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North Korea has deported an American veteran who\'d been held since October for alleged hostile acts against Pyongyang. North Korean officials say they\'ve released 85-year-old Merrill Newman after he apologized for his alleged crimes during the Korean War, and also because of his age and health condition. The war veteran was pulled from a plane on October 26th while preparing to leave the country after a 10-day tour. He\'s now landed in Beijing, expressing happiness to be on his way home. Meanwhile, U-S Vice President Joe Biden has hailed North Korea for releasing the man, saying it was wrong to detain him in the first place. Biden has also called for another detained American to be swiftly released.

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[22 June 2012] Water occupation - Remember Palestine - English On December 13, 2011, the French National Assembly issued a 320-page report entitled, The Geopolitics of Water, which dedicated 20 pages to an alleged water war between Israelis and Palestinians. Employing the incendiary term apartheid, the report's lead author, Jean Glavany, accused Israel of usurping Palestinian water sources and showing favoritism to 450,000 settlers who purportedly use more water than 2.3 million Palestinians in the West Bank. This year the UN also reported from the 530 springs they surveyed in the West Bank 30, mostly in areas where Israel retains military control, were taken over by the settlers. It added that Palestinians currently had limited access to 26 other springs where settlers had moved in and threatened to take control. This month, local security forces in Jenin said that the bulldozers destroyed the well near Beit ad village, north of Jenin. The well belonged to a Palestinian resident of Tubas and provided water for tens of acres in Beit Qad plain. Sources added that a handful of military machinery, supported by two bulldozers were in the area during the destruction of the well. The governor of Jenin, Talal Dweikat, denounced the destruction of the well which he described as designed to fight the rights of Palestinians. Dweikat also said that this issue has come to shape an important worry for all districts in Palestine, especially Jenin which has been suffering continuously from similar attacks.

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Anti-fascist protesters have gathered outside an Athens Supreme Court, where two alleged Golden Dawn affiliates are tried for fatally stabbing 26-year old Pakistani worker Sahzad Loukman one year ago today. The victim\'s family travelled from Pakistan to attend the trial.

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A human rights organization in Egypt has urged the prosecutor general to launch an independent probe into alleged systematic torture of political detainees. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has said in a statement that torturing the detainees is not an arbitrary practice but a planned one. The Cairo-based body says the torture incidents reported by those arrested during the third anniversary of the 2011 revolution has surpassed those under the worst dictatorial regimes. It says the national human rights council has already been informed of the violations of prisoners\' rights. The Arab Network for rights information has also accused Egypt\'s Interior Ministry of refusing to arrest officers allegedly involved in killing of protesters.

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An Israeli Lawyer Defending Palestinian Suicide Attackers?! - English Lea Tsemel is an Israeli lawyer whose clients have been exclusively Palestinian. Tsemel has rarely ever turned a case down and has defended men, women, and increasingly children who are tried in Israeli courts for alleged crimes ranging from stone throwing to attempted suicide bombings.

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Latest News: 15th May 2008 Saudi-Israeli plot against Hezbollah Thu, 15 May 2008 16:36:28 Prince Bandar bin Sultan (L), Ehud Olmert Former Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar bin Sultan asks Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to move against Hezbollah. Saudi's Prince Bandar bin Sultan has formally requested Olmert to move the Zionist regime's military forces in the north of the Occupied Lands on the border with Lebanon as a threat against Hezbollah if the latter did not stop attacking government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Filkka - Israel website revealed Wednesday. Bandar bin Sultan arrived in the Occupied Territories in his private plane directly from Jeddah airport to Lod Airport in Tel Aviv. Bin Sultan asked Olmert to do what is necessary to support PM Siniora, offering to bear all the financial costs of any Israeli war against Hezbollah. Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert who is under investigation in a bribe case, said that he could not do so now, assuring his guest that he could not wage a war on behalf of Saudi Arabia, but he will discuss the issue with the Israeli officials in order to carry out military maneuvers in the south of Lebanon. Old News UK bribery disgrace in trade with Saudi Arabia: Former Saudi Ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan received hundreds of millions of pounds in secret payments from Britain's top defence manufacturer with the knowledge of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, according to the BBC. The payments made by BAE Systems were actually a conduit to Bandar for his role in the multi-billion al-Yamamah arms agreement, Britain's biggest ever export deal signed in 1985, the state-funded broadcaster said it had learned Thursday. The alleged bribes were said to have been discovered during a year-long inquiry conducted by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), but which was abruptly halted last December after Blair said the investigation was a threat to national security. The dropping of the investigation also came amid concerns that it might jeopardize a new multi-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia to supply Eurofighters. The BBC said that the payments, believed to total more than Pnds one billion (Dlrs 1.9 bn), were sent to two Saudi embassy accounts in Washington, were written into the government-to-government arms deal contract in secret annexes. Allegations previously made in the British press have also suggested that Mark Thatcher, son of the British prime minister at the time, was also involved in the deal. The al-Yamamah deal included the supply of more than 100 Tornado aircraft and is estimated to have been worth over Pnds 40 billion (Dlrs 78 bn) over more than a decade. The new claims, to be made in the BBC's current affairs Panorama programme next Monday prompted the head of parliament's committee which investigates strategic exports, Labour MP Roger Berry, to call for a proper investigation into the allegations. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said that if ministers in either the present or previous governments were involved there should be a "major parliamentary inquiry". "It is one thing for a company to have engaged in alleged corruption overseas. It is another thing if British government ministers have approved it," Cable said

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In line with foreign media attempts to disrupt post-election stability in Iran, CNN has broadcast a false report which contradicts footage obtained by Press TV. CNN broadcast an interview with a so-called anonymous witness of Wednesday's protest in Tehran's Baharestan Square, with the aim of depicting Iranian security forces as villains. Footage obtained by Press TV reporters display some 200 protesters 'illegally' gathering in front of Iran's parliament and at a nearby subway station on Wednesday, to protest the result of the June 12th election. The CNN's report, however, contains a call from an alleged female witness in Tehran who supposedly describes the situation as the 'massacre' of protesters by the police in Baharestan Square. The following is an excerpt from CNN newscaster's conversation with the alleged witness: CNN: You tell us what you saw today when you tried to go to Baharestan Square? Witness: Police stopped everyone at Sa'di. They emptied the buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on. All of a sudden 500 people with clubs and woods came out of Hedayat Mosque and poured into the streets. They started beating everyone and throwing them off Sa'di Bridge. This was a massacre. CNN: We are not only getting this report from you. We got a report from another source in Tehran describing the situation today being terrible, saying people were being shot like animals; they beat people like animals. Are you safe right now? Witness: Yes, exactly, exactly. This is what was happening. They beat people so bad. However, Press TV, which is based in Tehran and was present at the scene, did not find even traces of the false and unfounded report. It remains unclear, whether CNN -- which has resorted to 'unreliable' sources like social network websites in its coverage of Iran -- was duped by the 'anonymous' caller or was simply faking the phone call in line with the Western agenda of destabilizing Iran. Iranian officials have condemned foreign media outlets including Britain's state-run BBC over dramatizing the situation in the country by provoking the post-election violence in Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi on Sunday pinned the blame for the recent post-election turmoil across the country on US and British media outlets. Post-election unrests were sparked after the Interior Ministry declared Ahmadinejad as the president of the country for yet another four-year term by almost two-thirds of the vote. People have staged rallies across the country to protest the results of the election. Some of the demonstrations have turned violent.

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In line with foreign media attempts to disrupt post-election stability in Iran, CNN has broadcast a false report which contradicts footage obtained by Press TV. CNN broadcast an interview with a so-called anonymous witness of Wednesday's protest in Tehran's Baharestan Square, with the aim of depicting Iranian security forces as villains. Footage obtained by Press TV reporters display some 200 protesters 'illegally' gathering in front of Iran's parliament and at a nearby subway station on Wednesday, to protest the result of the June 12th election. The CNN's report, however, contains a call from an alleged female witness in Tehran who supposedly describes the situation as the 'massacre' of protesters by the police in Baharestan Square. The following is an excerpt from CNN newscaster's conversation with the alleged witness: CNN: You tell us what you saw today when you tried to go to Baharestan Square? Witness: Police stopped everyone at Sa'di. They emptied the buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on. All of a sudden 500 people with clubs and woods came out of Hedayat Mosque and poured into the streets. They started beating everyone and throwing them off Sa'di Bridge. This was a massacre. CNN: We are not only getting this report from you. We got a report from another source in Tehran describing the situation today being terrible, saying people were being shot like animals; they beat people like animals. Are you safe right now? Witness: Yes, exactly, exactly. This is what was happening. They beat people so bad. However, Press TV, which is based in Tehran and was present at the scene, did not find even traces of the false and unfounded report. It remains unclear, whether CNN -- which has resorted to 'unreliable' sources like social network websites in its coverage of Iran -- was duped by the 'anonymous' caller or was simply faking the phone call in line with the Western agenda of destabilizing Iran. Iranian officials have condemned foreign media outlets including Britain's state-run BBC over dramatizing the situation in the country by provoking the post-election violence in Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi on Sunday pinned the blame for the recent post-election turmoil across the country on US and British media outlets. Post-election unrests were sparked after the Interior Ministry declared Ahmadinejad as the president of the country for yet another four-year term by almost two-thirds of the vote. People have staged rallies across the country to protest the results of the election. Some of the demonstrations have turned violent.

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IAEA not a UNSC subsidiary: Iran Soltanieh went on to say that the IAEA is neither a subsidiary of the UN or UNSC, nor is Amano the subordinate of UN Secretary General [Ban Ki-moon], adding that Iran will not allow the UN bodies to influence the agency. "It should be noted that requests [by the agency] based on the Additional Protocol beyond the provisions of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) Comprehensive Safeguards and under the pretext of the illegal UNSC resolutions... are not legitimate and therefore not acceptable." Referring to Amano's latest report on Tehran's nuclear program, Soltanieh said at a time when "the boring statements" and claims made by certain members of the Board of Governors over the past seven years have damaged the atmosphere of the IAEA, we are once again facing a political dispute "as a result of the director general's recent report." The Iranian envoy went on to say that "all of Iran's nuclear activities are carried out under the agency's Comprehensive Safeguards" and a "clear message by the current and former director generals confirms that after conducting the most extensive inspections in the agency's history" no evidence of diversion in Tehran's activities has been found. He added that although "the agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran," it seems that the report has adopted unusual wording with regard to the safeguards obligations due to "outside pressures." The Iranian envoy went on to say that the report contains "extensive details" about the "ordinary technical activities" in the framework of Iran's peaceful nuclear program which contradicts the principle of protecting "sensitive information of member states." "I wonder why the director general deprives member states of the technical information on the enrichment [activities] in other countries especially those who possess nuclear weapons or other members of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including Japan." "This is an enigma," the Iranian envoy said, adding that such technical details about Iran's nuclear activities prove that the IAEA has had "full access to all nuclear material and facilities" in Iran, therefore claiming that "Iran has not provided necessary cooperation is both incorrect and misleading." With regard to the so-called "alleged studies," the agency should be reminded that according to the "Modalities of Resolution of the Outstanding Issues (INFCIRC/711)," this is not an outstanding issue. Furthermore, the facts that the material of the "alleged studies" lack authenticity, no nuclear material was used and no components were made as declared by the former director general, are also missing in this report. In the same context the notion of the "possible military dimensions" is absolutely out of context of the Modality (INFCIRC/711) already negotiated and agreed upon by the agency as well as its mandate. Soltanieh added that Iran would lodge a complaint to receive compensation for the huge loses it has suffered as a result of these baseless claims. Pointing to violating the principle of protecting sensitive information by the agency's employees, that leaked information on Iran's nuclear program to a Western news agency Soltanieh said Amano "assured me that investigations are being carried out by internal investigator, and we will be informed as soon as possible." However, Soltanieh added, Amano informed us that they had not been able to identify the source of leaked information and there was no evidence that the Secretariat's officials were responsible. "These statements are not acceptable at all, because information published by the mentioned news agency were exactly the same [information] that had been confidentially handed to the agency's inspectors." The Iranian envoy added that the agency had openly stated that their news source was one of the agency's employees. "New investigations must immediately begin, and the agency should file a complaint against the mentioned news agency for the misbehavior that damaged the mutual trust between the Secretariat and the member states and the agency's credibility." The director general referred to the sensitive issue of refusing to designate 38 of the IAEA inspectors in his opening speech, but did not mention the next developments such as Iran's agreement with the designation of more inspectors, Soltanieh said. "Another important issue is that Iran has accepted more than 150 inspectors as the designated inspectors and usually around 10 are inspecting Iran, so the Secretariat can simply use other inspectors." Soltanieh concluded that more than one year has passed since Iran requested fuel for Tehran's nuclear reactor, but no result has yet been achieved despite the fact that almost one million patients in Iran are in need of the agency's humanitarian assistance. Article Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142639.html Recorded September 15, 2010 at 1900bst

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RT’s ongoing investigation of American drone aircraft being downed as a possible result of a cyber attack has been accentuated by recent confirmations by way of a documentary out of Mexico. The Spanish-language television network Univision has aired a program in which undercover footage allegedly shows Iranian officials discussing ways to go about an attack on America’s infrastructure, specifically attempting to recruit Mexican computer hackers to target the Department of Defense and the CIA’s computer systems. According to the Washington Times, US officials are now investigating reports that authorities from Iran and Venezuela plotted cyber attacks against America’s military, in what comes as the latest revelation in a quickly unraveling story of cyber war escalating between Tehran and Washington. In the most recent news break, however, a front to the south of the United States could be opening up as Iran tries to take down the American military with the aid of hackers living only next door. The Times’ report alleges that hackers were discussing potential attacks on the DoD and Central Intelligence Agency. This news comes days after the United States managed to lose contact with two high-tech drone aircraft belonging to the CIA, one two weeks ago over Iran and one this Tuesday over the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles. In the case of the RQ170 Sentinel craft captured by Tehran, that drone was dispatched from Creech Air Force Base in the state of Nevada. Earlier this year, RT reported that a key-logger virus infiltrated the cockpits of crafts in the base, with Air Force personnel left in the dark until days after the infection took hold. Military personnel later shrugged the incident off as a nuisance and nothing more, but with two drones in two weeks now mysteriously going off the radar, American eyes are now looking towards Tehran — and perhaps a partnership with international hackers — as the threat of an all-out cyber war escalates. In the report published this week by the Washington Times, it is alleged that the Mexican hackers instructed by Iranian officials were told to crack passwords that would allow for access into protected American computer systems. Univision says that among the targets intended in the attack against America were nuclear facilities. Coincidently, the nuclear infrastructure of Iran was threatened in 2010 by a computer worm named Stuxnet, believed by many to be the brainchild of American programmers. Earlier in 2011, researcher Ralph Langner told an audience at a TED talk that he thought Stuxnet was of Israeli origin, but added, "The leading force behind Stuxnet is the cyber superpower – there is only one; and that's the United States." If a cyber war is being waged against America, US officials are remaining relatively mum on the matter. In the case of the Sentinel lost over Iran, the US first denied a crash, only to later confirm that a craft was lost over Afghanistan and was believed to be obliterated. Within days, however, Iran provided footage of the craft in pristine condition much to the chagrin of Washington. American authorities went on to dismiss the craft as a fake before US President Barack Obama asked Tehran to return what was in fact the drone in question. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded by shooting down Obama’s plea, telling Venezuelan state television this week, “The Americans have perhaps decided to give us this spy plane. We now have control of this plane.” Iranian authorities now claim that the gift from America is almost done being decoded and its technology will be adapted into its own arsenal. On Tuesday of this week, an MQ-9 Reaper drone was downed in Seychelles and crash-landed at an air base there that has been under American occupation since 2009. The US uses the island nation to dispatch drones for surveillance over Somalia and to counter piracy in the Indian Ocean. Once again, in this case American authorities are insisting that the craft has been charred beyond repair and are working in conjunction with overseas officials to return the craft to the US. An investigation over that crash is pending, but officials are for now saying that the “failure was due to mechanical reasons.” At a price tag of around $30 million per craft, it is suspicious that a minor malfunction under the hood of what is the Cadillac of unmanned spy planes can cause the craft to come to a crashing, fiery halt. The Washington Times adds in their report that State Department spokesman William Ostick believes federal authorities to be investigating the allegation brought forth against Iran by Univision, but formally has declared that officials lack information that corroborates on the allegation. Senator Robert Menendez (NJ-Dem) is now also calling for a congressional hearing to investigate Iranian action in Latin America. Menendez also sits as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. “If Iran is using regional actors to facilitate and direct activities against the United States, this would represent a substantial increase in the level of the Iranian threat and would necessitate an immediate response,” Menendez says. Earlier in 2011, American authorities alleged that Iran had recruited members from a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States on American soil. While the plot was foiled by US intelligence, the latest revelations add a new piece to a puzzle that shows an increasingly tense standoff between Tehran and Washington.

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Pentagon officials have claimed that Iran's successful rocket launch could lead into developing ballistic missiles that could threaten Europe and urged plans to deploy a US missile-defense system to Poland and the Czech Republic. "As they (Iranians) advance in that program, Europe becomes more and more threatened by it," Pentagon Spokesman, Geoff Morrell, alleged on Tuesday. "And, to us, it makes all the more clear the need for a missile defense program to protect our allies in Europe, as well as ourselves." DPA quoted him as saying. Iran launched its domestic sounding rocket, Kavoshgar I, into space simultaneously with the inauguration of its first domestic satellite complex on Monday. Kavoshgar I was launched as a preliminary step towards sending the 'Omid Satellite' into orbit. Omid is the first advanced scientific research satellite exclusively designed and made by Iranian scientists. Iran has repeatedly declared that its scientific breakthroughs pose no threat to other countries