News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Senator's Bible reference puzzles Rolling Stone magazine

UNDATED It isn't every day you see the Bible quoted in Rolling Stone magazine, but Senator Sam Brownback's reference to Jesus' words appears to have been misunderstood.

In an article titled "God's Senator," Rolling Stone quotes the Kansas Republican as lamenting the fate of countries like Sweden that have legalized gay marriage.

Brownback says -- quote -- "You'll know them by their fruits." (AMEN!!)

Rolling Stone's writer reports there was an awkward silence as it sounded to him like the senator was referring to gay Swedes as "fruits." (ROTF!!!!!!!!) 

The Bible passage cited by Brownback actually warns that false prophets can be discerned by the results they produce.

Senator's Bible reference puzzles Rolling Stone magazine

References in bold are by me........ DW.

[Shammu]

Is It Time To Say Goodbye to Paper Money?

Walaika K. Haskins, newsfactor.com Mon Jan 30, 5:55 PM ET

Since the late 1990s, when the expansion and adoption of the Internet created a bona fide Mecca for retailers and shoppers, people have looked forward to the day when physical cash would no longer be the mainstay of payment transactions.

When the Internet boom came to a screeching halt in 2000, some experts believed that it also marked the end of efforts to establish digital currencies.

But the continuing success of the online payment service PayPal, as well as the recent adoption of so-called e-cash by 15 million people in Japan, has bought the electronic-money movement new momentum.

Money from Nothing

The push for electronic money became an integral part of the digital revolution during the mid to late '90s. It was based on the premise that consumers would balk when asked to submit their credit-card numbers when making a purchase.

Giving online customers a way to convert physical cash into digital coin seemed like the solution. This "e-money" would be stored offline on cards embedded with a chip -- smart cards -- or within a computer's hard drive, and it could be used to make any kind of purchase.

A bevy of private digital currency start-ups hit the Web. But these currencies amounted to little more than digital Green Stamps. Designed for use online only, the currencies that were created by companies such as Beenz.com, Flooz.com, Goldmoney.com, and others were not connected to any government or central bank.

While some promoters and consumers found the lack of government involvement a plus, most shoppers and merchants were hesitant to jump in to these online money schemes. Many companies folded as the dot-com boom began its downturn in 2000.

Konichiwa, E-Money

Today, however, for 15 million Japanese, paper money is a thing of the past, according to the Japan Research Institute. No longer solely used for online purchases, e-money, accessed via a smart card or mobile phone, has become a way of life for many consumers in Japan.

The e-money trend began there roughly four years ago as a service for busy, on-the-go train commuters. Today, specially equipped mobile phones and smart cards are used to purchase items from convenience stores, department stores, restaurants, newsstands, supermarkets, and other retailers. The Japan Research Institute estimated that by 2008 some 40 million Japanese, roughly one-third of the country, will be using electronic money.

Technologies such as FeliCa, from Sony, use integrated chips that enable devices to receive and emit electronic signals. These "contactless" or near-field communication (NFC) devices include mobile phones, transit cards, and prepaid e-money cards.

Japanese Economic Monthly reported last year that NTT DoCoMo, the country's leading mobile-communications company, had sold some 3.34 million handsets equipped with the FeliCa technology through April 2005. In 2005, the number of digital-money transactions more than doubled, averaging around 15.8 million each month, according to statistics from the two largest electronic-money providers in Japan. Some Japanese supermarkets have reported that up to 40 percent of all purchases now are made with e-cash.

Other countries, notably Hong Kong and Canada, also have implemented electronic-cash systems that have seen some adoption. But if you are waiting for similar technology to become the norm in the United States, you might want to hang on to those greenbacks.

Coming to America

Joe Levine, a senior analyst at Yankee Group, is skeptical that U.S. paper money or coins will fall by the wayside anytime soon. Creating a cashless society in the U.S. with either mobile phones or smart cards would require enormous effort by players in several industries, he said, including credit-card companies, mobile-phone service providers, manufacturers, and retailers.

Japan is so far along because companies like DoCoMo are the heavy hitters in their industries, Levine said, and have made significant investments to develop e-cash technologies. DoCoMo, for instance, invested some $900 million to acquire a 34 percent stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Cards, Japan's second-largest credit-card company.

After that deal, announced last April, the credit provider started developing point-of-sale terminals and ATMs for use with DoCoMo's mobile-wallet handsets. Levine said he has not seen anything like that type of commitment in the U.S., as American service providers do not seem as focused on e-money as an opportunity.

"We're more fragmented here [than in Japan], with a larger number of tier one [mobile companies] and a portion of the country that is served by tier-twos," Levine said. "There isn't the same sort of dominant player [like DoCoMo]. There isn't a single wireless company that if they got behind a standard, it would become the standard. And that's a significant difference, that we have a larger, less-consolidated market."

Charles Goldfinger, a consultant who has advised the
European Commission on e-finance and smart-card-based financial applications, agreed that DoCoMo's relative dominance in its industry and its base of some 50 million subscribers helped digital money become successful in Japan.

"In the U.S., the telcom situation is very different," Goldfinger said. "The fact that the U.S. has several major mobile services providers as well as several leading financial institutions will hinder the effort to achieve a digital-money standard."

Adapting Dinosaurs

Some technology prognosticators, including Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in 1994, have gone so far as to say that banks are "dinosaurs." When cash disappears, the argument goes, banks become extinct.

But banks as well as credit-card companies are already involved in developing contactless cards and other electronic-cash technologies. In Japan, for instance, said Goldfinger, the Central Bank in Japan was pushing for e-money, in particular through DoCoMo.

"Banks," said Goldfinger, "are adaptive dinosaurs and anyone who writes them off is crazy. I say that because they will still continue to run the payment business and ultimately [digital money] is a payment business."

According to Levine, the digital-money movement will be driven by credit-card companies, not mobile-service providers, which will have to find a way to work with the credit-card companies that already have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of merchant relationships in the U.S.

"Credit-card companies are already involved in digital money," said Levine. "Credit-card companies have been pushing hard to increase their share of small-value transactions. It's one of the last areas where credit cards are not used that widely."

Technological Baby Steps

Although Levine and Goldfinger both said that the U.S. is likely to be one of the last countries to make the shift to digital funds, they also said that some change has begun already.

Cingular, for example, is currently conducting a trial e-money system at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, home of that city's Hawks and Thrashers sports teams. The service, which uses Nokia mobile phones equipped with Phillips NFC chips, currently is available only to 250 season-ticket holders who have a Visa account with Chase bank. The fans use the phones to purchase concessions inside the arena.

Credit-card companies also are rolling out contactless credit cards. Blink by Chase, PayPass by Mastercard, Contactless by Visa, and Express Pay by American Express are the newest frontier for credit issuers. The NFC-based cards do away with swiping and signatures. Instead, consumers simply hold their card up to the reader and the transaction is complete.

The push in the last six months to launch the contactless cards is the second such effort by credit-card companies, and should be much more successful, Levine said.

"One of the keys this time around is that [the credit providers] have actually succeeded in getting a few major merchants to sign on," Levine said. "[Contactless cards] are supported more and more by major merchants and that's one of the big keys -- merchant acceptance."

Upgrading the point-of-sale payment system will cost merchants a significant sum, Levine said. It is a chicken-and-egg problem. Merchants are reluctant to make a significant investment in a technology that is not in the hands of consumers, and those same consumers are reticent to use a new technology that is only narrowly accepted.

One selling point of the new contactless cards, however, is that they still have the familiar magnetic stripe, so people can use them at any store.

"You're not going to have a person using something that is not accepted by a number of stores," Levine said. "That advantage here is that [for] the merchants that are enabled to do the contactless payment, you can wave [the card] and for those who are not, you can swipe it."

<SNIP>
To finish reading click on the link
Is It Time To Say Goodbye to Paper Money?

[Shammu]

Iran Vows to Complete Its Nuclear Program

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Wed Feb 1, 2:44 AM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Wednesday that his country will resist Western pressures to constrain its nuclear program, a day before a key vote by the U.N. nuclear watchdog likely to put
Iran before the Security Council.

"In nuclear energy, our nation will continue its path until full realization of its rights," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Bushehr, southern Iran, the site of Iran's only nuclear power plant.

"Nuclear energy is our right, and we will resist until this right is fully realized," he said.

Ahmadinejad's speech, broadcast live on state-run television, came hours after President Bush increased the pressure on Iran, saying in his State of the Union address Tuesday night that Iran "is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions, and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons."

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors will meet in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, where Iran's nuclear program may be reported to the Security Council. The five permanent members of the Security Council reached surprising agreement Tuesday that Iran should be hauled before the powerful body over its disputed nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said late Tuesday that Iran would end surprise inspections of its facilities by U.N. monitors and resume frozen nuclear activities if Tehran is reported to the Security Council.

"If it happens, the government will be required under the law to end the suspension of all nuclear activities it has voluntarily halted," Mottaki said.

Ahmadinejad also said Wednesday that Iran won't give in to "bully countries."

"Our nation can't give in to the coercion of some bully countries who imagine they are the whole world and see themselves equal to the entire globe," he said.

His speech drew chants of "Nuclear energy is our right" from the crowd.

Iran insists its nuclear program is civilian only and has no other purpose than to generate power. Enrichment can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material needed to build a warhead.

Iran Vows to Complete Its Nuclear Program

[Shammu]

 Greens say Iran has right to nuclear energy
Brussels, Feb 1, IRNA

EP-Iran-Greens
The leader of the fourth-largest political group in the European Parliament Wednesday criticized the European Union's policy towards Iran's nuclear programme as "immoral." "Iran has a right to security of energy supply. I am not in favour of nuclear energy as a Green, but we cant' depend on nuclear energy ourselves and then turn around and tell Iranians you cannot have it.

Its immoral,'' Daniel Cohn-Bendit, leader of the Greens European Free Alliance told the European Parliament in Brussels this afternoon during a debate on the Middle East.

"Yes, we have to say no to nuclear weapons, but at the same time we have to ensure that Iran has the security because it is one of the big issues since Iraq attacked Iran,'' he added.

Meanwhile, Angelika Beer MEP (Greens/EFA) member of the EP's Foreign Affairs Committee and Chairperson of its delegation to Iran, commenting on the decision of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to refer the dispute about Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council said "threats of sanctions would only have led to a further escalation. "
"It is now time to take advantage of the period running up to 6 March and the IAEA report to pursue further negotiations. All parties concerned should now focus on reaching a compromise that is acceptable to all concerned,'' she said in a statement.

"Any further threat of sanctions or even military strikes would represent a further unnecessary stumbling block on the road to a peaceful solution," added Beer who represents the German Greens.

With 42 members the Greens/EFA is the fourth largest political group in the 732-member EP.

Greens say Iran has right to nuclear energy

[Shammu]

 Iran, UAE explore expansion of trade relations
Tehran, Feb 2, IRNA

Iran-UAE-Trade
Iran and UAE explored here Wednesday ways of expanding bilateral trade relations.

Iranian Commercial attache in UAE Qassem Mirzaie told IRNA that the meeting focused on expansion of trade ties between Iran's Mazandaran province and Dubai.

The meeting was attended by over 50 private and public officials of the Mazandaran province who discussed removing hurdles in expansion of investments and trade relations.

Mirzaie who is also the head of Iran Trade Center in Dubai said that the UAE official stressed that the Iran-UAE trade exchange which stood at dlrs 3.3 billion in 2005, should be increased through holding trade exhibitions.

Many companies from Mazandaran active in various areas including automobile parts manufacturing, carpets, tourism, plant and flower participated in an exclusive exhibition which opened Monday and completed work Wednesday.

Textiles, transportation-related equipment, electronic gadgets, fake jewelry, and precious stones are some of reexports by Dubai, he added.

He said the Iranian businessmen in the UAE should strive to correct the trade imbalance between the two Persian Gulf nations.

Mirzaie said that the figures indicate that the bilateral trade stood at close to dlrs eight billion in 2004.

The volume of UAE's imports from Iran does not correspond to our industrial and trade capabilities and potentials. "The Iranian industrialists and traders should put more efforts to turn the trade figures around," he underlined.

He also urged the Iranian entrepreneurs to channel their investments into Iran. He further called for cooperation of Iranian businessmen to confront goods smuggling to Iran.

Dubai reexports to Iran, which have ranked first in reexports from the emirate in the past 10 years, dropped in the 2004, the Dubai Customs Internet Site reported here last month.

"Iran's reexports from Dubai totaled 10.348 billion Dirhams and ranked second after India last year," it said.

In 2004, Dubai had over 80 percent of total non-oil foreign trade of United Arab Emirates.

According to unofficial reports, the values of Iran's imports from Dubai were more than dlrs 4 billion in 2002.

Iran opened its trade center in UAE in June with the presence of Iranian and UAE trade ministers. Several UAE and Iranian officials were also present at the centers' opening ceremonies.

Iran, UAE explore expansion of trade relations

My note; Yes everything is coming together nicely.

[Shammu]

Putin Boasts of New Missile's Capability
Putin Boasts That Russia Has New Missiles That Can Penetrate Any Defense System; Briefs Chirac
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
The Associated Press

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin boasted Tuesday that Russia has new missiles capable of penetrating any missile defense system and said he had briefed the French president on their capabilities.

"Russia has tested missile systems that no one in the world has," Putin said. "These missile systems don't represent a response to a missile defense system, but it doesn't matter to them whether that exists or not. They are hypersonic and capable of changing their flight path."

Putin said the new missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads. He wouldn't say whether the Russian military already had commissioned any such missiles.

Putin said he had shown the working principles of the missile system to French President Jacques Chirac during a visit to a Russian military facility. "He knows what I'm talking about," Putin said.

In April 2004, Chirac became the first Western leader to visit Russia's top-secret Titov space control center, which controls all of its satellites and is involved in launching its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Putin said the new missiles were capable of changing both altitude and direction, making it impossible for an enemy to intercept them since "a missile defense system is designed to counter missiles moving along a ballistic trajectory."

Putin and other Russian officials have boasted of the new missiles in similar comments in recent years, but they haven't identified them or given any further details other than about their ability to change their flight path on approach to a target.

Military analysts said Russian forces experimented with a maneuvering warhead during a missile launch several years ago, but voiced doubt about their ability to deploy such weapons anytime soon.

Analysts said the new warheads, designed to zigzag on their approach to targets, could be fitted to new land-based Topol-M missiles and the prospective Bulava missiles for the Russian navy, now under development.

Russia opposed Washington's withdrawal in 2002 from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to deploy a national missile defense shield, saying the 30-year-old U.S.-Soviet pact was a key element of international security. Putin called the decision a mistake that would hurt global security but not threaten Russia.

The ABM treaty banned missile defense systems on the assumption that the fear of retaliation would prevent each nation from launching a first strike a strategy known as mutually assured destruction.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia would commission new early warning radars to replace those located in the former Soviet republics. The new radars will "provide an earlier warning on launches of all missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as tactical and cruise missiles," Ivanov said, according to Russian news reports.

The Russian military has used Soviet-built early warning radars located in Azerbaijan and Ukraine, and it has been involved in rent and other arguments over the issue. Ivanov said the commissioning of new radars will allow Russia to stop using them.

Putin Boasts of New Missile's Capability

[Shammu]

RUSSIA, SYRIA MULL DEFENSE PROJECTS

MOSCOW [MENL] -- Russia and Syria have been discussing the prospect of expanding defense and military cooperation.

A Russian military delegation has been touring military bases and headquarters in Syria as part of an effort to increase cooperation with the regime of President Bashar Assad. The delegation, led by Chief of Staff Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, has met his counterpart, Gen. Ali Habib, as well as senior Syrian commanders and defense officials.

"We regard this as a very important visit on the strategic level," a Russian source said.

Over the last year, Russia has signed an agreement to provide the SA-18 short-range anti-aircraft system to the Syrian Army. The deal, estimated at $20 million, called for the SA-18, or Strella-S, to be mounted on 4x4 trucks. The SA-18 has been usually sold as a man-portable system.

RUSSIA, SYRIA MULL DEFENSE PROJECTS

[Shammu]

Bush: US would defend Israel against Iran
Reuters

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - President George W. Bush vowed on Wednesday the United States will rise to Israel's defense if needed against Iran and denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for "menacing talk" against the Israelis.

In a Reuters interview aboard Air Force One en route to Nashville, Bush also said he saw a "very good chance" that the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency will refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Bush: US would defend Israel against Iran

[Shammu]

Two Courts Strike Abortion Ban

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2006

(AP) Two federal appeals courts on opposite sides of the country declared the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional Tuesday, saying the measure is vague and lacks an exception for cases in which a woman's health is at stake.

The first ruling came from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Hours later, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued a similar decision, affirming a 2004 ruling by a judge who upheld the right to perform a type of late-term abortion even as he described the procedure as "gruesome, brutal, barbaric and uncivilized."

The law, signed in 2003, banned a procedure known to doctors as intact dilation and extraction and called partial-birth abortion by abortion foes. The fetus is partially removed from the womb, and the skull is punctured or crushed.

President Bush signed the abortion ban in 2003, but it was not enforced because of legal challenges in several states.

The ban covers a procedure generally performed in the second trimester, in which a fetus is partially removed from the womb and the skull punctured.

A federal judge in Nebraska also has ruled the ban unconstitutional. The Nebraska ruling was upheld in July by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tuesday's decisions were also expected to be appealed to the high court.

The ban, which President Clinton twice vetoed, was seen by abortion rights activists as a fundamental departure from the Supreme Court's 1973 precedent in Roe v. Wade. But the Bush administration has argued that the procedure is cruel and unnecessary and causes pain to the fetus.

Two Courts Strike Abortion Ban

My note; President Bush signed the abortion ban in 2003, but it was not enforced because of legal challenges in several states.

[Shammu]

New terror attacks 'must be expected'
(Filed: 02/02/2006)

The Government's anti-terror watchdog has warned there is a "a real and present danger" of new terror attacks in Britain.

Lord Carlile, the Government's independent reviewer of counter-terrorism laws, said documents shown to him by the Home Office were "sufficiently alarming" for him to conclude that suicide bombings similar to the July 7 attacks "must be expected".

The Liberal Democrat peer said: "The nature of the activities of which I have seen information is sufficiently alarming for me to re-emphasise ... the real and present danger of shocking terrorism acts involving suicide bombers.

"Further suicide bombings in the UK must be expected, and the targets are unpredictable."

Lord Carlile made the comments in a report on the Terrorism Act 2005, and expressed "real concern" about the indefinite detention of nine men held while the Government attempts to reach "no torture" agreements with their home countries.

He recommended the men should be released on control orders - which are imposed where there is not enough evidence to mount a criminal trial but the individuals cannot be deported because of human rights concerns - until such agreements were reached.

"It would have been far preferable for memoranda of understanding to have been reached before the deportation detentions took place," he said.
    
London bombings

"How long the present situation for those persons can continue may be a matter for the courts to determine.

"Given that there is the control order system in existence, it would be preferable for that system to be used against the persons concerned until suitable memoranda have been achieved."

New terror attacks 'must be expected'

[Shammu]

 Attack on Iran will be construed as attack on us: Pakistan minister
Islamabad, Feb. 02, IRNA

Pakistan-Persian
A senior minister of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on Thursday said that any possible attack on Iran would be construed as an attack on Pakistan.

Finance Minister Sirajul Haq expressed these views during his visit to the Iranian Cultural Centre in Peshawar on Thursday, wherein he met the Incharge of the centre Masood Islami.

He attributed deep-rooted Iran-Pakistan relations to Persian language.

The minister rejected the US and West pressure and conspiracies against the Islamic Republic.

Welcoming election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iranian president, the minister said with his courageous leadership and views, he had become the spokesman of the entire one billion Islamic Ummah.

He expressed regrets over the bid to weaken Persian language in the Middle East while welcoming the victory of Hamas in the recent election.

"In collective life of both countries' peoples and mutual unity between Iran and Pakistan, Persian language has played an important role," he maintained.

Peeping in to history, he said that British rulers also tried to do away with Persian during their occupation of the region.

Persian language, he continued, not only brought Iran and Pakistan closer, but also played a role in spreading the message of Islamic Revolution in effective manner.

Youth had keen interest in learning Persian language, mainly because the real actual message of Islam was in Arabic and Persian, he said.

"We are proud of being neighbour of a country of Iran's stature," he added.

Masood Islami expressed the hope that Iran's progress in science and technology would help the Muslim Ummah in coping with the Western challenges.

Before the minister's comments, Pakistan's Ambassador to Iran, Shafqat Saeed has also during an interview with "IRNA" had opposed taking Iran's issue to the Security Council and called for its settlement through dialogue.

Former minister and senior leader of Pakistan Peoples' Party Naseerullah Babar had also cautioned that the US and West's pressure, if resulted in sanctions on Iran would have negative impact globally.

He said that the legitimate right of a country could not be snatched away by coercion or pressure or sanctions.

Leader of Opposition in the lower house of Parliament Maulana Fazlur Rehman had also supported Iran's bid to use nuclear technology for prosperity and well-being of its people. He had pointed out that Iran would abide by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, being signatory to it.

Attack on Iran will be construed as attack on us: Pakistan minister

[Shammu]

 Reporting Iran to UN 'grave mistake,' warns Greenpeace
London, Feb 2, IRNA

Iran Nuclear-Greenpeace
Greenpeace International Thursday warned IAEA board member meeting in Vienna not to report Iran to the UN Security Council, saying it was "not the right body" to resolve whether a country has the right to a nuclear programme.

"This is a grave mistake. It's the triumph of hawkish sabre- rattling over diplomacy. It's the beginning of a slide toward war," the environmentalist organization said.

It said it was opposed to any nation acquiring nuclear technology and nuclear weapons, but believed "the best way to ensure that doesn't happen is for the IAEA to have continued access to Iranian facilities."
Greenpeace pointed out that Iran has already made clear that if the matter goes to the Security Council it will restrict inspections and no longer comply with requests to reveal information above and beyond what is legally required under existing treaty obligations.

"As past situations have shown, in particular in Iraq, any action that restricts inspections and that closes opportunities to rebuild confidence can only lead to a confidence vacuum," it warned in a statement obtained by IRNA.

"The UN Security Council is simply not the right body to resolve a conflict over whether a country has a right to a nuclear programme or not," the environmentalist group said.

It said the Security Council has "failed to live up to its Charter obligations to minimize human and economic resources spent on armaments, or to advance the goal of a Middle East nuclear free zone." Instead, Greenpeace said, the permanent members, who have nuclear weapons, have participated in arms races and weapons profiteering, stubbornly refusing to comply with treaty commitments to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.

"Given this record, how can the Security Council resolve the Iran crisis? Given the failure to treat the nuclear weapons programmes of other countries with the same vigilance as Iran's, how can the accusation of hypocrisy not have a ring of truth?" it asked.

The environmentalist organisation said that the "only solution to this crisis is a Nuclear Free Zone in the Middle East."
"It's a vital first step towards removing all nuclear
proliferation risks in the region, as well as providing the essential security guarantees from nuclear weapons states outside the region," it said.

Greenpeace suggested that Iran has an opportunity to stop this slide toward war by calling for a regional nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.

"The international community has an opportunity to stop this slide toward war by pursuing exactly the same thing," it said.

Reporting Iran to UN 'grave mistake,' warns Greenpeace

[Shammu]

Updated Feb. 4, 2006 1:48
Egyptian ferry carrying 1400 sinks
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAIRO, Egypt

Over 300 survivors have been rescued from the wreck of the Egyptian ferry Salaam 98, and 185 more passengers' bodies have been retrieved, Egypt's Minister of Transport Mohammed Lutfy Mansour said Friday night.

Egypt has thus far declined offers of search and rescue assistance from the United States, Britain, and Israel.

The Salaam 98 sank 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada, head of the Egyptian Maritime Authority, Mahfouz Taha Marzouk, said Friday.

Four Egyptian frigates have sailed to rescue survivors, Mansour told CNN shortly before the sinking of the ship was announced.

"The Coast Guard is doing every in its power to try to rescue these people," Mansour said.
Asked about the safety of the ship, Mansour said: "It met safety requirements. The number of passengers on board is less than the maximum number of people."

However, Sky News reported that the number of passengers, 1415, exceeded by some 20 percent the maximum number allowed on board.

The ship disappeared from radar screens shortly after sailing from the western Saudi port of Dubah at seven p.m. local time on Thursday night, the maritime officials in Suez said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press. The ship was due to have arrived at Egypt's port of Safaga at 3 a.m. local time.

Dubah and Safaga lie virtually opposite each other, about 120 miles apart, at the northern end of the Red Sea.

The ship is owned by the Egyptian firm El-Salaam Maritime Transport Co. and was carrying 1,300 passengers, the official added. Some of the passengers are believed to be pilgrims returning from the annual ubgone86 to Mecca, which ended last month.

The company's owner, Mamdouh Ismail, said the ship is more than 25 years old and registered in Panama. He spoke before the sinking was announced and refused to comment further.

A ship owned by the same company, also carrying pilgrims, collided with a cargo ship at the southern entrance to the Suez Canal in October, causing a stampede among passengers trying to escape the sinking ship. Two people were killed and 40 injured.

Egyptian ferry carrying 1400 sinks

[Shammu]

 Iran 'confident and ready to hit back at US'
By Alec Russell in Washington and Anton La Guardia
(Filed: 03/02/2006)

Iran's clerical regime is supremely confident, has a firm grip on power and is ready to retaliate against attacks by America or Israel with missiles or by activating terrorist allies, according to the latest US intelligence assessment.

In his first public address on the threats facing the US, John Negroponte, its national intelligence director, delivered an implied rebuke to those in Washington hoping the West can engineer regime change in Teheran.

But as the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing body prepared to vote on a resolution to report Iran to the UN Security Council, Mr Negroponte suggested there was no imminent threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Teheran "probably" did not have an atomic bomb or the fissile material to make one, he said. But the risk Iran could make or buy a nuclear device and mount it on its missiles was "reason for immediate concern", he added.

Mr Negroponte told the Senate's intelligence committee: "Iran already has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. And Teheran views its ballistic missiles as an integral part of its strategy to deter and, if necessary, retaliate against forces in the region, including United States forces."

Washington's neo-conservatives drew heart from President George W Bush's veiled call in Tuesday's State of the Union address for the Iranian people to rise up against the mullahs.

But Mr Negroponte's analysis highlighted the difficulties of confronting Iran, politically or militarily.

"The regime today is more confident and assertive than it has been since the early days of the Islamic Republic. Several factors work in favour of the clerical regime's continued hold on power," he added, citing Teheran's "generous public spending" funded by record oil revenues as one of them.
    
Iran factfile

He also noted that the Iranian-backed Hizbollah group in Lebanon "has a worldwide support network and is capable of attacks against US interests if it feels its Iranian patron is threatened".

Mr Negroponte said Iran's involvement in Iraq was a "particular concern" but added: "Teheran's intentions to inflict pain on the United States in Iraq have been constrained by its caution to avoid giving Washington an excuse to attack it, also the clerical leadership's general satisfaction with trends in Iraq, and Iran's desire to avoid chaos on its border."

While Washington's hawks believe America needs to be more confrontational towards Teheran, Bush administration officials are speaking with great caution. In particular, they are hailing the diplomacy that has won the support of Russia and China in hauling Iran before the UN Security Council.

Stephen Rademaker, the acting assistant secretary of state for security and non-proliferation, said that America's patience had "paid off".

He added that America was still hoping Iran would prove to be a textbook example of how to deal with a crisis through "effective multilateralism".

Iran 'confident and ready to hit back at US'

[Shammu]

Russia Seeks Closer Ties with Islamic Countries — FM

Created: 03.02.2006 11:07 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:07 MSK, 22 hours 48 minutes ago

MosNews

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday Russia intends to strengthen relations with Islamic countries.

Lavrov emphasized that closer ties could help resolve key international problems, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the row over Iran’s controversial nuclear program, as well as the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, Radio Free Europe said.

Lavrov made the comments at a reception for ambassadors from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states in Moscow.

Malaysian ambassador Dato Mohamed Khalis, whose country holds the rotating chairmanship of the OIC, said Russia could help build a bridge between the West and the Islamic world.

The 57-nation organization agreed last year to invite Russia to attend future meetings as an observer.

Russia Seeks Closer Ties with Islamic Countries