Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Iran and six world powers have started talks aimed at defusing the long-running escalating crisis over Tehran's nuclear programme, an official said.

The P5+1 powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - hope to persuade Iran in Wednesday's negotiations to suspend some of the most worrying parts of its activities but Tehran wants to see sanctions eased in return.

Iran is represented by Saeed Jalili, the lead negotiator, while the delegation from the six world powers is led by Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy head.

'New era'
News agencies quoted diplomats from the P5+1 and Iranian media as saying the meeting in the fortress-like Green Zone of the Iraqi capital would likely go into a second, unscheduled day.

Jalili said he hoped the talks would be the start of a "new era" in relations, Iranian media reported.

"We sense that the West has realised that the time for using its pressure strategy is over," Jalili was quoted as saying by the Fars and Mehr news agencies.

Israel, Washington's closest ally in the region, feels its very existence would be under threat and has refused to rule out a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

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Meanwhile, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, will visit China in June for a security summit and discuss the nuclear programme with Hu Jintao, his Chinese counterpart, a senior diplomat said on Wednesday, criticising new sanctions aimed at Iran.

The summit is likely to be overshadowed by the presence of Ahmadinejad, whose country is at the centre of a standoff with the West over the nuclear programme.

"Certainly, during his meeting with President Hu, the Iran nuclear issue will be an important talking point," the diplomat said.

The visit to China takes on particular significance as China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council and has resisted US demands for sanctions on Iran.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The disingenuous debate on Iran

Amidst the ominous discussions on proliferation that surrounded U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India earlier this month, most people could be forgiven for having missed a simple fact: Iran is not making a nuclear bomb.

The level of unanimity on this question is surprising. Leon Panetta, the U.S. Defence Secretary, testified to the U.S. Congress in February that “the intelligence has been very clear … [it] does not show that they have made a decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon.” At the end of April, Israel's serving military chief publicly concurred with this. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has issued a fatwa declaring that “the production … and use of nuclear weapons are … forbidden in Islam” and has reiterated this position in several public statements.

Unusually good forecast for Iran nuclear talks (+video)

UN nuclear chief Yukiya Amano today announced an agreement with Iran to clear up remaining questions about Iran nuclear weapons work ahead of tomorrow's talks in Baghdad.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Yukiya Amano (c.) from Japan speaks to the media after returning from Iran at the Vienna International Airport near Schwechat, Austria, on Tuesday, May 22. Amano says he has reached a deal with Iran on probing suspected work on nuclear weapons and adds that the agreement will be signed 'quite soon.'

Ronald Zak/AP

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Census: Minority births top whites

Plans to strike Iran "ready," says U.S. Israel envoy

Obama and the Boomerang Kids

Ritz-Carlton masseur says he and John Travolta 'wound up having sex' in 1997, report says

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Why Older Americans Have the Worst Long-Term Unemployment Crisis

We have, on this site, focused like a laser beam on the job crisis for the young. But today, a compelling report from the GAO reminds us that among those who have lost a job, older Americans might just have it worse.

Actually, they absolutely have it worse. Americans over the age of 55 are the least likely to find another job and the most likely to take a significant pay cut for the next position.

Who they are: Since 2010, more than half of all unemployed older workers -- or 1.1 million people over the age of 55 -- have been out of a job for more than six months. Forty-two percent have been out of work for more than a year (see graph).

Even when older people find new work, the new wage is typically only 85 percent of the old salary. By comparison, typical displaced worker between the age of 20 and 54 finds a new wage that's at least 95% of the old salary.

Why they can't find work: There's the health care reason and the technology reason. Experts told the GAO that employers are reluctant to hire older workers because they "expect providing health benefits to older workers would be costly." Others said computer skills often hold back the elderly, especially when the job application is all online.

You're only worth $1.21 to Facebook

How much does Facebook value its users? In strictly monetary terms, about as much as a bag of chips.
Facebook is raking in a little over $1 billion in sales every three months. That sounds like a big number, but with more than 900 million active users, it means each Facebook user is bringing in just $1.21 a quarter.

It's an astoundingly low number compared to other companies that report average revenue per user, or ARPU. The metric is usually used by service providers and communications companies, which typically collect hundreds of dollars per quarter from each customer through subscription fees and other charges.

New Advocacy Groups Shaking Up Education Field

A new generation of education advocacy groups has emerged to play a formidable political role in states and communities across the country. Those groups are shaping policy through aggressive lobbying and campaign activity—an evolution in advocacy that is primed to continue in the 2012 elections and beyond.
Bearing names meant to signal their intentions—Stand for Children, Democrats for Education Reform, StudentsFirst—they are pushing for such policies as rigorous teacher evaluations based in part on evidence of student learning, increased access to high-quality charter schools, and higher academic standards for schools and students.

This Man Is A Shining Example Of What To Do If You Win The Lottery

People Prefer To Invest With An Attractive Person Rather Than A Trustworthy One

The Vicious Asian Tiger Mosquito Is Attacking New York City In Unprecedented Numbers

The hardy Asian tiger mosquito, known for its vicious biting habits and preference for large cities, is back — and this time it's carrying a fever-inducing virus.

Amy Kraft of The New Scientist reports that the black-and-white striped pest carries chikungunya, a virus that causes joint pain as well as fever and rash, but is rarely life-threatening.

Typically, cold winters control the mosquito population. But unseasonably warm weather has brought the disease-carrying insects out in increasing numbers.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/asian-tiger-mosquito-invading-new-york-2012-5?google_editors_picks=true#ixzz1v2tx9OU0

State Department Poised to Raise Chances of War with Iran

The Opportunity Gap

Is Your State Providing Equal Access to Education?

This database includes all public schools in districts with more than 3,000 students from the 2009-2010 school year -- about three-quarters of all such students in the country. Use it to find out how well your state provides poor and wealthier schools equal access to advanced classes that researchers say will help them later in life.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Authorities: 5 dead after shootings in Fla.

Deputies called to a Florida home because neighbors heard gunshots found a person shot dead in the front yard, then found more people fatally shot inside the house, authorities said Tuesday.

Lt. Tod Goodyear of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said that when deputies first found the person in the front yard, they set up a perimeter around the home in Port St. John. The city is about 15 miles west of Cape Canaveral in an area known as the "Space Coast" because it is the home of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, home of numerous famed shuttle launches.

After setting up the perimeter, officials saw someone at the door. That person went back inside, and then more gunshots were heard, Goodyear said. When officers went inside, that's when they found the other four bodies.

Iran hangs "Mossad agent' for scientist killing

Iran has hanged a man it said was an agent for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad whom it convicted of killing one of its nuclear scientists in 2010, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.

Tehran has accused Israel and the United States of assassinating four Iranian scientists since 2010 in order to sabotage its nuclear program which the West suspects is hiding Iran's attempt to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

While Israel has declined to comment on the killings, it regards Iran's nuclear program as an existential threat and has threatened military action against Tehran. Washington has denied any U.S. role.

New generation challenges some blacks in Congress

For two decades, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson has been an outspoken voice for Democrats in her signature bright blazer and multicolored scarf.

Now the first black woman to represent North Texas in Congress faces serious opposition in the May 29 primary election, and the effort to unseat her is just one of several challenges against some of the longest-serving black members of Congress.

"I will always be ever more grateful for the trails that she has blazed," said Eva Jones, owner of a barbeque restaurant who was chairwoman of Johnson's first House campaign in 1992. But "there has come a time where we need new leadership, like in any business, like with anything."