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The IRS is investigating the United Church of Christ over a speech Sen. Barack Obama gave at its national meeting last year after he became a candidate for president, the denomination said Tuesday. Obama, an Illinois Democrat, belongs to the 1.2 million-member Protestant group through his Chicago congregation. In a letter the denomination received Monday, the IRS said "reasonable belief exists" that the circumstances surrounding the speech violated restrictions on political activity for tax-exempt organizations. The denomination has denied any wrongdoing. United Church of Christ, link to IRS letter: http://www.ucc.org/news/obama-speech-in-2007-prompts-1.html

To offset rising fuel costs, United Airlines will charge economy class customers $25 to check a second bag, the carrier announced Monday. Economy class fliers will pay $25 for a second bag and $125 for three bags. Previously it was free to check a second bag and cost $85 to check three bags. Those checking four or more bags will pay an additional $100 a bag. "Our customer research shows that only about one in four customers check a second bag, and with this new policy, customers who check extra bags may continue to do so for a service fee,...

In one of the largest executive-pay givebacks in history, former UnitedHealth Group Inc. Chief Executive William McGuire has agreed to forfeit about $620 million in stock-option gains and retirement pay to settle civil and federal-government claims related to stock-option backdating. The settlement comes a year after the options-backdating scandal led to Dr. McGuire's ouster from the Minnetonka, Minn., company, one of the largest U.S. health insurers. -snip- In the scandal, dozens of companies pretended that options were granted at an earlier date than they actually were. They picked dates when the stock price was at a low point, allowing executives...

PALMDALE - The busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period will be a milestone for L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport, as airport officials expect to hit the 10,000-passenger mark this weekend. The airport renewed commercial passenger service in June with the start of twice-daily service to San Francisco by United Airlines. From there, travelers may connect to other United Airlines domestic and international flights. From the first flight on June 7 through Oct. 31, the terminal adjacent Air Force Plant 42 served 8,479 passengers, according to Los Angeles World Airport officials. The city agency operates L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport, as well as L.A./Ontario, Los Angeles...

ATLANTA (AP) - UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. have been discussing a combination between the nation's second- and third- largest carriers that would keep the United name and the corporate headquarters in the Chicago area, The Associated Press has learned. There is a sense of urgency in the talks, which have been going on for some time and continued as recently as a week or so ago, an official with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly. "They want to get...

CAMP STRIKER — A short-notice reconciliation meeting of regional sheiks with potential for impact throughout Iraq was held Nov. 8 in Al Bassam, an area approximately 16 kilometers west of Baghdad city center. The conference was called by a highly influential leader, Abu Maruf, with less than 24-hours notice, to make a public declaration of unity amongst the tribes against al-Qaeda and to map the way ahead for their region. “We were notified of the meeting at about 8 p.m. the night before,” said Lt. Col. Brian Coppersmith, commander of War Rakkasans, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat...

Organizers of San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair — sponsored by Miller Brewing Co. – have portrayed Christ and his disciples as half-naked homosexual sadomasochists in the event’s promotional advertisement, and the conservative group Concerned Women for America is complaining about the hypocrisy of it... After someone from Miller pulled their head out of the ass, Miller has asked to have its log removed from the advertising poster for the “event.” So far, however, Miller has NOT pulled its sponsorship of this freak show...

By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. Congress are accusing the U.N. Development Program of firing a whistle-blower connected with the agency's North Korea program, a target of the Bush administration. Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who last week sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said Artjon Shkurtaj, chief of operations in North Korea in 2005 to 2006, was dismissed for criticizing the UNDP. On Thursday, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida also sent a letter to Ban, urging him to intervene to protect Shkurtaj, who she said had uncovered "significant irregularities." The Bush administration...

Barry Lynn and the Hypocrisy of Separation Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU) purports to be a non-sectarian, non-partisan organization with no religious affiliation and its Executive Director, the Rev. Barry Lynn, is prominently featured on television news programs whenever issues of religion and government cross. Although Lynn prides himself as an independent arbiter of where the line between church and state meet, his silence on his own denomination’s encroachment on Jefferson’s wall of separation is not only hypocritical, it ultimately undermines his own mission. Lynn and Americans United issue dozens of statements each year regarding...

The United Muslims (http://youtube.com/groups_videos?name=UnitedMuslims&page=2) came to our attention through this posting: "Muslims on YouTube have formed several groups where users and videos that criticize Islam (which they define as “Hate Speech”) are listed and mass-flagged as abuse. YouTube seems to remove videos and sometimes even ban users automatically. Muslims claim that they only flag videos that have violated YouTube’s TOS, but this has been been proven false." "A group on Youtube called United Muslims put up a hit list of Youtube members they wanted to ban. The thing is, that they can’t handle the truth. Sure, some of the videos...

PALMDALE - The refurbished passenger terminal at LA/Palmdale Regional Airport and a United Express jetliner will be on display from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, at an open house intended to introduce Antelope Valley residents to United's new flights to San Francisco. Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford will preside at the dedication of the terminal building. He will be joined by other elected officials, members of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners and Los Angeles World Airports and United Airlines officials. "We are very pleased with the progress being made to prepare LA/Palmdale Regional Airport for jet...

A nation which is able to confront an enemy is a nation which knows where she comes from. Learn the US history without politically correctness and revisionism. You have been told that the US cavalry constantly massacred innocent Native Americans in their villages, because of a "genocidal" expansion. It is a lie. The war on the Great Plaines was complex, and most of the time, the story behind the "politically correct myth" is much more illuminating. Watch this video. Learn your history, see where you come from. And fight politically correctness at home.

Army town united after four years in Iraq By Alex Spillius in Fayetteville Last Updated: 12:57am GMT 19/03/2007 Wesley Loffert has two sons in the military and had a message for those who think US troops should be brought home from Iraq. Martin Verhagen's children are due to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan "You are encouraging the enemy by telling him if you kill enough Americans they will leave. You have got to let the president and let the commanders do their job," he said. Mr Loffert, a 73-year-old retired colonel and Vietnam veteran, lives in an immaculate, shuttered bungalow...

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2007 – The group called “Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission” works publicly to ensure the troops know that the American people support them. For example, on Veteran’s Day, the group’s Montana chapter placed American flags throughout the state’s capital, said Merrilee Carlson, the group’s president. Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission was founded by Army Reserve Maj. Charles Larson, a former Iowa senator, in August 2005. The group is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program that highlights the ways Americans are supporting the nation’s servicemembers. “It was...

Saw a documentary, "Grounded on 9-11" on the History Channel a few days ago that mentioned something major about 9-11 that I have not heard before. At 9:00AM on 9-11 United Airlines sent to all planes a warning message regarding the other hijacks. On United Flight 23, that was on the runway, the captain decided on his own not to take off. He fakes a mechanical problem and returns to the gate! When the passengers were asked to exit the plan three Middle Eastern men, or possibly as many as six, refuse to follow the request to deplane. Security is...

PALMDALE — Delta Airlines has proposed twice-daily flights from Palmdale to Salt Lake City and United Airlines has proposed twice-daily flights to San Francisco, under bids unsealed Monday by Los Angeles World Airports officials. Both Delta and United met the minimum requirements established in the search for an airline to provide Palmdale passenger service: at least two flights a day to a major hub in the western U.S. using 50-passenger regional jets, said Mark Thorpe, Los Angeles World Airports director of air service marketing. Officials of Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency which operates Los Angeles/Palmdale Regional Airport as...

New Lawsuit Alleges Pacificare Set Course Of Deception To Avoid Claims and Cancel Policy of 34 Year Old Kidney Cancer Patient To Increase Company Profits.Irvine, CA (PRWEB) November 18, 2006 -- UnitedHealth Group, the nations second largest health insurer, and its subsidiary Pacificare of California were named in a lawsuit yesterday for canceling the health insurance policy and refusing to pay medical bills after a cancer patient sought treatment. (D'ANNA vs PACIFICARE OF CALIFORNIA #GIN057028) The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of San Diego by attorneys Robert K. Scott and Scott Mahoney of the Irvine-based Law Offices of...

Republicans, This Is Why You MUST Vote!Written by Doc FarmerMonday, November 6 2006ChronWatch.com Tomorrow is Election Day. The miracle provided to you by the Founding Fathers in 1776, and protected and preserved for you by the blood of our best. A miracle that most Americans, sadly, take for granted. Don't be one of those who take it for granted. Especially if you're a rep/con/tair -- my more accurate term for the so-called "right". An amalgam of the core political constructs of Republicans, conservatives and libertarians. For many, many months, you've been told that the lib/dem/soc/commies (my more accurate term for...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2006 – President Bush praised Iraqi Prime Minister Mouri al-Maliki’s leadership today and said he reminds Maliki regularly that “we’re with him so long as he continues to make tough decisions” for Iraq to succeed. Speaking at a White House news conference, Bush called Maliki “the right man to achieve the goal in Iraq.” “He’s got a hard job,” confronting internal pressures ranging from sectarian violence to criminals to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, the president said. “And he wants to achieve the same objective that I want to achieve.” Bush said he’s impressed by Maliki’s...

No issue has bothered me more than the UCC's relationship with convicted Puerto Rican terrorists that are responsible for over 150 bombings in the U.S. during the 70's and 80's. There is no moral or theological reason for defending members of this group who have killed and injured dozens of people. What is further shocking and completely contradictory to any of our beliefs is that there is no record (in the nearly 30 years that the UCC has been advocating for these terrorists) that our denomination ever reached out to the victims of FALN violence. From November 16 until December...

Hope for a Middle East peace breakthrough faded on Friday when the militant group Hamas contradicted President Mahmoud Abbas's declaration that a new Palestinian unity government would recognize Israel. Speaking at the United Nations on Thursday, Abbas said a coalition being negotiated between his Fatah party and Hamas, the militant group that heads the Palestinian government, would recognize the Jewish state. Such a move would be a huge reversal for Hamas, which is formally dedicated to the destruction of Israel. On Friday, Hamas political advisor Ahmed Yousef told the Associated Press that "there won't be a national unity government if...

Jewish leaders meet with Shashi Tharoor, center left, the U.N. Undersecretary General, at an event organized by American Friends  of Lubavitch in Washington on Sept. 7.Photograph: Chabad-Lubavitch Lubavitch assumes high profile at U.N. I can speak for a movement with an energetic, ongoing presence in 73 countries,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad’s envoy in Washington, who organized the Tharoor meeting and is spearheading the effort to establish a permanent Chabad presence at the United Nations.Ron Kampeas/JTA WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (JTA) - As the U.N. General Assembly opens, diplomats vying to be the world’s top peacekeeper are taking the time to consult...

A passenger tried to open the exit door of a United Airlines plane while it was flying from Los Angeles to the Washington, D.C, area on Tuesday night, airline and Transportation Security Administration officials said. United Flight 890 landed as scheduled at Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:35 p.m., said TSA spokeswoman Amy Kudwa. No one was injured. The passenger became unruly about 3 1/2 hours into the flight and was subdued by other passengers and federal air marshals, said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. "After the passenger was restrained, the pilot decided to land at Dulles," McCarthy said. "It wasn't...

The opening pair of hearings into charges that Camp Pendleton troops executed an Iraqi man produced a united defense, tantalizing evidence and a surprise announcement yesterday. The unexpected development involved Marine Pfc. John Jodka III, 20, of Encinitas. Near the close of Jodka's hearing, prosecutor Lt. Col. John Baker said the government would not seek the death penalty against him. “It's our position that a capital referral is inappropriate,” Baker said during the session, which was held on the base. “When we heard that, I looked over at Jodka and could tell a huge weight was taken off his shoulders,”...

A Winnipeg doctor is demanding an official apology and compensation from United Airlines after being kicked off a flight in the U.S. this week, an incident he has characterized as "institutionalized discrimination." Dr. Ahmed Farooq, a Muslim, was escorted off an airplane in Denver on Tuesday. According to Farooq, reciting his evening prayers was interpreted by one passenger as an activity that was suspicious. "The whole situation is just really frustrating," Farooq said. "It makes you uneasy, because you realize you have to essentially watch every single thing you say and do, and it's worse for people who are of...

Described as a “crazy lady” by her own attorney, a Vermont peace activist whose bizarre behavior forced the dramatic landing of a trans-Atlantic plane in Boston Wednesday has serious mental problems and had been vacationing in Pakistan since March. Wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt, baggy pants and white socks, a long-haired Catherine C. Mayo, 59, appeared in federal court yesterday on a charge of interfering with a flight crew on United 932 as it flew from London’s Heathrow Airport to Washington, D.C. If convicted, Mayo faces up to 20 years behind bars. Her lawyer, Page Kelley, said Mayo has a...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2006 – Two Massachusetts Air National Guard F-15 fighter jets scrambled today to escort a Washington-bound United Airlines flight to Boston’s Logan National Airport, a U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman confirmed. NORAD ordered the unit to scramble the aircraft, based at Otis Air National Guard Base, Mass., after receiving a “domestic event network call” on the aviation security hotline that links the command to the Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. aviation security organizations, Mike Kucherak said. The call followed an incident aboard United Airlines Flight 923, originally scheduled to fly from London Heathrow...

<p>Breaking on Fox. Details sketchy, but flight 923 has landed safely. Three suspicious passengers on board with "items" in a confrontation with flight crew.</p>

LEBANON'S army is ready to defend the country against any land invasion by Israel, Lebanon's defence minister told Al Arabiya television yesterday. Asked if the army would fight alongside Hezbollah against any land incursion by Israel, Defence Minister Elias al-Murr said: "Our constitutional duty is to defend Lebanon as a Lebanese army. This is our role. "Any Lebanese citizens, Christians or Muslims, who want to defend their land are welcomed . . . "Defending one's land can be done in several ways, either helping the army with food or water, giving psychological or political support. Because this is a war...

CAIRO, Egypt — The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah exposed divisions across the Arab world, not only between Shiites and Sunnis but also between Arab governments and their citizens. Key Arab allies of the United States, predominantly Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, fear the rising power of Shiites in the region: Hezbollah militants who virtually control southern Lebanon, Iraq's majority Shiite government, and — most worrisome — the Shiite theocracy that has run Iran for decades. Yet many ordinary people, Sunnis as well as Shiites, are cheering the Lebanese guerrillas because of their willingness to stand...

VLADIMIR Putin would like it to be seen as the "energy security" summit, or the "Russia regains its pride" summit, or perhaps even the "Putin leads the world" summit. But this weekend's gathering in StPetersburg of leaders of the Group of Eight nations would more accurately be called "the KGB summit". The streets are crawling with FSB officers, the modern incarnation of the KGB, trying to impose remarkably tight security for the first G8 summit in Russia. The host himself is a former KGB agent. Dozens of his ministers, regional governors and top Kremlin aides are former KGB men, as...

While Taiwan is planning to increase its defense budget to cope with military threats from China, the Ministry of National Defense is assessing a plan to buy sixty-six F-16 C/D fighters from the United States for NT$130 billion (US$4 billion) in order to strengthen its air defense capabilities. The deal was proposed in response to President Chen Shui-bian's plan to increase the percentage of the defense budget from 2.4 percent to 2.85 percent of Taiwan's GDP in fiscal year 2007, a local Chinese-language newspaper quoted sources in the MND as saying on Thursday. The opposition Kuomintang and People First Party,...

South Korea is seeking to buy 48 sophisticated defensive missiles from the United States and install them in the country's Aegis-equipped KDX-III destroyers, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said on Monday (July 3). According to a DAPA spokesman, negotiations are underway to buy the Raytheon Systems' SM-2 Block IIB Tactical missiles in a deal worth some $111 million. SM-2 missiles are effective against cruise and airborne missiles and for striking aircraft. The Navy has built three 3,000 ton-class KDX-I destroyers and five 4,000 ton-class KDX-II destroyers. It plans to build one more KKDX-II this October. Three 7,000 ton-class KDX-III...

Korea will spend 151 trillion won ($150 billion) over the next five years to boost its independent defense capacity and secure advanced capabilities to counter any military threats, the country's top defense official said Tuesday (July 11). "President Roh Moo-hyun encouraged the ministry to carry out its plan as scheduled," Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in a press conference. Earlier in the day, Yoon reported a five-year military reform plan to Roh at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, and the president gave orders to use it to strengthen the country's self-defense posture and military forces. Korea's aggregate defense spending...

CHINA has sent the North Korean crisis back into Washington's court, implying the US should consider lifting financial sanctions that have squeezed the flow of cash to Kim Jong-il's regime. North Korea has been fuming since the US in effect froze $US24 million ($32 million) of its assets last November at a Macau bank. Pyongyang blames the US sanctions for stalling the six-party talks on nuclear weapons, but Washington says the sanctions are aimed at stopping North Korean counterfeiting of US currency and money laundering, and are independent of the nuclear issue. Yesterday, as the rift among regional powers over...

Washington, July 5 (IANS) The US House of Representatives has recommended lifting a nine-year ban on international sales of the F-22 Raptor, its most advanced fighter made by the same firm that manufactures F-16s proposed to be sold to Pakistan. But instead of putting the plane in the general shopping window, Lockheed Martin is eyeing US allies like Australia, Britain and Japan as potential buyers for the expensive plane. The House voted to lift the ban after an 11-minute debate on June 20, Washington Post reported. Prospects of passage in the Senate are unclear, but it has been generally more...

Possenti Society Blasts Vatican UN Gun Grabbers for 4th of July Insult to American Gun Owners; Urges Church Collection ProtestsContact: John Snyder, 703-212-9863 ARLINGTON, Va., June 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- John Snyder, Founder/Chairman of the St. Gabriel Possenti Society, issued the following statement today: As we approach next week’s 230th commemoration of the signing of our Nation’s Declaration of Independence, we face the reality of three institutional insults to our country’s Fourth of July celebration of freedom. The first insult comes from a United Nations group meeting in New York, taking place now through July 7, to undermine the traditional,...

U.S. Retreats On Funds At the U.N. Turtle Bay America is retreating from an attempt to use its sizable monetary contributions to insist on genuine reform at the United Nations. While what Turtle Bay for 60 years has called "reform" has proved elusive, the financing from America and the other main funding nations will not be interrupted anytime soon. On the face of it, America, which is responsible for 22% of the U.N. budget, is not alone in demanding real reform at the world body. The Europeans, Japan, and other countries whose taxpayers foot most of the bills last year...

book review ON INCOMPETENCE Gregory R. Copley, President, International Strategic Studies Association An International Relations Debacle: The UN Secretary-General's Mission of Good Offices in Cyprus 1999-2004, by Claire Palley. Oxford. UK. and Portland. Oregon, USA, 2005: Hart Publishing. ISBN: 1-84113-578-X. 395pp, illust., hardcover. $45. Rarely, in lives filled with books, is a vol- ume found which has the power to pro- foundly influence minds with the com- pelling weight and wisdom of its facts and arguments, and with the movingly restrained passion of its compilation. Claire Pal ley's work, An International Relations Debacle: The UN Secretary- General's Mission of Good...

Deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch Brown said the US needs to tell its people why the UN matters Picture: AFP/Getty THE United Nations' British second-in-command was at the centre of a furious diplomatic row with the United States yesterday. The UN deputy secretary-general, Mark Malloch Brown, antagonised Washington after suggesting that the US administration was happy to use the UN as a diplomatic tool while failing to defend it from critics at home. Mr Malloch Brown told a conference in New York that "the prevailing [US] practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while...

<p>New York: Deputy Secretary-General of the U.N. was on Wednesday night accused of making ``a very, very grave mistake'' after calling the Bush administration hypocrites who were feeding a right-wing anti-U.N. frenzy in middle America.</p> <p>Washington's Ambassador to the U.N. responded with undisguised fury to a speech by Mark Malloch Brown, the Deputy Secretary-General, in which he accused Washington of using the international body ``almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool'' while failing to defend it at home.</p>

Nationwide Rally to Stop Illegal Immigration on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at every City HallOn May 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. On July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally and BoycottRally to stop the invasion by millions of illegal aliens. 1-Day boycott...

June 3, 2006 General Synod moved to Hartford Civic Center Not all are happy with State kicking in $100,000 - Source: "Americans United for Separation of Church and State will probably investigate. I don't know how they can pull this off." According to the Hartford Courant, the UCC's 50th General Synod will be relocated to the Hartford Civic Center with the state picking up $100,000 of the cost. From the Hartford Courant:   The United Church of Christ will keep its 2007 national convention in Hartford, but it won't be held at the year-old Connecticut Convention Center as all had...

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Friday urged Russia to reconsider its decision to honor its commitment to sell Iran the Tor-M1 air defense missile system. "We would hope that Russia would take a second look at this issue," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a news briefing. Russia said earlier in the day that it would fulfill a contract to supply its sophisticated Tor-M1 air defense systems to Iran. "Russia has signed a contract with Iran for the supply of Tor-M1 close-range air defense systems to Iran," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said. "The contract will...

USA Citizens Day - July 1st Immigration Control Rally Nationwide Rally on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at your City HallMay 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally for Immigration ControlRally to stop our continuous invasion by...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2006 – The D.C. United Major League Soccer team will express its appreciation for the military June 3 with its 7th Annual Armed Forces Appreciation Day. The team, working with corporate sponsor IBM, will provide 1,000 free tickets to its game against the New England Revolution for active-duty servicemembers who get a kick out of the sport. It also has partnered with the United Service Organizations of Metropolitan Washington to distribute the tickets through USO's five outreach centers. The 7th Annual Armed Forces Appreciation Day will begin two hours before the start of the 7:30 p.m. game...

CHICAGO - Hit by one of its most difficult recruiting periods in decades, the Defense Department is paying United Airlines to show passengers a Pentagon-produced video touting military jobs. The 13-minute video "Today's Military" is played between standard in-flight programming, such as NBC sitcoms or Discovery Channel productions, the Chicago Tribune reported. It profiles five military jobs, none in dangerous regions such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The video shows only one soldier beyond U.S. borders: an Army animal-care specialist on a humanitarian mission in Thailand. The Defense Department is paying United about $36,000 to run the video from April 17...

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is urging the US to enter direct talks with Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Mr Annan says the step could lead to an acceptable resolution of the diplomatic crisis. He says the Iranians may have been holding back in previous negotiations with European Union powers Britain, France and Germany and might be more forthcoming if the US was at the table. He says the Iranians may have been hesitant to fully engage because whatever they discussed with the Europeans had to be checked with the US. "When you are in that sort of a mood,...

THE price of crude oil is likely to remain high and volatile this year, averaging at between US$70 and US$80 per barrel, says CIMB Securities economist Lee Heng Guie. Prices will remain high due to global concerns about the supply of the commodity, especially with the Western world's intensifying dispute with Iran. Oil hit a record US$72.20 a barrel on April 18 as Iran defied pressure to halt its nuclear programme, raising fears of a cut in supplies from the world's fourth biggest crude exporter. CIMB recently raised its crude oil price target, expecting an average of US$68 a barrel...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (May 2, 2006) – Improved trust and cooperation between Iraqis, the new Iraqi government and Coalition forces continue to move forward despite anti-Iraqi forces’ efforts to stall progress here. During a press conference at Forward Operating Base Prosperity April 29, Ridha Jawad Taqi, a key leader of the Iraqi National Parliament and a spokesman for the United Iraqi Alliance, highlighted the recent successes of the new Iraqi government. . Taqi, a member of the national parliament’s Council of Representatives, addressed the people of Iraq recognizing the achievements of the newly elected permanent Iraqi government. “We accomplished a huge...