, say researchers who documented the superbug's startling spread in the general population. Many victims mistakenly thought they just had spider bites that wouldn't heal, not drug-resistant staph bacteria. Only a decade ago, these germs were hardly ever seen outside of hospitals and nursing homes. Doctors also were caught off-guard — most of them unwittingly prescribed medicines that do not work against the bacteria. "It is time for physicians to realize just how prevalent this is," said Dr. Gregory Moran of Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, who led the study.

'End Times' message delivered to 100,000

Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine and disease, armies coming against Israel and other signs discussed in the Bible were the subjects of Greg Laurie's California Harvest Crusade at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. "We don't know what's going to happen. But the end of your own personal world might be near, and my objective is simply to prepare people to meet God through a relationship with Jesus Christ," The 17th annual crusade, which this year drew about 100,000 people to the stadium and another 30,000 via internet broadcasts and podcasts, came amidst high levels of terror alerts, war in the Mideast and worry over the future. Laurie, a weekly columnist for WorldNetDaily, spoke on topics including "What's Your Question?" "What is the Meaning of Life?" and "Is the End of the World Near?" He said current world events serve as a "sign of the times" that the return of Christ is near.

Syria, Iran leaders praise Hezbollah

Tehran and Damascus may be the biggest winners from the 34 days of fighting in Lebanon — buoyed by the ability of ally Hezbollah to stand up to Israel's punishing assaults and by the new, widespread popularity of the guerrillas across the Middle East. Syria and Iran both ridiculed U.S. hopes for eliminating the guerrillas and belittled Israel's high-tech military as useless against Hezbollah. "The Middle East they (the Americans) aspire to ... has become an illusion," Syrian President Bashar Assad said in Damascus. "We tell them (Israelis) that after tasting humiliation in the latest battles, your weapons are not going to protect you — not your planes, or missiles, or even your nuclear bombs ... The future generations in the Arab world will find a way to defeat Israel," Assad added. A few hours later, Iran's leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saluted Hezbollah for hoisting "the banner of victory" over Israel. Analysts said both countries now feel stronger in their own individual disputes with the West and that the alliance of their hard-line governments is stronger now, in contrast to the Mideast bloc of pro-U.S. governments.

Court: Bible display must go

A Bible must not be part of a 50-year-old monument in front of the Harris County (Texas) civil courthouse because a district judge changed it from a secular to a religious use in violation of the Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. "Its recent history would force an objective observer to conclude that it is a religious symbol of a particular faith located on public grounds," a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 decision.

Microchip "E-passport" Rollout Begins

The federal government this week began the rollout of new electronic passports embedded with radio microchips holding personal data. But the first travelers granted new passports - at the State Department's new Colorado Passport Agency north of Cherry Creek Reservoir - reluctantly embraced the idea. Anything to "make our skies more safe," said Chris Hart, 34, on his way to Mexico with his bride, Alycia, for a honeymoon. "As long as it's not in my skin," he said of his chip, "which is probably what's coming next."

Iran, Syria praise Hezbollah, mock U.S.

Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Hezbollah has "hoisted the banner of victory" over Israel and toppled U.S.-led plans for the Middle East. Hezbollah's main backers -- Iran and Syria -- struck nearly identical tones a day after a cease-fire took effect in Lebanon: heaping praise on the guerrillas as perceived victors for the Islamic world and claiming that Western influence in the region was dealt a serious blow. "God's promises have come true," Ahmadinejad told a huge crowd in Arbadil in northwestern Iran.

Syria: U.S. Mideast plan an 'illusion'

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Tuesday that the U.S. plan for a "new Middle East" has collapsed following Hezbollah's successes in fighting against Israel. Israel's foreign minister, meanwhile, warned Syria not to intervene in Lebanese affairs or use the Hezbollah militia to influence the Beirut government. Assad, speaking to a journalists' conference in Syria, said the region has changed "because of the achievements of the resistance (by Hezbollah)." "The Middle East they (the Americans) aspire to ... has become an illusion," he said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said early in the war between Hezbollah and Israel that any settlement should be durable and lead to a "new Middle East" where extremists have no influence. Assad said the fighting in Lebanon had been planned by Israel for some time, but the endeavor had failed and revealed the limitations of Israeli military power. "The result was more failure for Israel, its allies and masters," Assad said. In a 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces surrounded Beirut within seven days, he said. But after nearly five weeks in the latest conflict, he said, Israel "was still struggling to occupy a few hundred meters." He warned Israel to seek peace or risk defeat in the future.

Iran leader says US and Europe face backlash from supporting Israel

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States of "blindly supporting" Israel against Hezbollah and President George W. Bush of seeking to "solve everything with bombs", in a television interview. Ahmadinejad again denied seeking a nuclear bomb, questioned the US military presence in Iraq and gave the US network CBS an evasive answer when questioned about an alleged unit of suicide bombers in Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Commenting on the Israeli-Hezbollah war, the conservative leader said US support for Israel "threatens the future of all peoples, including the American and European peoples. "So we are asking, why the American government is blindly supporting this murderous regime." Ahmadinejad has in the past said Israel should be wiped off the map and denied the existence of the Holocaust. In this interview, he said through a translator that Israel is "a fabricated government" because he said it had been forced upon the Middle East after the Holocaust. The US administration, Israel's main ally, has repeatedly accused Iran and Syria of giving military and financial support to Hezbollah. Ahmadinejad again denied that Iran sought a nuclear bomb but insisted that the United States and its allies would not stop Tehran's nuclear research. "If Mr Bush thinks that he can stop our progress I have to say that he will be unable to do that."

Misery and hunger stalk drought-hit grain basket of China

Yi Mudan sighs as her flock of sheep and goats push their way to the water troughs after a morning grazing on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. “We try to use our well water but there isn’t enough. We have to ask for tankers to come from the town to make sure the animals have enough.” The drought that brings a frown to the face of this elderly farmer is making itself felt far across China. Horses, cattle and sheep are already beginning to starve in some parts of Inner Mongolia’s grasslands. In central Sichuan province, China’s grain basket, millions of acres of crops have withered. Across the country, more than six million acres have been ruined — an area 21 per cent larger than in previous years. Water levels along the mighty Yangtze river, China’s longest river, have dropped dramatically, falling by more than ten metres in a matter of weeks. Where the river flows through the huge city of Chongqing, the water level is just 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) — its lowest in a century. Seventeen million people across southwest China no longer have access to clean drinking water as a result of the drought.

Iran says disarming Lebanese Hizbollah "illogical"

Iran welcomed on Sunday a planned ceasefire to halt the month-long war between Lebanon's Hizbollah and Israel but described the U.N. Security Council's call for disarming the Iranian-backed group as "illogical". The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday calling for a "full cessation of hostilities" and for the implementation of a previous U.N. resolution requiring the disarming of armed groups including Hizbollah. "We are happy for the ceasefire in Lebanon. But the resolution is not balanced," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference. "It does not condemn the Zionist regime (Israel) and its crimes in Lebanon." Asked about the call for disarming Hizbollah, Asefi said: "This is a totally unreasonable demand. It is illogical." "Let us not forget that as long