"The Iranian request for an interview with Obama comes at an opportune time for U.S.-Iran relations since both President Obama and Iran's President have offered to begin negotiations, which were stalled during the eight years of the Bush Administration, and because Obama gave his first official interview as President to Al Arabiya," said Falk.
Iran's president said the world was "entering an era of dialogue" and that his country would welcome talks with its longtime adversary, the United States, if they are based on mutual respect.
Iran Asks For Meeting With Obama
Palin: 'Harsh political climate' hampered Colberg
Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg has resigned in the wake of state legislators blasting his performance during the "Troopergate" investigation.
Colberg has been at the center of controversy over his handling of the so-called "Troopergate" investigation. Two weeks ago, he was grilled and sharply criticized by legislators for trying to block legislative subpoenas to state officials during the inquiry into whether Palin abused power in complaints against a state trooper and her dismissal of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.
FAA to loosen fuel-tank safety rules, benefiting Boeing's 787
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has quietly decided to loosen stringent fuel-tank safety regulations written after the 1996 fuel-tank explosion that destroyed flight TWA 800 off the coast of New York state.
The FAA proposes to relax the safeguards for preventing sparks inside the fuel tank during a lightning strike, standards the agency now calls "impractical" and Boeing says its soon-to-fly 787 Dreamliner cannot meet.
Bush Faithful Rewarded With Jobs
The appointments are for six years and are potentially lucrative, paying up to $3,000 a day plus travel and other expenses if an appointee is chosen to hear a case. Bush also named two other prominent Republican lawyers to the agency, which attempts to broker international finance disagreements.
Bush made more than 100 such end-of-term appointments to a constellation of presidential boards and panels, such as the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Commission. Like other presidents, he often turned to close aides and top political supporters to fill the last-minute postings, many of which will outlast President Obama's current term.
F.D.A. Finds ‘Natural’ Diet Pills Laced With Drugs
Grady Jackson, a defensive tackle with the Atlanta Falcons, said he used the weight-loss capsules. Kathie Lee Gifford was enthusiastic about them on the “Today” show. Retailers like GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe sold them, no prescription required.
But the Food and Drug Administration now says those weight-loss capsules, called StarCaps and promoted as natural dietary supplements using papaya, could be hazardous to your health. In violation of the law, the agency has found, the capsules also contained a potent pharmaceutical drug called bumetanide which can have serious side effect.
Gitmo Detainee’s ‘Genitals Were Sliced With A Scalpel,’ Waterboarding ‘Far Down The List Of Things They Did’»
The 25 lines edited out of the court papers contained details of how Mr Mohamed’s genitals were sliced with a scalpel and other torture methods so extreme that waterboarding, the controversial technique of simulated drowning, “is very far down the list of things they did,” the official said.
Another source familiar with the case said: “British intelligence officers knew about the torture and didn’t do anything about it.”
Mohamed remains at Guantanamo Bay and “is currently on hunger strike.” “All terror charges against him were dropped last year,” the Telegraph reported.
Obama's Justice Department backs Bush secrecy on renditions suit
An attorney for President Obama's Department of Justice has told the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it supports the Bush administration's controversial state secrets defense in a lawsuit over the prior president's "extraordinary rendition" program.
Israeli accused of anti-Arab racism could become kingmaker
Avigdor Lieberman has been denounced by Israeli leftists as "the most dangerous politician in Israel." Israeli-Arab lawmakers call him a racist for proposing new laws to strip Israeli citizenship from anyone who refuses to take a loyalty oath. One prominent rabbi suggested that a vote for him was a vote for Satan.
But such attacks have done little to dent Lieberman, a former nightclub bouncer who at 50 may be about to become one of the country's most influential politicians.
More...
TVNL Comment: And then complaint that anti-Semitism is gaining strength around the world.
US using British atomic weapons factory for its nuclear programme
The US military has been using Britain's atomic weapons factory to carry out research into its own nuclear warhead programme, according to evidence seen by the Guardian.
US defence officials said that "very valuable" warhead research has taken place at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire as part of an ongoing and secretive deal between the British and American governments.
Last night, opposition MPs called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the extent of the collaboration at Aldermaston and campaign groups warned any such deal was in breach of international law. They added that it also undermined Britain's claim to have an independent nuclear weapons programme and meant British taxpayers were effectively subsidising America's nuclear programme.
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