Saudis pull plug on Lebanese TV station after lewd content is aired

Saudi Arabian officials have closed a second office of a Lebanese broadcasting network, this one in Riyadh, after the network aired an interview with a Saudi man who bragged about his sex life, authorities said. Pakistani police registered a case Tuesday against Musharraf over his order to arrest and detain judges in late 2007, the Pakistani High Commission in London said. As a result, “If Musharraf returned to Pakistan, he would face a court who would decide whether he is arrested or released on bail,” a spokeswoman for the High Commission said

Share

Iranian speaker calls for detainee rape probe

Iran’s influential parliament speaker has called for an investigation into allegations that post-election detainees were raped while in custody, state-run media said. Ali Larijani said that a special parliamentary panel “had carried out investigations into the situation in [Iranian] jails and the treatment of detainees and it should also look into whether jail rape allegations are true or false,” Press TV reported, citing Tabnak, a Web site associated with opposition politician Mohsen Rezaie. Meanwhile, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, the government body that keeps tabs on political dissenters, warned the media against revealing what it called “classified data” after reports Monday that Ahmadinejad had purged four senior intelligence officials, according to Press TV.

Share

46 killed, hundreds wounded in Iraq attacks

A series of bombings mostly targeting day laborers killed 46 people and wounded 215 in Iraq on Monday, the Ministry of Interior said. Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi, along with former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, should be tried for attempting to lead a Western-backed “velvet revolution” that aimed to topple the regime, the official said. “If Moussavi, Khatami …

Share

Top Iranian general: Let’s prosecute opposition leaders

A senior official with Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard is calling for the prosecution of two key opposition leaders and a former president, accusing them of fanning the protests that have gripped the nation since its disputed presidential election two months ago. Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi, along with former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, should be tried for attempting to lead a Western-backed “velvet revolution” that aimed to topple the regime, the official said.

Share

Analysis: Empty seats, silence speaks for protesters

In his inauguration speech at the Iranian parliament, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had something to say for almost everyone — his supporters, his opponents and those he called "enemies" without naming names. He hailed what he called an “epic election” but didn’t go into the turmoil of the past two months that ensued.

Share

Iran’s Show Trials: The Hard-Liners Build Their Case

On Sunday, Iran’s state TV broadcast a wrenching and stunning 20-minute confession from a well-known public figure. But former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a reformist cleric, was clearly not himself. For one, he was not allowed to wear his clerical robe, and he had lost visible weight

Share

Afghan candidate’s bicycle campaign for president

Every morning, Sangin Mohammed Rahmani says goodbye to his wife, gets on his bicycle, and sets out alone on a bumpy, unpaved Kabul road that he hopes will lead him to the presidency. “This is going to be my vehicle to success,” he says, patting his bicycle, as he pushes it down a rutted, garbage-strewn street. “With my bicycle and my mobile phone, I can solve all the problems of the people.” In a crowded field of 41 Afghan men and women running for president in upcoming August 20th elections, Rahmani stands out because of his one-man, bicycle-borne campaign to become commander-in-chief

Share