Daily News Channel
French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the wearing of burkas on Monday, saying the traditional Muslim garment that covers women from head to toe was a "sign of subservience" and was not "welcome in France." In a speech before a joint session of parliament, Sarkozy said, “The problem of the burka is not a religious problem. This is an issue of a woman’s freedom and dignity
Pop quiz: what source of power doesn’t come out of the ground, doesn’t burn and isn’t radioactive? Hint: it contributed the most new electricity generation to the U.S. grid in 2008
If the street protests roiling Iran since its disputed election have created a problem for the leadership in Tehran, imagine the dilemma it raises for Iran’s allies elsewhere in the Middle East. Hizballah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was quick out of the blocks to congratulate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when the authorities announced his re-election, calling the result “a great hope to all the Mujahedeen and Resistance who are fighting against the forces of oppression and occupation.” But since supporters of defeated candidate Mir-Hussein Mousavi have taken to the streets to decry the election as rigged, Nasrallah has become more circumspect. And he specifically refuted suggestions that either candidate might be more pro-Hizballah than the other, and merely said “Iran is under the authority of the Wali Al Faqih and will pass through this crisis.” As a longtime client of Iran, Nasrallah is wise to hedge his bets, for he’ll need patronage and weapons from whomever emerges victorious in the post-election battle.
Thirty years after his father was overthrown by a popular uprising, the former crown prince of Iran has a unique perspective on the demonstrations gripping Iran these days. On Monday, at a Washington press conference, Reza Pahlavi, the onetime heir to the peacock throne, condemned Iran’s controversial presidential election of June 12 as “an ugly moment of disrespect for both God and man” and called on the Tehran regime to allow for “freedom, democracy, human rights [and] the right to choose.” Pahlavi believes that the situation in Iran has eroded dramatically, charging that the issues go “well beyond election.
Returning home one spring five years ago from a secret visit to Beijing in his armored, fully wired train car, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il got an unnerving, firsthand demonstration of the potential downside of technology. A huge explosion ripped through the Ryongchon border station, and some officials initially thought it was an assassination attempt triggered by a cell phone. As it turned out, the fireball was more likely the result of two trains’ colliding nearby, possibly as a result of miscommunication about changed schedules stemming from Kim’s clandestine travels
A series of five bombings killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens of others Monday in Baghdad, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. At least four people were killed and 20 others were wounded Monday evening when a bomb detonated in a market on the northeastern outskirts of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said. The bomb was attached to a motorcycle in the marketplace in the predominantly Shiite district of Hussainiya, the official said
The son of the former shah of Iran called Monday for solidarity against Iran’s Islamic regime, warning that the democratic movement born out of the election crisis might not succeed without international support. “The moment of truth has arrived,” Reza Shah Pahlavi said at Washington’s National Press Club
The contested election results in Iran have brought thousands onto the streets of Tehran in protest. So why have the voices of two of Iran’s most prominent critics — the United States and its leading ally the UK, so far been comparatively muted in their support of the protesters and in their criticisms of the regime?
Iranian lawmakers are calling for a review of the country’s ties with Britain because of its "interference in Iran’s recent post-election unrest," government-funded Press TV reported Monday. Iran’s influential parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, submitted the request Monday to the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission which called on the Foreign Ministry to review the relationship, the report said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran favors the expansion of relations with all countries, but will never accept interference of other states in its internal affairs,” commission spokesman Kazem Jalali said, according to Press TV
Florida, like many of America’s biggest states, can be frustrating to traverse. Driving between such major cities as Miami and Tampa is a back-numbing haul; flying between them, especially at the exorbitant fares many airlines charge, often seems impractical. And as the peninsula state’s population has exploded in recent years — it’s set to pass New York as the nation’s third-largest — its road and air corridors have become more gridlocked and eco-unfriendly.