Iran’s voters:Demanding to be counted

So for many, the official result—with a claimed margin of 63% for the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—was a preposterous sham. At first, youths took to the streets in Tehran and elsewhere, lighting fires and smashing shop windows. When these were beaten back, opposition grew. Braving an official ban and rumours of police gunfire, well over a million Iranians took to the streets of Tehran on June 15th, dwarfing a televised victory rally staged the day before by Mr. Ahmadinejad. [read more...]

Story from The Economist.com | Posted: 18 June  2009

Tehran dispatch: Supreme Leader speaks

Khamanei weeps, he tells us there was no vote rigging, and he seems to give a green light for a crackdown

It is Friday prayers, and the venue is the open-air mosque at Tehran University, but the event looks more like the old Red Square May Day parades. All of Iran, watching in person, or on television, takes careful note of who is there, and who is not. Supreme Leader Khamanei is there, as is President Ahmadinejad as are Larajani and Haddad Adel. So is Mohsen Rezai, former commander of the Revolutionary Guard and one-time electoral foe of Ahmadinejad, sitting in the back of the VIP section. Karroubi, Mousavi, Rafsanjani and Khatami are not.…Supreme Leader Khamanei starts speaking. [read more…]

by Anonymous | from www.salon.com | posted: 19 June  2009

Seven killed during Iran protest

Iranian state radio says seven people were killed during Monday’s (15 June 2009)  protests in Tehran over the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The reports said the deaths came after “thugs” attacked a military post.…The country’s powerful Guardian Council has described the results of Friday’s disputed poll as “provisional”.… Opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi wants them annulled, alleging widespread fraud. Rival marches are planned at the same site on Tuesday.…The demonstrations called by supporters of both President Ahmadinejad and Mr. Mousavi are due to take place in Vali Asr Square in central Tehran.…Monday’s protest involved hundreds of thousands of people and was one of the largest since the [read more…]

Story from BBC NEWS | Posted: 16 June 2009

Will ‘perfect storm’ of problems doom Black radio?

NEW YORK – - Activists and advocates recently failed to stop movement on a congressional bill related to the radio industry.… With Michigan Democrat John Conyers’ success bringing the legislation, “H.R. 848, The Performance Rights Act,” out of committee and a step closer to congressional vote, Black station owners and their defenders say the bill will help push the already struggling stations out of business.… Read more

The Truth Behind Iran’s Election Protests

Don’t take what you see on the evening news at face value.

The media are full of breathless reports of an Iranian uprising. They love this story.… After election results from June 12 showed a landslide victory for hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, angry anti-establishment university students took to the streets. For the moment, their protests are surviving a brutal security crackdown.… Read more

How will the world tackle North Korea threat?

As North Korea threatens military strikes on Allied troops in growing tensions over its nuclear test, David Williamson assesses the rogue state’s intentions and how the world could react

HOLLYWOOD villains can only terrify if they convince audiences they are mad or evil enough to commit an act of outright mayhem and malevolence.

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How Kim Affords His Nukes

North Korea, with its malnourished populace, frequent famines and obsolete conventional weapons, is as famous for its poverty as it is for its provocations. That has many observers now wondering how a country that can barely afford to keep the lights on can foot the bill for a missile and nuclear-weapons program.

Part of the explanation lies in the Stalinist nation’s “military-first” policy, under which the Army gets to pocket a huge chunk of the national income—up to 40 percent, according to Marcus Noland, a North Korea expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. [read more...]

by Takashi Yokota | from NEWSWEEK | Published:  08 Jun 2009

China and North Korea

It’s true, as Anne Applebaum says, that China is the only country in the world with any real influence over North Korea.  So why do they put up with Kim Jong-il’s antics?  The usual answer is that they’re afraid of pushing too hard lest his regime collapse and send millions of refugees streaming across the border into Manchuria.  Applebaum, however, speculates that that isn’t it at all.  China actually wants North Korea to continue its hotheaded ways: [read more...]

By Kevin Drum | from Mother Jones | Published: 01 June 2009

GOP quandary: how hard to swing at Sotomayor

Republicans on Capitol Hill are acutely aware that the tone and content of the nominee’s hearing could redefine the party after two punishing national elections.

Washington — Republicans preparing for confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor see little prospect, barring surprises, of blocking her nomination to the US Supreme Court.

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Missing plane baffles aviation experts

New York — As media speculation centers on lightning and air turbulence as possible causes of the disappearance of an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, many aviation analysts are puzzled by the circumstances of the missing plane.

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