News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

IAEA reports Iran succeeded in enriching uranium
By News Agencies

VIENNA - Iran has successfully enriched uranium and continues related activities in defiance of the UN Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday.

The finding was contained in a report drawn up by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed Elbaradei that also effectively reflected a standstill between Iran and agency inspectors pursuing open questions linked to possible attempts by Iran to make nuclear arms.

Iran's president said on Friday his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt its nuclear work, hours before the United Nations atomic watchdog reports on whether Tehran has met UN Security Council demands.

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"Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their right, should know that we do not give a damn to such resolutions," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in northwest Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The West accuses Iran of pursuing a civilian nuclear program as a cover to acquire atomic bomb. Tehran denies it.

"Enemies think that by ... threatening us, launching psychological warfare or ... imposing embargos can dissuade our nation to obtain nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said in Zanjan province.

Iran said this month it had enriched uranium to the level used in power stations for the first time and has vowed to pursue large-scale enrichment of uranium.

Iran: Israel's election to UN Disarmament 'ridiculous'
Iran's UN ambassador said it was "absolutely ridiculous" that Israel was elected to be a vice-chair of the UN Disarmament Commission, claiming it has been singled out as a threat to peace and security in the Middle East.

Ambassador Javad Zarif also lashed out at criticism in Israel of Iran's election to be a vice-chair of the commission, calling it absurd that a country which hasn't signed an international disarmament treaty "has the audacity to talk about another country having a seat."

Zarif's criticism follows Ahmadinejad's repeated questioning of Israel's right to exist and threat to wipe Israel off the map. Israel has for years regarded Iran as the primary threat to its survival, disputing Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is peaceful.

"We are not surprised that Iran is continuing in its attempt to divert the international community's attention from the real problem, which is Iran's threat to global security and stability arising from its nuclear program," said Meir Itzchaki, deputy director for arms control in the Foreign Ministry.

"It is disappointing that Iran, once again, is choosing to take advantage of the UN to promote their anti-Semitic agenda and their culture of hatred and terror while acting in total defiance of their international obligations and demands set out by the UN Security Council" and the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Itzchaki said.

Iran's decision in February to start enriching uranium, for what it insists is a peaceful nuclear energy program to produce electricity, led to its referral to the Security Council. Tehran has refused to comply with the council's demand to stop enrichment . The United States, which believes Tehran's real goal is to produce nuclear weapons, is planning to introduce a council resolution shortly that would make its demand to suspend enrichment
compulsory.

Zarif, who chaired the UN Disarmament Commission in 2000, noted that Iran is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament efforts, while Israel is not. Israel, which is believed to possess nuclear weapons, has refused to sign the treaty along with nuclear rivals India and Pakistan.

"I think it's a rather interesting question that a regime that is not a member of any international treaty, has been recognized by the Security Council time and again as the single most serious threat to the peace and security of the Middle East, has been violating every single Security Council resolution that has been adopted about the Middle East ... has a seat in the Disarmament Commission, and has the audacity to talk about another country having a seat,"
Zarif told a group of reporters at a lunch he hosted.

"That is absolutely ridiculous," he said. "It's pushing the issue to the border of absurdity."

The Disarmament Commission's missions include trying to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that atomic energy is used only for peaceful purposes.

Israel and Iran were among eight vice-chairs elected at its current meeting, which began April 10 and ends Friday. Topics on its agenda include "Recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons" and "Practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional weapons."

IAEA reports Iran succeeded in enriching uranium

[Shammu]

Comatose Florida teen 'best target we can dream of'
Terror leaders rejoice in injuries of boy critical after Tel Aviv bombing
Posted: April 27, 2006
8:18 p.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


Daniel Wultz

JERUSALEM – Daniel Wultz, a Florida teenager lying in a coma after being critically injured last week in a suicide bombing at an Israeli restaurant, is the "best target combination we can dream of – American and Zionist," Abu Nasser, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the groups responsible for the deadly blast, told WorldNetDaily.

Abu Ayman, a leader of the Islamic Jihad, which also took responsibility for the April 17 bombing in which Wultz was injured, threatened all Americans and Jews worldwide and expressed regret Wultz is still alive.

Wultz, 16, was one of over 60 people injured in the attack in which a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded section of Tel Aviv as Israelis celebrated the fifth day of the Passover holiday. The blast ripped through a falafel restaurant just outside the city's old central bus station, killing nine. The same restaurant was hit by a suicide attack in January, wounding 20 people.

Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Brigades, the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Wultz is a resident of Weston, Fla. He was on Passover vacation in Israel along with his family. The teenager was seated with his father, Yekutiel, at an outside table of the targeted restaurant when the bomb was detonated.

Described as an avid basketball player, Wultz lost his spleen and a kidney in the attack. Last Friday, one of his legs was amputated, and doctors at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital have reportedly been fighting to save his other leg, which is suffering from severely reduced blood flow.

Wultz' father suffered a fractured leg in the attack.

Wultz has been lying in a coma in the intensive care unit since the bombing, though he briefly was aroused earlier this week.

His story has generated extensive media coverage and has prompted a flurry of e-mails across the Internet asking people worldwide to pray for the young terror victim.

In a WND exclusive interview yesterday, Abu Nasser, a senior leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank, rejoiced in Wultz' injuries. Abu Nasser is part of the Brigades leadership in the Balata refugee camp suspected of plotting the attack.

"We are sorry there was not more of this stuff. American and Zionist – this is the best target combination we could dream of. This is the ideal target. He is a young American who came to encourage the enemy to continue his war against us," Abu Nasser said.

The terror leader went on to blast America's role in the Middle East, which he said was aimed at achieving Jewish world domination:

"I want to use this occasion of speaking to the American people to tell them that the unfair support of your people to Israel is the reason that you are targeted almost everywhere in the world. Second, I want to bring to your knowledge that the most cruel settlers are those who came from America. It is known that the Jews are sly and not honest, and they are leading into this trap of the Middle East in order to carry out their plan of controlling the world."

Also speaking to WND, Islamic Jihad senior member Abu Ayman warned Americans are now enemies of the Palestinian people.

"The Americans are now the typical enemy of the believers like it is mentioned in the holy Quran. They think that they are all mighty and invincible, and they seem to not have the right conclusions from what happened to them in the last few years. The Americans are now the best representatives of the devil on earth," Abu Ayman said.

Asked whether his terror group would target a restaurant here if they were informed it contained American civilians and not Israelis, Abu Ayman replied, "This is a hypothetical question, but in my opinion at the execution step [of an attack] nothing changes."

He said Jews of all backgrounds are targets:

"The meaning and the goal of our lives is to fight the devil spiritually and physically. The Jews are the expression of both kinds of devil. No mercy for devils."

Abu Ayman expressed regret Wulz wasn't killed in last week's terror attack.

"The only sorrow that I feel is that the Jewish parents of this Daniel Wultz did not suffer like an average Palestinian family who lost its child. Maybe if their child was killed they and the Americans would have to pay attention to the suffering of thousands of Palestinian families who lost their children."

Waltz opened eyes as Rabbi wrapped him with Scripture

Waltz last night returned to a coma state. He had been temporarily aroused earlier this week. His situation remains very critical, said a source close to the family.

WND reported that on Monday the teen opened his eyes for the first time since the attack seven days prior just as his rabbi donned him with teffillin, or Jewish prayer phylacteries.

Yisroel Spalter of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish outreach movement, had flown in from Florida this week to be with the Wultz family. He described the moment during which Wultz opened his eyes to Chabad newssite Shterum.net.

"I started to put the tefillin on his hand and right before our very eyes Daniel opened his eyes and stared at us despite his comatose state. Maybe it was just a reflex, maybe not, but the fact that it happened precisely when the tefillin were placed on his hand shocked us all. Even the doctors were surprised.

"The family members who were present could not hold back their tears and were full of emotions. I cannot describe to you the electricity that flowed through the room then. It was one of the most moving and emotional experiences I ever witnessed."

Spalter the next day again put tefillin on Wultz, who soon after opened his eyes again and for the first time began showing signs of communication to his doctors, including blinking his eyes in response to questions. But he returned to a coma yesterday.

Tefillin are leather objects with black straps containing biblical verses that are worn on the head and on one arm by Jewish men during weekday morning prayers. The verses inside the tefillin are hand-written by a scribe and consist of the four sections of the Torah in which tefillin are commanded.

One of the main commandments for wearing tefillin comes from the biblical verse in Deuteronomy: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. ... Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a frontlet between your eyes."

Tefillin have been directly connected to war and terrorism, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Lewin, a Tel Aviv rabbi, explained to WND.

A verse in Deuteronomy states, "Then all the people of the earth shall see that the name of God is proclaimed over you and they will fear you."

The Talmud explains the biblical verse is referring to the donning of tefillin, which contains the name of God.

In response to the verse, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the revered leader of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, promoted a tefillin campaign in Israel and around the world following the 1967 Six Day War, in which the Jewish state was attacked by several Arab countries.

"After the Six Day War the Rebbe [Schneerson] recognized the power of tefillin and its connection to war against Israel and the desire of its enemies to annihilate the Jewish state, and he started an enormous tefillin campaign," said Lewin.

Spalter and Wultz's family have requested people around the world pray for Daniel Wultz. Prayer sessions have been held by Chabad in Florida and by Wultz's high-school friends. Hundreds of e-mail alerts have been sent to the Florida Jewish community and to lists worldwide asking recipients to pray for "Haim Meir Naftali, son of Sara and Yekutiel," the Hebrew name of Daniel Wultz.

[Shammu]

Russia’s Putin Reclaiming Dominant Role in Former Soviet Union

Created: 21.03.2006 11:52 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:19 MSK

Henry Meyer

Associated Press

The Kremlin may be reclaiming a dominant role in its former Soviet backyard.

In Belarus, Moscow-allied strongman Alexander Lukashenko just won re-election by a landslide — at least by the official count. And President Vladimir Putin’s allies could return to government in Sunday’s Ukrainian parliamentary election, just over a year after the Orange Revolution.

Such developments set back Western hopes of a democratic tidal wave in the former Soviet sphere and could further tarnish Putin’s democratic credentials as he tries to cast himself as a statesman capable of brokering deals with Iran and Hamas.

For Putin, however, asserting dominance over Belarus and Ukraine appears to be part of his strategy to re-establish Moscow as a global player during his year of the G-8 presidency.

“Russia wants to restore its superpower status, and that includes putting these countries back into its orbit,” said Yevgeny Volk, Moscow director of the conservative U.S think tank Heritage Foundation.

“It is seeking to reclaim its influence over the former Soviet Union, and remove that of the United States and European Union,” he added.

Russia was furious at what it saw as Western encroachment on its home turf after Ukraine’s November 2004 Orange Revolution — the mass protests over election fraud that brought reformist opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko to power over the Kremlin’s favored candidate, Viktor Yanukovych.

Months later, the impoverished Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan had its Tulip Revolution, becoming the third former Soviet state within 18 months to see opposition forces topple a Soviet-era leader. Georgia’s Rose Revolution started the process in 2003.

Today, however, Russia is once again on the rise as nervous authoritarian regimes from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan — where rights groups say government troops killed hundreds of civilians in a crackdown on protesters last year — build closer ties to Moscow, partly as a way to cow opposition forces.

Even in Ukraine, disillusionment at political infighting and the economic collapse that followed the Orange Revolution have brought about a political comeback for Yanukovych, whose rigged victory in the 2004 presidential election was annulled by the Supreme Court.

Enjoying strong support in the Russian-speaking east, his party is poised to win the most seats in the new parliament and earn the right to form the government, even if it will probably need to govern in an uneasy coalition with the party of the pro-Western Yushchenko.

“The West’s influence that triumphed in the color revolutions has clearly become a dead end for these nations,” said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political analyst. “In Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, people live worse, not better than before.”

By contrast, in Belarus, whose authoritarian president is shunned by Western nations as Europe’s last dictator, cheap supplies of Russian gas provide a vital lifeline to the inefficient, state-dominated economy.

Analyst Alexei Malashenko of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank said on Ekho Moskvy radio that while the Kremlin sometimes had tense relations with Belarus, its greatest interest lay in preserving the status quo in Minsk.

He also said that despite loud Western criticism of the Belarus election, there was no serious attempt to help pro-democratic forces, as happened in Ukraine.

“There was a strong fight for Ukraine, but no one fought for Belarus,” Malashenko said.

Analysts agree that Russia’s trump card in the region is its immense energy resources. They ensure that despite pro-Western inclinations, both Georgia and Ukraine remain dangerously dependent on their larger neighbor.

A pipeline explosion that cut off Russian supplies to Georgia this winter left millions shivering in their homes — provoking accusations from the tiny U.S.-allied Caucasus mountain state that Russia was deliberately trying to bring it to its knees.
Ukraine meanwhile had to swallow a twofold increase in gas prices after a bitter New-Year dispute that saw Moscow turn off the gas taps.

“Russia is using strong economic levers. With the growth of oil and gas exports it has become much richer than it was in the 1990s and it is translating this economic might into political influence and power,” said Volk.

At the center of the Russian policy in the region is a determination to resist the West’s efforts to boost its influence at Russia’s expense, in what Moscow says is falsely portrayed as a bid to promote democracy.

Russia yesterday accused the United States of trying to enforce its vision of democracy on others, angrily rejecting President Bush’s criticism that the Kremlin has rolled back freedoms.

[Soldier4Christ]

Ex-defense minister: Israel must recapture Gaza
Government reluctant because it doesn't want to admit evacuation was mistake


JERUSALEM – The only way Israel can stop the missiles regularly fired from the Gaza Strip into nearby Jewish cities is for troops to recapture parts of Gaza, including the former Jewish communities forcibly evacuated this past summer, Israel's former defense minister said this week.

Moshe Arens, a seasoned defense diplomat who also has served as foreign minister, accused the Israeli government of refusing to send ground troops into Gaza because it may paint its withdrawal from the territory a strategic failure.

"I fear that the government is refraining from sending IDF troops into Gaza to stop the Kassam rockets because it doesn't want to admit its mistake in withdrawing from Gaza in the first place," said Arens in an interview with Israel National News.

Since Israel withdrew from Gaza last August, Palestinians have been shooting rockets, mostly Qassams, from the vacated territory aimed at Jewish communities in the adjacent Negev desert. More than 14 rockets were fired this week. Several have landed in Ashkelon near the site of large power stations that supply much of Israel with electricity.

The army here has retaliated with artillery fire against launch sites and targeted aerial strikes against suspected rocket factories, but the current retaliation policy has failed to stop or even slow the number being launched from Gaza.

"The Israeli Defense Forces artillery barrage on northern Gaza is totally futile, as the terrorists fire the rockets from densely populated areas while Israel shells empty areas," said Arens.

"The security establishment must not forget that the Qassams being fired on Ashkelon are being fired from areas that were abandoned as part of the disengagement," Arens said. "The army must therefore return and conquer these areas, and only in this way will we be able to stop the rockets from being fired at us."

Arens was appointed defense minister by four Israeli governments, most recently in 1999 under the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was a foreign minister in 1988 for the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.

Critics of Israel's Gaza evacuation long had warned the retreat would prompt an onslaught of terrorism requiring the IDF to re-enter the territory.

WND first reported last week Israeli troops this month quietly have been trained for a large-scale incursion and occupation of Gaza in the event it is called for. The soldiers have been told to be prepared within one week from receiving an order for a large-scale operation or within several hours to three days for a smaller operation.

But government sources say Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would not approve the occupation of Gaza while he is trying to push through an Israeli withdrawal from most of Judea and Samaria, the biblical Jewish lands now known as the West Bank, which is within rocket-firing range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the country's international airport. The sources said a Gaza operation would label Israel's evacuation last summer a failure, and that could damage the prospects for the planned Judea and Samaria withdrawal.

The sources also said Olmert feels Israel is "making headway" with the international community for restraint following a suicide bombing last Monday in Tel Aviv that killed nine and injured more than 60. It was the largest suicide bombing in Israel since 2003 and the first such attack since Hamas officially took over the Palestinian Authority. The attacks occurred several hours before Israel's new parliament was due to be inducted.

For many, the reports of troops being prepared for a possible Gaza offensive actualize warnings repeatedly voiced by opponents of the withdrawal plan prior to its implementation. The same leaders have been blasting Olmert's Judea and Samaria withdrawal plan.

About 200,000 Jews live in Judea and Samaria. A separation barrier, still under construction in certain areas, cordons off nearly 95 percent of the territory from Israel's pre-1967 borders. More than half of Judea and Samaria's Jewish residents reside on the side of the fence closest to Israel. About 80,000 more Jews live on the other side of the barrier. Olmert officials have stated the past few weeks the new prime minister plans to enforce a withdrawal from all 68 Jewish towns that fall outside the barrier.

In a widely circulated WND article, leaders of every major Palestinian terror organization warned they will soon launch a massive violent campaign against Israel focused mainly on Judea and Samaria Jewish communities.

One senior terrorist said now that Olmert announced a withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, terrorism against Israel must be stepped up "to prove we are chasing out the Israelis like we did in Gaza."

[Soldier4Christ]

Mexican Congress Votes to Legalize Small Amounts of Pot, Coke, Heroin

  MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's Congress approved a bill Friday that would legalize drug possession for personal use -- decriminalizing the carrying of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and even heroin.

   The only step remaining is the signature of the president, whose office indicates he will sign the measure, despite the implications for the war on drugs.

   The bill, approved by the Senate on a 53-26 vote with one abstention, had been approved earlier by the lower house of Congress.

   U.S. officials had no immediate reaction on what this means for the fight against drug trafficking, or the vast numbers of American students who visit Mexico on vacation.

   "The presidency congratulates the Congress for approving the reforms," said presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar. "This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children."

   The bill legalizes possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana.

   "No charges will be brought against ... addicts or consumers who are found in possession of any narcotic for personal use," the bill reads.

[Soldier4Christ]

hevron Posts 49% Increase in Profit
A consumer group accuses the company of profiteering after it reports earnings of $4billion, boosted by oil extraction and refining.


Chevron Corp. joined the parade of oil companies reporting king-size profits Friday, announcing that high crude prices helped boost first-quarter earnings 49% to $4 billion.

The company's results came on the heels of a series of stunning profit reports from giant Exxon Mobil Corp. and as critics from California to Washington ratcheted up accusations that the oil companies were piling up cash at the expense of consumers who were paying more than $3 for a gallon of gasoline.

Together, the nation's top three oil companies — Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips — reported profit of $15.7 billion in the first quarter, a nearly 17% increase from the year-earlier quarter.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights on Friday accused Chevron of profiteering. The company's latest financial report is "proof that retail gasoline prices are rising far faster than the cost of production, despite all the oil company excuses about the price of crude oil," the Santa Monica consumer activist group said.

Chevron on Friday barely acknowledged the furor surrounding industry profits. Chief Executive Dave O'Reilly said in a statement that the San Ramon, Calif., company "is in an excellent position to continue adding value for our stockholders and helping to satisfy the energy needs of the world economies." A Chevron spokesman didn't return a call seeking comment on the price-gouging accusations.

The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, has said that oil prices are being driven up by a tight worldwide supply of oil and that gasoline prices reflect U.S. market conditions.

Chevron's first-quarter net income was equal to $1.80 a share, up from $2.7 billion, or $1.28 a share. The results, which included big increases in profits from oil extraction and refining, surpassed Wall Street expectations of $1.78 a share, according to Thomson Financial.

Revenue for the quarter totaled $54 billion, up 32% from $42 billion a year earlier. Chevron increased its capital expenditures for exploration and refining projects by 80% to $3 billion in the first period.

"It was a pretty vanilla quarter," said Mark Gilman, an oil analyst at independent researcher Benchmark Co. But because Chevron's earnings have fallen short of analysts' expectations in four of the last six quarters, Gilman said, "something that's plain vanilla is kind of a backward plus."

Chevron shares rose $1.04, or 1.7%, to $61.02. The futures price of crude oil — which fell for four straight days this week after surpassing $75 a barrel the week before — closed up 91 cents at $71.88 for a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude.

The largest share of Chevron's profit increase came from its exploration and production business, which posted income of $3.46 billion for the quarter, up 45% from the combined effect of higher output of oil and natural gas and higher sale prices for those products.

Chevron produced the equivalent of 2.6 million barrels of oil per day for the quarter, up about 10% from the same period last year. Last quarter's output was boosted by Chevron's August acquisition of El Segundo-based Unocal Corp.

The oil company's worldwide refining and marketing business booked income of $580 million, a 42% jump from the first quarter of 2005. The largest increase came in Chevron's U.S. operations, which include more than 9,000 Chevron stations and five refineries in the Southwest. Income from Chevron's domestic refining and marketing business nearly quadrupled in the quarter, rising to $210 million from $58 million in last year's first quarter. Critics in California seized on that increase — equal to 262% — because Chevron is one of the state's largest gasoline refiners and retailers.

But Chevron said its West Coast refining margin, which subtracts the cost of crude oil but not other expenses, averaged 43.6 cents a gallon for the first quarter, down from 44 cents a gallon a year earlier.

Judy Dugan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights was not assuaged by the year-over-year decline in refining margins. "Motorists should remember that amazing figure — 260% — every time they stick a Chevron pump handle into the gas tank," she said.

In California, the average gas price continued to march sharply upward Friday, rising 2.7 cents overnight to $3.206 for a gallon of self-serve regular, according to AAA's daily retail survey. Nationwide, the average pump price rose less than a penny to $2.929 a gallon.

__________________


Yep no price gouging here.   

[Soldier4Christ]

Big oil profits, little choice

The oil industry's massive first-quarter profits this week triggered another round of election-year outrage from President Bush and members of Congress, who spoke up on behalf of angry constituents feeling pinched at the pump.

On Friday, Chevron reported its first-quarter profit soared 49 percent to $4 billion, with revenue totaling $54.6 billion, a 31 percent increase from $41.6 billion last year.

There's little that either lawmakers or the industry can do in the short term about the high oil prices that yielded those profits, however, as long as energy markets stay tense and the global economy is expanding. Instead, it would take a decision by consumers and businesses to consume less fuel, a choice they have yet to make, analysts said.

The country's three largest petroleum companies — Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips — posted combined first-quarter income of almost $16 billion, an increase of 17 percent from the year before.

In a bit of an understatement, Exxon Mobil's vice president of investor relations Henry Hubble said "industry conditions remain robust."

Crude-oil futures are trading near $72 a barrel. U.S. gasoline prices are more than $3 a gallon in many places, and even have climbed past $4 in Southern California. Yet demand continues to rise.

The trends have convinced Wall Street the 2006 earnings of the nation's three largest oil companies will surpass last year's combined record of nearly $64 billion.

"It is hard to find any reason to be sympathetic toward the oil companies today, but that doesn't make them evil," said Robert Ebel, director of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.

For their part, the oil companies have been emphasizing that they make far less money on each dollar of sales than many other industries that aren't being excoriated for their capitalism.

Taken together, Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips made a profit of $8.19 on every $100 in sales. In contrast, Internet bellwethers Google, Yahoo! and eBay collectively turned a $19.20 profit on every $100 of their combined revenue.

Still, as important as the Internet has become, energy remains more vital.

The combined first-quarter revenue of Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips totaled $191.5 billion — more than the individual gross domestic products of 189 countries, including the likes of Chile, Denmark, Peru and Venezuela, according to statistics compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Even as politicians snipe at the oil industry's profits, the government has been sharing in the windfall from high gas prices. In the first quarter, Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips turned over a combined $13.8 billion in sales taxes — about 7 percent of their total revenue.

Chevron also is receiving a financial lift from a deal that Congress helped make last year. Chevron bought rival Unocal for $18 billion eight months ago, prevailing over a higher offer from a bidder backed by China's government. The Chinese bidder, CNOOC, withdrew after Congress threatened to block a Unocal sale to a company outside the United States. The Unocal acquisition is paying off even better than Chevron envisioned, executives said.

President Bush, a former oil man, said Friday that he expects the industry to invest its huge profits in more oil production, refining and transportation capacity to help alleviate supply congestion down the road.

But oil companies already are spending more to search for oil even as they ramp up current production. Exxon, for instance, poured $4.8 billion into exploration and other capital spending, a 53 percent increase from last year — but still less than the company spent on share repurchases.

"There's capital flowing into the sector unlike anything we've seen in recent years," said Art Smith, chief executive of energy consultant John S. Herold. Nevertheless, it will take time to reverse two decades of cautious spending, he said.

While a serious discussion of U.S. energy policy is long overdue, analysts said they are leery of knee-jerk government intervention, insisting elected officials are doing the public a disservice by not doing a better job of explaining how the global oil market works.

"It's late in the game," said Antoine Halff, director of global oil at Fimat USA in New York. "The only policy changes that would have an immediate effect would be demand restraints, such as increases in gasoline taxes, alternate driving days or enforcement of speed limits." Halff does not think that any of these will be suggested in Congress, especially during an election year.

Economists are perhaps most troubled by the possibility that lawmakers will consider suspending the federal 18.4-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax. All that would do is raise demand and worsen the government deficit — a lose-lose proposition, they said.

Smith said $75 oil is "the best thing that could happen to the alternative-energy business" and is the greatest force for change in the market. He and other analysts said SUV sales are already declining, and they expect Americans to think more critically about the energy efficiency of their homes and the lengths of their commutes in the years ahead.

But it may take years before changes in consumer behavior affect the market.

"In the meantime, you as a consumer have three options," said Ebel of CSIS. "You have car keys, light switches and a thermostat. Use them judiciously."

[Shammu]

Olmert says Iran president "psychopath"
Sat Apr 29, 2006 7:31am ET163

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a psychopath and anti-Semite whose declarations resemble those of Adolf Hitler, Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a newspaper interview on Saturday.

"Ahmadinejad speaks today like Hitler before taking power," Olmert told Germany's Bild newspaper. "He speaks of the complete destruction and annihilation of the Jewish people."

Ahmadinejad has questioned the Holocaust and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map". He has also suggested the Jewish state should be moved to Europe or North America.

"So you see, we are dealing with a psychopath of the worst kind, with an anti-Semite," Olmert said. "God forbid that this man ever gets his hands on nuclear weapons, to carry out his threats."

Iran says it has the sovereign right to enrich uranium to use as fuel in power stations.

Israel, believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, says Iran is months away from acquiring the know-how to make nuclear weapons. Other experts say Iran is still years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), delivered a report on Friday saying U.N. checks in Iran had been hampered and Tehran had rebuffed requests to stop making nuclear fuel.

The Islamic Republic said on Saturday it was willing to resume allowing snap U.N. atomic inspections if its case were dropped by the U.N. Security Council and passed back to the IAEA.

Olmert says Iran president "psychopath"

[Shammu]

Saturday, April 29, 2006 · Last updated 6:03 a.m. PT

Report: Chinese church to defy Vatican

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING -- China's state-sanctioned Roman Catholic Church will install a new bishop opposed by the Vatican on Sunday, potentially damaging efforts to restore official ties between the sides, a Vatican-linked news agency reported.

Hong Kong's Catholic diocese, which is under Vatican jurisdiction, protested the planned ordainment Saturday.

The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association will ordain Ma Yinglin as bishop of the city of Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province, Rome-based AsiaNews said Friday.

News of the ordainment comes amid indications that Sino-Vatican talks on resuming ties are entering a substantive phase.

AsiaNews said the Vatican opposes Ma because he is too close to the official Chinese church's leaders and has little pastoral experience.

It said the Holy See had asked that Ma's ordination be delayed.

"With this latest showdown the Patriotic Association is aiming in fact to destroy rapprochement between Beijing and the Holy See," AsiaNews said.

The association's vice chairman, Liu Bainian, said the onus for improving relations is on the Vatican.

"I really hope relations could improve soon. The key is at the Vatican. This is a concrete test. If they oppose the ordainment of Ma Yinglin it would affect the improvement of Sino-Vatican relations," he said in a phone interview with Hong Kong TV station ATV.

He also told Hong Kong radio station RTHK that the official Chinese church was acting in the interests of the faithful while Sino-Vatican ties are still being sorted out.

Hong Kong's Catholic church said in a statement Saturday it had sent a message to the Kunming church asking it to drop Ma's ordainment ceremony because the Vatican has not approved it.

Hong Kong, a former British colony now ruled by China, still enjoys religious freedom.

The statement said Hong Kong's Cardinal Joseph Zen believes that "anyone who pressures clergy to carry out a ceremony without the Holy See's approval is intentionally sabotaging Sino-Vatican negotiations."

Zen urged Chinese leaders to stop such "violent actions," the statement said.

An operator answering the phone at the Patriotic Association said its leaders had left for Yunnan, and no one was available for comment. A call to the Chinese Foreign Ministry rang unanswered.

China and the Vatican cut ties in 1951. Catholics in the mainland are only allowed to worship at churches run by the patriotic Catholic association, but millions belong to underground churches loyal to the Vatican.

Those who meet in such churches are frequently harassed, fined and sometimes sent to labor camps.

The two main stumbling blocks to renewed Sino-Vatican relations are the Holy See's diplomatic ties with Taiwan and the Vatican's power to appoint bishops, which China views as an interference in internal affairs.

The Vatican has said it is willing to switch recognition from Taiwan, which split with China amid civil war in 1949. The mainland strongly discourages other countries from having diplomatic ties with Taipei.

It is unclear if Beijing will budge on its authority over bishops.

Report: Chinese church to defy Vatican

[Shammu]

Apr. 29, 2006 0:55
Sweden nixes special laws for Muslims
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
STOCKHOLM, Sweden


The Swedish government and moderate Muslims on Friday sharply rejected demands by an Islamic leader to enact special laws for Muslims living in the Scandinavian country.

Mahmoud Aldebe, head of Sweden's largest Islamic organization, SMF, said Muslims should be given time off work for Friday prayers and Islamic holidays and that imams should approve all divorces between Muslim couples.

His proposals, presented in a letter Thursday to Sweden's parliamentary parties, were rejected as "completely unacceptable" by Sweden's Integration Minister Jens Orback.

They also elicited a flood of criticism from moderate Muslims who said they were content with living under Swedish laws.

"If we are going to live here, we should adapt to the laws that exist - we should not have a separate law just because we have a different faith," said Mariam Osman Sherifay, a Muslim lawmaker with the governing Social Democratic Party.

Aldebe's letter also called for laws reserving public swimming pools to women one night a week, as many Muslim families forbid their daughters from bathing with boys for "ethical and religious reasons."

"Many Muslim girls finish their high school education without knowing how to swim at all," Aldebe wrote.

Other demands included giving imams the right to teach religion to Muslim children in public schools, and providing special burial grounds for Muslims.

Aldebe, whose organization has 70,000 members, backtracked on his proposal Friday, telling Swedish Radio he only meant Swedish laws should be adjusted to make Muslims feel safe in society.

Many Swedish Muslim leaders distanced themselves from Aldebe's demands, saying they had little support among Sweden's estimated 400,000 Muslims.

"He is lucky if he speaks for 70 of his members," said Abd al Haqq Kielan, an imam who heads the Swedish Islamic Society, one of five national Islamic organizations.

Kielan called the proposals "absurd," adding that they would lead to "a sort of Mullah-rule that people are scared of."

"If you open the gate for separate laws for different minorities, where will it end?" he said. "We have to have one law for all citizens. That is so obvious that I don't understand how he can come up with such an idea."

Sweden nixes special laws for Muslims

[Shammu]

DOJ Seeks to Dismiss Domestic Spying Suit

By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 29, 9:10 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO - The Justice Department said Friday it was moving to dismiss a federal lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's secretive domestic wiretapping program.

The lawsuit, brought by the Internet privacy group, Electronic Frontier Foundation, does not include the government.

Instead, it names AT&T, which the San Francisco-based group accuses of colluding with the National Security Agency to make communications on AT&T networks available to the spy agency without warrants.

The government, in a filing here late Friday, said the lawsuit threatens to expose government and military secrets and therefore should be tossed. The administration added that its bid to intervene in the case should not be viewed as a concession that the allegations are true.

As part of its case, the EFF said it obtained documents from a former AT&T technician showing that the NSA is capable of monitoring all communications on AT&T's network, and those documents are under seal. The former technician said the documents detail secret NSA spying rooms and electronic surveillance equipment in AT&T facilities.

Next month, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will hold a hearing on whether they should be divulged publicly.

President Bush confirmed in December that the NSA has been conducting the surveillance when calls and e-mails, in which at least one party is outside the United States, are thought to involve al-Qaida terrorists.

In congressional hearings earlier this month, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales suggested the president could order the NSA to listen in on purely domestic calls without first obtaining a warrant from a secret court established nearly 30 years ago to consider such issues.

Gonzales said the administration, assuming the conversation related to al-Qaida, would have to determine if the surveillance were crucial to the nation's fight against terrorism, as authorized by Congress following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The EFF lawsuit, alleging AT&T violated U.S. law and its customers' privacy, seeks to stop the surveillance program.

The San Antonio-based telecommunications giant said it follows all applicable laws.

DOJ Seeks to Dismiss Domestic Spying Suit

[Shammu]

Security Council Poised for Iran Replay

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer 50 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council headed for a replay of its divisive debate over Iran's nuclear ambitions, with the United States, Britain and France at odds again with China and Russia. But this time the stakes are higher.

A new report Friday from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, confirmed what diplomats and the world already knew: Iran has refused to stop enriching uranium as the council demanded a month ago.

The council's three veto-wielding Western nations immediately announced plans to introduce a new Security Council resolution next week that would make Iran's compliance with their demands mandatory. To intensify pressure, they want the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which means it can be enforced through sanctions or military action.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — a steadfast opponent of sanctions — told his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki by telephone Saturday that Iran must halt enrichment and cooperate with the IAEA.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement, Lavrov demanded that Iran suspend research and development on enrichment and "provide full-format cooperation" with the IAEA to "clear up the IAEA's remaining questions."

Russia and China, the other two countries with veto power, oppose sanctions and military action and want the Iran nuclear issue resolved diplomatically, with the IAEA taking the lead, not the Security Council.

Iran's enrichment program has come under intense scrutiny because enriched uranium can be used to fuel civilian power plants, which Tehran says it wants, or to produce nuclear weapons, which is what Western nations suspect the Islamic country wants.

It took weeks of painstaking negotiations to craft the March 29 council statement giving Iran 30 days to stop enriching uranium, and the result was much weaker than the West wanted.

With the possibility of sanctions or military action on the horizon, the upcoming negotiations are certain to be even more divisive.

At least for the moment, the five permanent members all agree on one key point: The best way to resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran is through diplomacy.

But the initial reactions to the report by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, which also accused Iran of blocking U.N. attempts to find out whether it wants nuclear arms, showed how far apart the key players are.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, remained defiant, saying no Security Council resolution could make Iran give up its nuclear program.

"The Iranian nation won't give a damn about such useless resolutions," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people Friday in northwestern Iran before the IAEA report was issued.

"Those who resort to language of coercion should know that nuclear energy is a national demand and by the grace of God, today Iran is a nuclear country," state-run television quoted him as saying.

Iran's U.N. Ambassador Javan Zarif was more conciliatory Saturday, saying "there are a multitude of possibilities for reaching a solution" if all parties agree that while Iran should not develop atomic weapons, it has the right to nuclear power.

"I believe if you start from these two assumptions and not draw arbitrary red lines then we will be able to reach a mutually acceptable negotiated solution," Zarif told the British Broadcasting Corp.

He accused Western nations of lacking political will to resolve the problem and creating "an unnecessary crisis" by bringing in the Security Council.

"We have said from the very beginning that bringing the Security Council into the picture does not help because Iran does not respond well to pressure," he said.

Iran's deputy nuclear chief, Mohammad Saeedi, said uranium enrichment would continue and announced the country was installing two more 164-centrifuge cascades at its enrichment plant in Natanz. Iran successfully enriched uranium for the first time earlier this month, using 164 centrifuges.

But Saeedi told state-run television said Tehran would be willing to allow the return of intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities if the matter was returned to the IAEA. Iran banned such inspections in February after it was referred to the Security Council.

The White House was dismissive of Iran's offer.

"Today's statement does not change our position that the Iranian government must give up its nuclear ambitions, nor does it affect our decision to move forward to the United Nations Security Council," spokesman Blaine Rethmeier said.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Friday that "the IAEA report shows that Iran has accelerated its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons although, of course, the report doesn't make any conclusions in that regard."

He told reporters the United States hopes to move "as a matter of urgency" and introduce a Chapter 7 resolution next week. It would give Iran "a very short" period to comply and halt enrichment.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry called it "a calibrated approach which is reversible if Iran was prepared to comply fully with the wishes of the international community."

"A diplomatic solution is what we're all working for, and our patience must be pretty consistent there in order that we achieve that," he stressed.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya echoed the need for a diplomatic solution "because this region is already complicated ... and we should not do anything that would cause the situation (to be) more complicated."

He said the implication of a Chapter 7 resolution is clear: It will lead to a series of resolutions, complicating the situation and creating uncertainty.

"I think whatever we do we should promote diplomacy," Wang said.

Security Council Poised for Iran Replay

[Soldier4Christ]

West to seek UN action on Iranian bomb threat



BRITAIN and its allies will seek a tough new resolution at the United Nations next week after a report from the world’s nuclear watchdog said that Iran was accelerating its uranium enrichment programme.

Britain, acting in concert with France, Germany and the United States, will ask the 15-nation Security Council to pass a mandatory resolution declaring Iran’s nuclear programme a threat to international peace and security and ordering it to suspend its enrichment work.

But even as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivered its report, President Ahmadinejad made clear that Iran would not back down. He told a rally that “we do not give a damn about such resolutions” and said that the Islamic republic could soon become a superpower. “Enemies think that by threatening us . . . they can dissuade our country from obstaining nuclear technology,” he said. “We will not back down.”

The British move — a prelude to possible sanctions — follows Iran’s refusal to comply with the UN’s 30-day deadline for freezing its enrichment programme that expired yesterday. The Vienna-based IAEA reported that Iran had ignored the Security Council’s demands and was stepping up its enrichment work.

Tests confirmed that Iran’s newly built 164-centrifuge cascade had indeed succeeded in enriching uranium to 3.6 per cent, as Iran claimed this month. The agency said that Iran was building two additional 164-machine cascades.

The IAEA report also highlighted Iran’s failure to hand over a copy of a 15-page document dealing with the production and casting of uranium metal into hemispheres — a process used almost exclusively in building nuclear bombs.

The agency said that it had asked for clarification of Mr Ahmadinejad’s assertion that Iran was “presently conducting research” with advanced P2 centrifuges, which can enrich uranium up to four times faster than the P1 machines that Tehran is known to possess.

“Gaps remain in the agency’s knowledge with respect to the scope and content of Iran’s centrifuge programme,” the IAEA report said. “Because of this, and other gaps in the agency’s knowledge, including the role of the military in Iran’s nuclear programme, the agency is unable to make progress in its efforts to provide assurance about the absence of un- declared nuclear material and activities in Iran.”

President Bush said that Iran’s intransigence was “not acceptable” but insisted that the US still wanted to resolve the issue through peaceful and diplomatic means.

China and Russia both oppose making mandatory the demand that Iran halt all enrichment-related activities, which they see as a prelude to sanctions.

[Soldier4Christ]

Iran to allow inspections if case returned to IAEA

Apparently seeking to avoid a full-blown UN debate over sanctions, Iran said on Saturday it would allow UN inspectors to resume snap inspections of its nuclear facilities, but only if the dispute were returned to the jurisdiction of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The White House rejected the conditional offer and Russia joined the international chorus in telling Iran it must stop nuclear enrichment.

Earlier Saturday, media reports reported that American officials threatened China and Russia that relations with them could be harmed if they vetoed UN Security Council sanctions on Iran.

Russia and China, which have important business dealings with Iran, have strongly opposed taking harsh steps against Teheran, arguing that this would worsen the crisis. As two of the five permanent members on the Security Council, they have the power to veto its actions.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his Iranian counterpart Saturday that Tehran must halt its uranium enrichment activity and cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog to answer questions about its nuclear program.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the demand was made in a phone conversation between Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Lavrov "emphasized the urgent necessity for Iran to take concrete steps aimed at restoring confidence on the part of the international community about its nuclear activity, including the suspension of (work) on uranium enrichment," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

He also demanded that Iran "provide full-format cooperation" with the International Atomic Energy Agency in order to "clear up the IAEA's remaining questions" about its nuclear program.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a "psychopath who speaks like Adolf Hitler." Olmert was speaking to the German newspaper Build.

The prime minister's statement followed a declaration by Ahmadinejad earlier in the day that Iran would never forego its nuclear plan.

At the same time, US Senator John McCain called Iran's nuclear program and international terrorism the greatest threat to world peace.

Following the release of a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency Friday showing that Iran has been continuing to enrich uranium, world leaders expressed concern and underlined the need for international unity in dealing with Iran.

However, most leaders appeared to be reluctant to pursue coercion rather than diplomacy.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that while the report was worrisome, "we continue, nevertheless, to say to Iran that the door to negotiation is not closed."

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier echoed that sentiment. "We maintain that the only solution is a diplomatic one," he said.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak described ElBaradei's report as a "very serious document," telling the Interfax news agency that the Kremlin would study it "very carefully."

The Chinese government indicated it had not changed its mind about opposing tough action.

"All we want is to work for a diplomatic solution because this region is already complicated, there are a lot of problems in the region, and we should not do anything that would cause the situation (to be) more complicated," said China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya.

US Ambassador John Bolton suggested the council was not likely to soon issue a resolution backed by the threat of sanctions or even military force.

"The first resolution would be simple and straightforward, 'making mandatory' last month's council requests on suspension of enrichment and full cooperation with IAEA inspectors," Bolton told The Associated Press in a phone call to Vienna.

"We would give Iran a short time to come into compliance. Then, if Iran doesn't come into compliance, we would consider what the next steps would be ... likely targeted sanctions."

While Bolton did not elaborate, sanctions would not likely be directed at Iran's oil industry, which has a crucial role in meeting the world's energy needs. They could include such measures as freezing Iranian assets and banning overseas travel by its top officials.

The report said Iran's claim to have enriched small amounts of uranium to a level of 3.6 percent purity - fuel grade as opposed to the 90 percent-plus needed for weapons grade - appeared to be true according to initial analysis of samples taken by IAEA inspectors.

Uranium conversion - an activity linked to enrichment - "is still ongoing," the report added, saying that more than 120 tons had been converted in the past eight months. Were it used for weapons, that amount would be enough for more than 15 crude nuclear bombs, experts say.

In one of the few new developments, the report concluded the Iranians may have used undeclared plutonium in conducting small-scale separation experiments.

"The agency cannot exclude the possibility ... that the plutonium analyzed by the agency was derived from source(s) other than those declared by Iran," it said. Plutonium separation is one of several suspected Iranian "dual use" activities - those that have peaceful uses but also could be used in a weapons program.

[Soldier4Christ]

Thousands in NYC March Against Iraq War

NEW YORK - A day after the military announced that April was the deadliest month for U.S. forces in
Iraq this year, thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched Saturday through lower Manhattan to demand an immediate withdrawal of troops.

Cindy Sheehan, a vociferous critic of the war whose soldier son also died in Iraq, joined in the march, as did actress Susan Sarandon and the Rev.
Jesse Jackson.

"End this war, bring the troops home," read one sign lifted by marchers on the sunny afternoon, three years after the war in Iraq began. The mother of a Marine killed two years ago in Iraq held a picture of her son, born in 1984 and killed 20 years later.

One group marched under the banner "Veterans for Peace."

"We are here today because the war is illegal, immoral and unethical," said the Rev.
Al Sharpton.

"We must bring the troops home."

Organizers said the march was also meant to oppose any military action against
Iran, which is facing international criticism over its nuclear program. The event was organized by the group United for Peace and Justice.

The march stepped off shortly after noon from Union Square, with the demonstrators heading for a rally between a U.S. courthouse and a federal office building in Lower Manhattan.

The military said Friday that at least 69 U.S. troops have died in Iraq in April.

That figure is well below some of the bloodiest months of the Iraq conflict, but is a sharp increase over March, when 31 were killed. January's death toll was 62 and February's 55. In December, 68 Americans died.