JERUSALEM – Israel’s public security minister warned Saturday that a U.S. intelligence report that said Iran is no longer developing nuclear arms could lead to a regional war that would threaten the Jewish state. In his remarks – Israel’s harshest criticism yet of the U.S. report – Avi Dichter said the assessment also cast doubt on American intelligence in general, including information about Palestinian security forces’ crackdown on militant groups. The Palestinian action is required as part of a U.S.-backed renewal of peace talks with Israel this month. Dichter cautioned that a refusal to recognize Iran’s intentions to build weapons of mass destruction could lead to armed conflict in the Middle East. He compared the possibility of such fighting to a surprise attack on Israel in 1973 by its Arab neighbors, which came to be known in Israel for the Yom Kippur Jewish holy day on which it began. ‘The American misconception concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons is liable to lead to a regional Yom Kippur where Israel will be among the countries that are threatened,’ Dichter said in a speech in a suburb south of Tel Aviv, according to his spokesman, Mati Gil. ‘Something went wrong […]
NUSA DUA, Indonesia — The world’s countries, trying to wrap up two weeks of intense and at times emotional talks here on a two-year timetable for reviving an ailing, aging climate treaty, appeared close to a final agreement on Saturday but divisions remained. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, implored the assembly: ‘You have before you a strong and good draft. Seize the moment, this moment for the good of all humanity.’ Earlier, agreement appeared within sight after a significant policy shift by the Bush administration, which had long rejected the need to formally negotiate new steps to avoid climate dangers. This time, the United States agreed to set a deadline for an addendum to the original treaty, which was signed by Mr. Bush’s father in 1992. But some countries, notably China and India, still objected to parts of a compromise that was reached, and later United States representatives said they could not accept the deal either. The agreement would note the need for ‘urgency’ in addressing climate change and recognize that ‘deep cuts in global emissions will be required.’ Still, it would not bind the United States or any country to commitments on […]
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s voting rights chief stepped down Friday amid allegations that he’d used the position to aid a Republican strategy to suppress African-American votes. John Tanner became the latest of about a dozen senior department officials, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who’ve resigned in recent months in a scandal over the politicization of the Justice Department in the Bush administration. In recent months, McClatchy has reported on a pattern of decision-making within the department’s Civil Rights Division, of which the Voting Rights Section is a part, that tended to narrow the voting rights of Democratic-leaning minorities. Tanner has been enmeshed for months in congressional investigations over his stewardship of the unit that was established to protect minority-voting rights. He drew increased focus this fall after he told a Latino group: ‘African-Americans don’t become elderly the way white people do. They die.’ In addition, the Justice Department opened an internal investigation into allegations that Tanner unfairly had deprived two veteran African-American staffers of bonuses and that he and a deputy had misused tax dollars on official trips. Department spokesman Peter Carr said in a statement that Tanner, of his own accord, “made […]
BRUSSELS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday urged all sides in Lebanon to grab a ‘last chance’ next week to finally elect a president after a series of postponements. ‘Monday is really the last chance, and France calls on all parties, inside and outside, to ensure that Lebanon can have a president,’ he told reporters after an EU summit in Brussels. ‘Those would take the risk of killing off that chance would cut themselves off from a number of countries, first among them France,’ Sarkozy warned. Lebanon has been without a head of state since November 23 when incumbent Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term, with rival political parties unable to agree on a successor. A parliamentary session is due to be held Monday to elect a president but it is widely believed it will be postponed, as has happened on eight previous occasions since September. Further destabalising the country was the recent car bomb killing of a senior army commander whose funeral was held Friday.
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
