Iranian minister blames Britain, U.S. for unrest

Iran’s intelligence minister Sunday blamed Western powers for stirring up protests over its disputed presidential election, singling out Britain and saying the British Embassy in Tehran "played a heavy role in the recent disturbances." “The fact that Iran is stable, calm and secure, they’re upset with this,” Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hosein Mohseni Ejei told Iran’s Press TV.

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3 killed in drive-by at motorcycle fundraiser

Three people were killed and at least seven wounded Saturday in a drive-by shooting at a motorcycle club fundraiser in California, authorities said. The president was arrested at his residence and transported aboard a military plane to an unknown destination, the newspaper La Prensa reported.

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Honduras president arrested, local media report

The military arrested Honduras President Jose Manuel Zelaya on Sunday morning, the same day he vowed to follow through with a referendum that the country’s Supreme Court had ruled illegal, local media reported. The president was arrested at his residence and transported aboard a military plane to an unknown destination, the newspaper La Prensa reported. Military soldiers were on the street around the capital, but there was no reported unrest, according to Radio America

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Powerful ex-President Rafsanjani remains quiet in election fallout

He’s a key Iranian politician whose name is on the lips of opponents, supporters and experts alike in the bloody aftermath of the Iran’s presidential elections. But despite the chaos that’s plagued the Islamic Republic for the past two weeks — even resulting in the brief detention of his daughter — former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has remained silent and largely unseen. The last time the world saw Iran’s assembled leadership was June 19, when Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed the victory of hard-line incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the hotly contested June 12 election at Friday prayers.

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Ahmadinejad accuses Obama of interfering in election

Iran’s president slammed President Obama on Saturday, saying officials in the Islamic republic are astonished over what they see as his interference in Iran’s disputed elections. “Didn’t he say that he was after change” Ahmadinejad asked Iranian judiciary officials in a speech. “Why did he interfere Why did he utter remarks irrespective of norms and decorum” His remarks are countering Western criticism of the June 12 elections, which the government said Ahmadinejad won in a landslide.

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Argentina’s First Couple face election test

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has held power since 2003, and Sunday’s midterm elections will prove pivotal to her hold on power. Much depends on how Fernandez’s husband — and predecessor — Nestor Kirchner fares in his race for a deputy’s seat in the nation’s lower house. Even though he has not been in office since December 2007, some analysts say he remains the most influential political figure in the nation and the person who still makes most important policy decisions for his wife’s government.

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Sunday last day for Iran candidates to file complaints

The body overseeing elections in Iran reminded opposition candidates in the disputed presidential election that they have until Sunday to lodge any more complaints about the vote, state-run media reported. The Guardian Council “has called on all political and religious figures to voice their queries and present any documents on alleged irregularities,” according to comments Saturday from council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodaie, who was quoted by state-run Press TV

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Iranian envoy: CIA involved in Neda’s shooting?

The United States may have been behind the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old Iranian woman whose fatal videotaped shooting Saturday made her a symbol of opposition to the June 12 presidential election results, the country’s ambassador to Mexico said Thursday. “This death of Neda is very suspicious,” Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri said

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