Free Republic

Iceland PM fumes over use of U.K. terrorism law to freeze banks' assets /snip The small North Atlantic island country, population 320,000, protested the U.K. government's decision to protect British depositors by freezing the assets of collapsed Icelandic banks under anti-terrorism laws. Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde called the move a "completely unfriendly act" and blamed Britain in part for Iceland's decision to take control of Kaupthing, the country's largest bank, on Thursday. It was the third Icelandic bank to be taken over by the government this week. A stock market boom in the mid-1990s supported the rapid growth of...

Iran sanctions concern China, Russia By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 9, 10:37 PM ET Russia raised concerns Friday about proposals to extend U.N. sanctions against Iran to its elite Revolutionary Guards, while China warned that reducing credit to the Islamic country could punish the Iranian people for their government's nuclear defiance. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, joined by Germany, met for the fourth time this week to narrow differences over new sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. The proposals include a travel ban, an expanded list of people and companies...