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NEW YORK (CNN) – President Obama spoke Wednesday at the U.N. General Assembly as he tackles a range of thorny international issues with his counterparts. Obama said Iran and North Korea “must be held accountable” if they continue to ignore international nuclear weapons treaties. Iran recently reiterated its unwillingness to give up its nuclear program, which the United States and other Western nations fear is being used to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its program is strictly for civilian power. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said she didn’t expect a direct meeting between Obama and Iran’s president, Mahmoud...

"@markknoller WH/Gibbs confirmed Qadhafi was not invited to the Obamas reception for world leaders this evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 9/23 4:19 P.M."

General Denies Rift With Obama Over Afghan Strategy THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT Published: September 23, 2009 WASHINGTON — The senior American commander in Afghanistan on Wednesday rejected any suggestion that his grim assessment of the war had driven a wedge between the military and the Obama administration, but warned against taking too long to settle on a final strategy. The commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, said in an interview that he welcomed the fierce debate that has emerged this week over how to carry out the war. “A policy debate is warranted,” General McChrystal said in a telephone interview...

Headline only.

MOSCOW (AP) — The controversial Kremlin-backed president of Chechnya claims that militants in the violence-plagued Russian province are backed by U.S. and British intelligence agencies. .... A statement from Kadyrov's office Wednesday quoted him as suggesting that Western-backed mercenaries are fighting the government in Chechnya. It quotes him as saying, "We are fighting in the mountains with the American and English special services." Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested during his presidency that the West was encouraging unrest in the North Caucasus.

While Obama seems to have no issue with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being on our turf, the Helmsley Hotel does. With a heads up from the United Against Nuclear Iran, Helmsley has given Mahmoud the NYC welcome he deserves. A'jad gets heave-ho from Helmsley Hotel By CARL CAMPANILE The New York Helmsley Hotel last night abruptly canceled a long-planned banquet for next week after finding out that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to attend and speak, The Post has learned.

UNITED NATIONS – Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi told a meeting of the United Nations general assembly today that he's pleased with the direction that President Barack Obama is taking the United States, calling him "my son" or "our son" several times. Gadhafi's visit to New York has been a series of controversies piled on top of disputes, and his message this morning at the U.N. continued the precedent. He took a "victory lap" through the surprised audience, blasted the U.N. as unfair and suggested he be given a permanent seat on the Security Council. But he praised Obama. According to...

Here is video of a Fox News Panel reacting to the rambling speech given today at the United Nations by Libyan Dictator Moammar Qaddafi, and President Obama's speech there. They focused on the remarks Qaddafi made about President Obama, and the remarks Obama made about Israel. Judith Miller said this was classic Qaddafi, because he has always had a "penchant for Presidents on the Left." . . . (VIDEO)

Gordon Brown and other political leaders scheduled to speak in a tight schedule were forced to wait in the wings as the famously eccentric Col Gaddafi delivered a sustained rant against the UN Security Council that ran to an hour and 36 minutes. The Libyan leader has not visited the UN since he took power in 1969 and clearly wanted to make up for it by giving his views on the past four decades of history. He called for a UN inquiry into the investigation of John F Kennedy's assassination, castigated the organisation for failing to stop 65 wars since...

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended his decision to pull Canadian officials out of the United Nations General Assembly when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks there Wednesday even though some of Canada's allies, notably the United States, will keep their officials in the hall. "That's a decision that the United States and every other country has a right to make, but Canada makes its own decisions on these matters, and we believe strongly that given President Ahmadinejad's . . . just disgraceful insulting declarations denying the Holocaust, there is no way I'm going to permit any official of the...

Chairman Obama in U.N. speech: "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements."

Amid mounting evidence that US troops are getting bogged down fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, many are starting to make comparisons with America’s long and losing war in Vietnam. President Barack Obama rejected the comparison as inapt. “You have to learn lessons from history,” Obama observed. “Vietnam was all junglish and damp. Afghanistan is barren and dry. Very different. In Vietnam, we misguidedly sided against the agrarian reformers. But Afghanistan is the war I promised we’d win in my campaign. Another important difference. Finally, you can never step in the same river twice. In fact, I don’t know if Afghanistan even...

Here is complete video in five parts of the rambling, incoherent speech made by Libyan Dictator Moammar Qaddafi today at the United Nations. Qaddafi talked about everything from the JFK assassination to Darfur, and everything in between. He referred to President Obama as "our son," and as a "son of Africa," and a "son of Kenya." He called Obama a "glimmer of light," but said he fears America will "return to square one" once Obama leaves office. He said he hopes Obama remains President of the United States "forever." . . . (COMPLETE VIDEO)

The lawyer for a Flushing imam arrested in a nationwide terror probe said his client's family plans to put up property in Queens and Virginia to secure a request for bail. Ron Kuby, the civil rights attorney representing Ahmad Wasi Afzali, 37, said the property would be posted by relatives of Afzali at a bail hearing Thursday in Brooklyn federal court...Federal prosecutors said they intend to try to keep Afzali in jail on the grounds that he may flee. The Brooklyn bail hearing, as well as one in Denver, where two other suspects are being held, comes as major rail...

A-10 decimates Taliban positions. Note: Keep sound on....

On Tuesday, I reported that a plane had crashed in Iran and seven people had been killed. Defense News is reporting that the plane that crashed was participating in Tuesday's military parade in Tehran, and that it was Iran's one and only AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Iran's sole Simorgh AWACS aircraft was lost during a military parade Sept. 22, one of two Iranian military aircraft that crashed in Tehran while participating in a display to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War. The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force operated a single Simorgh, a...

NEW YORK - A suspected bomb plot under investigation in New York and Denver has the ingredients of a worst case scenario for U.S. security, experts say: an al Qaeda link, overseas training and free movement within U.S. borders. Colorado airport shuttle driver Najibullah Zazi, who U.S. authorities say admitted to taking a bomb-making course at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, is at the center of what they say could be a plot to blow up subways or other targets... Whether the allegations outlined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in court papers are true, the picture they...

Iran displayed its most sophisticated domestically produced ballistic missiles such as the Sejjil, Shahab 3, and Qadr in the military parade. Various units of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps participated in the military parade. An air show was also held, with overflights by jet fighters and bombers such as the F-4, F-5, MiG-29, and Sukhoi 24 as well as the domestically produced Saeqeh. Drone aircraft, helicopters, and advanced missile defense systems were also displayed during the military parade. The proud military parade, which included a march-past, a line of Shehab-3 missiles and...

In declaring that it is time for Middle East peace "without preconditions," President Obama used his speech to the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday to fire a warning at Israel that "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements." Obama's stark declaration, which drew applause, was coupled with a call for Palestinians to end their "incitement of Israel." But it was the use of the U.N. forum to carry the settlement message to Israel that drew the most enthusiastic response on the floor -- and incredulous reaction outside its walls. Obama just put Israel "on the chopping block," said...

Cry Palestine, Stand Proud Israel by Ari Bussel Our last Postcard, sent just before the dawn of the Jewish year 5770, talks about healthcare in the USA, a system that is faulty and failing due to the burden of bureaucrats and less-than-capable workforce, enormous pressures of frivolous lawsuits and those who cannot afford to see a doctor but visit the emergency rooms instead and the boundless greed of pharmaceutical companies. Other than the title (“A Hospital Visit”) and the name of the series (“Postcards from Israel – Postcards from America”), there was little connection, if any, between the Postcard and...