Free Republic

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Iran's president on Wednesday dismissed Western concerns over its nuclear program as "a big lie," a day after key U.N. Security Council members agreed to present Tehran with a choice of incentives or sanctions in deciding whether to suspend uranium enrichment. Meanwhile, in a letter to Time magazine published on its Web site, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered new options for solving the impasse with the United States and its allies. Hassan Rohani, Iran's former top nuclear negotiator, said Tehran would consider ratifying an International Atomic Energy Agency protocol that provides for intrusive...

White 'ingratitude' worries Tutu Archbishop Tutu and Mr de Klerk are both Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said South Africa's white community has not shown enough appreciation of the generosity shown to them by black South Africans. Ex-President FW de Klerk said in turn that black citizens should be grateful to whites for surrendering power. Archbishop Tutu headed the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which began work in April 1996. In an interview with BBC News, he said the commission failed to engage the white community sufficiently. He also expressed concern about social inequalities and levels of poverty...

Iran-EU talks' message worries Israel Herb Keinon and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 21, 2006 Israeli officials expressed "disappointment" Monday that the EU was holding talks in Brussels with Iran's foreign minister, saying this was the time to disengage from the Iranians, not enter into a dialogue with them. According to the officials, the visit by the Iranian foreign minister to Brussels, as well as a visit by an Iranian delegation to Russia to discuss Moscow's proposal that Russia enrich uranium for Iran, was meant to buy Teheran more time. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to meet on...

Some “ Don’t Worry !” Resolutions After much thought, and long hours of agonizing soul-searching – (Oh, all right !) After roughly 30 milliseconds of meditation, I have decided there are at least seven things I am NOT going to worry about in 2006. 1. UFOs and /or the threat of invasion by Wiolawa’s (Don’t ask !) Lizard People. 2. Whether the reunited lovers of Brokeback Mountain will find true happiness – or experience commitment issues. 3. The looming shadow of Zionist world domination . 4. Whether Janet Jackson will get the opportunity to have another “wardrobe mishap”. 5. Whether...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A U.N. committee passed a resolution Friday expressing concern about human rights violations in Iran, deploring its use of torture, discrimination against women and intimidation of political opponents. The resolution, proposed by Canada, demands Iran stop executing people under 18, discriminating against ethnic and religious minorities, and intimidating defense lawyers, journalists and the opposition. It passed by a vote of 77 to 51, with 46 nations abstaining. "The government of Iran should be singled out and a strong message should be sent that their human rights record and practices are unacceptable," Canada's U.N. Ambassador Alan Rock...

Tales of a nation under attack, which recur when public anxiety rises, multiply at theaters and on TV. Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" is acutely attuned to the zeitgeist of post-9/11 America. In this adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel, Earth is still the most desirable piece of real estate in the Milky Way, the envy of the galactic neighborhood. But this retelling of the alien-invasion story, set in modern-day New Jersey rather than Wells' Edwardian London, tacitly acknowledges American fears of an attack on US cities. A principal aspect of the film is the way a nation unites...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran has announced plans to turn tons of uranium into a substance that can be used to make nuclear weapons, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Wednesday in a report stoking concern about Tehran's nuclear agenda. The confidential report of the International Atomic Energy Agency said the agency had been informed that the Islamic Republic planned to process more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride. Uranium hexafluoride is spun in centrifuges to produce enriched uranium, which in turn can be used to generate power or make nuclear warheads, depending on the degree of...

BOSTON — Sen. John F. Kerry has given scores of policy speeches in his bid for the presidency, issued reams of position papers, and guided the 37-page platform on major issues that the Democratic National Convention will adopt today. But Kerry and the platform are vague or silent on some of the far-reaching issues that will confront the next president: how to address the burgeoning budget deficit and the financial instability of Social Security and Medicare. Kerry has said he wants to halve the deficit in four years, but independent experts have questioned whether that promise squares with costly domestic...

U.K. central bank sounds warning Central bank worries hedge funds taking same strategies LONDON (CBS.MW) -- The Bank of England, one of the world's most closely watched central banks, and Man Group, the largest publicly traded manager of hedge funds, are located not even a mile away in London's financial district, but their views are a galaxy apart. Their varying viewpoints were reinforced Monday, when the Bank of England warned that hedge funds, such as those operated by Man (UK:EMG: news, chart, profile), are a threat to market stability, on the same day the fund manager said it had raised...

Allard fields immigration, job worries In his first town meeting of the year, Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., addressed heated concerns regarding immigration, free trade and jobs. About 30 residents of Broomfield and surrounding cities Wednesday questioned Allard most extensively on President Bush's recently released immigration plan and other related issues. The two-term Republican senator said he needed to research the details of the plan, which would allow illegal immigrants to register with the government and obtain three-year work periods. Several in the audience bashed the plan and urged Allard to oppose it, calling it everything from part of a war...

New Colo. Flu Deaths Spur Wider Worries DENVER - Two more Colorado children have died from the flu, raising the statewide total to at least five in an early outbreak that could be a sign of a severe flu season for the country, health officials said. The number of confirmed flu cases in Colorado has grown to more than 6,300, health officials said Wednesday — just over more than the number from the last two seasons combined. The flu season normally peaks in January and February and runs through April. The latest victims were a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old from...

Ancient find raises worries about workers By Emily Heffter Times Snohomish County bureau A Snohomish County road crew doing routine maintenance unearthed a Stillaguamish tribal archaeological site two weeks ago in the Silvana area. The county halted the project after tribal members pointed out that it was atop an ancient Indian-village site, but the close call has raised concerns about how cautious county work crews are when they dig. Stillaguamish tribal members say some of the artifacts at the site are between 8,000 and 10,000 years old — some of the oldest artifacts on the continent. The findings haven't been...

No worries about terror? Donate to Hillary Byron York Forget about her book. If you’re looking for truly revealing words from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), check out her latest fundraising appeal. “Please join HILLPAC,” Clinton writes in a mass mailing for her political action committee. “We need to win the next election for working moms and dads, who are counting on us to help get our economy moving;” for “school children who are counting on us to make sure they won’t lose more schools and teachers to budget cuts;” for “seniors who are counting on us to protect their...

Washington - His face stares out at voters this week from the covers of both Time and Newsweek as well as television screens in early primary states - and even the president's home turf. "Has anyone really stood up against George Bush and his policies?" asks Howard Dean in a spot running on three local stations in Austin, Texas, where Bush sat as governor for six years before moving to the White House. "Don't you think it's time somebody did?" Dean, the former Vermont governor, has transformed himself from longshot to serious contender for next year's Democratic presidential nomination by...

(WASHINGTON) Senior Bush administration officials are for the first time openly discussing a subject they have sidestepped during the massive buildup of forces around Iraq: what could go wrong not only during an attack, but especially in the aftermath of an invasion. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has a four-to-five-page typewritten catalog of risks he keeps in his desk drawer. He refers to it constantly, updates it regularly and has incorporated suggestions from senior military commanders into it and discussed it with President George W. Bush. The list includes a "concern about Saddam Hussein using weapons of mass destruction against his...

TAMPA - Two weekends ago, someone broke into a Volusia County water treatment plant. No one can say who or why or even exactly when the intrusion took place. But whoever it was had access to more than 500,000 gallons of purified drinking water, and that was enough to persuade state officials to pull the plug on 15,000 water customers. The water has been tested and given a clean bill of health. But the fact that Volusia water managers waited more than 30 hours to report the break-in has prompted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to issue an emergency...