Iran calls for new cut in OPEC oil output

12-3-2006 • AP

Iran's OPEC envoy Hossein Kazempour Ardebili called on the oil cartel to agree a new oil output cut at its next meeting to counter an oversupply of crude, official news agency IRNA reported.

Ex-spy claims Litvinenko was targeted

12-1-2006 • AP

A former Russian security service officer said he warned a former KGB agent who was fatally poisoned in London about a government-sponsored death squad that intended to kill him and other Kremlin opponents.

Letters 'revealed secret hit squad'

12-1-2006 • Yahoo! News (UK)

Scotland Yard has been passed copies of two letters apparently penned in jail by former Russian intelligence officer Mikhail Trepashkin, in one of which Mr Litvinenko is warned that both he and his family are at risk.

Huge Hezbollah-led rally demands Lebanon govt quit

12-1-2006 • Reuters

Hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah-led protesters rallied on Friday at the doorstep of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to force the resignation of his U.S.-backed government. "We want a clean government," one banner read. "Siniora out,

Russia starts supplies of Su-30 fighters to Venezuela

12-1-2006 • RIA Novosti

Russia has shipped the first two Su-30MK2 multi-role fighters to Venezuela. Russia signed $1-billion contracts on supplies of 24 Su-30MK2 Flanker fighters and 30 helicopters to Venezuela prior to this year's visit to Russia by Venezuelan Presiden

Amsterdam to shut prostitution 'windows'

12-1-2006 • AP

The City of Amsterdam said Thursday it is shutting down nearly one-third of the 350 prostitution "windows" in the city's famed red light district as part of a crackdown on crime in the area.

Poisoning suspected in Gaidar case

11-30-2006 • New York Times

Doctors treating former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar believed he was poisoned, an aide said Thursday. Gaidar, 50, who served briefly as prime minister in the 1990's under President Boris Yeltsin and is one of the leaders of the liberal op

Disembowelled, then torn apart: The price of daring to teach girls

11-30-2006 • The Independent

The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely. But his life was over, he was part-disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes, the remains put on display as a warning to others

Africa faces growing obesity problem

11-29-2006 • AP

Africa, a continent usually synonymous with hunger, is falling prey to obesity. It's a trend driven by new lifestyles and old beliefs that big is beautiful. Ask Nodo Njobo, a plump hairdressing assistant. She is coy about her weight, but like man

Read Iranian President's letter to you for yourself

11-29-2006 • Raw Story

Noble Americans, Were we not faced with the activities of the US administration in this part of the world and the negative ramifications of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the

Why Turks Are Not Pleased to See the Pope

11-28-2006 • Time

For many in Turkey, the visiting pontiff personifies the mounting hostility they feel from Europe. For many Turks, Benedict, who once warned that letting Turkey into the EU would be "a grave error against the tide of history," personifies E

E-voting stirs suspicion in Venezuela

11-28-2006 • AP

Under pressure from opponents of President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's elections council has adopted safeguards for the country's electronic voting machines to prevent tampering in Sunday's election — conditions so strict that experts say th

Tiger leader hints at renewed war

11-28-2006 • Irish Examiner

Tamil Tiger rebels attacked Sri Lankan troops with heavy artillery today, the military said, a day after the top Tamil Tiger leader declared a 2002 ceasefire "defunct," suggesting the insurgents would renew their violent struggle for an ind

Stockpile in case of Venezuela vote chaos, U.S. says

11-28-2006 • Reuters

The United States warned people to stockpile food, water and medicine in Venezuela in case a vote on Sunday sparks public disorder as anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez seeks reelection. [or we invade]

Castro succession takes shape in Cuba under brother

11-28-2006 • Reuters

Whether or not ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro reappears in public this week at his 80th birthday celebration, a successor government led with stealth by his brother Raul appears to be firmly in place.

Witness in Chinese activist trial held

11-28-2006 • AP

A witness who claimed he was coerced into testifying against a blind Chinese activist has been taken away by local police on the eve of a retrial of the case, the activist's lawyer said.

Second Trial for Chinese Rights Advocate Ends in Acrimony

11-28-2006 • NY Times

A Chinese legal expert who exposed abuses in the country’s population control policies got a rare second trial today, but his lawyers accused local authorities of preventing them from mounting a vigorous defense.

China weighs Iran and Iraq risks for oil prize

11-28-2006 • Reuters

Hungry for oil and gas, China may take on political risks in Iran and security risks in Iraq to get a foothold where Western firms fear to tread. Iran and Iraq together have 19 percent of global oil reserves and some of the world's biggest und

Couple plan to sue RCMP over 911 reaction

11-27-2006 • North Shore News (kudos Steve A.)

They will sue the North Vancouver RCMP after officers responded to their hang-up 911 call by breaking down their door, making a forceful arrest and jailing them overnight when the couple refused to allow a house-search.

Somalia government orders weapons handover

11-28-2006 • AP

[the first order of business] Leaders of the Islamic militia controlling much of Somalia ordered the handover of all unauthorized weapons, but did not say how it would enforce the directive in a heavily armed country amid fears of a regional w

Police targeting would-be criminals before they offend

11-28-2006 • AFP

British criminal psychologists are putting together a list of the 100 most dangerous murderers and rapists before they have committed any such crimes. Currently focussing on individuals who could turn from domestic violence to murder

Swift in post-9/11 privacy breach

11-26-2006 • Financial Times

A leading bank transfer service breached European Union data privacy rules by giving US anti-terror investigators access to private financial information, EU monitors found. A growing clash between Brussels and Washington over the impact of anti-terr

Middle East facing three civil wars, not just Iraq: Abdullah

11-26-2006 • AFP

The Middle East faces the dire prospect not only of possible civil war in Iraq, but three separate civil wars in the region, King Abdullah II of Jordan has said, "whether it's the Palestinians, that of Lebanon or of Iraq."

Was former KGB agent murdered over false-flag terrorism within Russia?

11-26-2006 • by Larisa Alexandrovna (Raw Story)

Were a Russian journalist and an ex-KGB officer murdered over an investigation of the Beslan terrorist attack?

Leftist Chavez ally leads in Ecuador vote

11-26-2006 • Reuters

Ecuador's leftist Rafael Correa, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, appeared close to victory in Sunday's presidential run-off election after exit polls and unofficial counts showed he had surged ahead of his banana magnate rival.

China filling void in UN Peacekeeping

11-26-2006 • Washington Post

When African nations began urging the deployment of peacekeepers to Somalia in June to prop up its embattled government, an unlikely nation stepped forward to support their call for action: China, which had long been wary of such interventions

Al-Sadr loyalists take over Iraqi TV Station

11-26-2006 • McClatchy

Followers of militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took over state run TV Saturday to denouce the Iraqi government, label Sunnis "terrorists" and issue what appeared to many viewers as a call to arms. The 2 hour broadcast from a community

NATO set to expand role to tackle WMD and terrorism

11-26-2006 • Financial Times

The NATO alliance, stretched by operations in Afghanistan, should further expand its role to include counter-terrorism, cyber-security and the security of natural resources, according to a classified document to be endorsed by presidents and p

A Rare Material and a Surprising Weapon

11-24-2006 • NY Times

If substantial amounts of polonium 210 were used to poison Alexander V. Litvinenko, whoever did it presumably had access to a high-level nuclear laboratory and put himself at some risk carrying out the assassination, experts said.

Former KGB agent dies in London hospital

11-23-2006 • The Guardian

Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who is suspected of having been poisoned by his country's security services, died, the hospital treating him said. The ex-KGB officer had been fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack overnight