Guardian poll: "Should the US government mandate Americans buy broccoli?" 56% answer yes

They introduce the poll as follows:

US supreme court Justice Antonin Scalia made a comparison between the individual insurance mandate and a hypothetical federal requirement for citizens to buy broccoli. Well, should they?

I think people should get broccoli vouchers, and people that need expensive pre-bug-checked broccoli, such as Bodek, need extra broccoli vouchers. (I don't support government provided or mandated universal healthcare, but it should be paid for in normal taxes if people feel there must be such a program.) The Guardian poll shows that the Guardian and its readers have a sense of humor, which I never denied. Remember this?

Female Khomeinist Ninjas sue Reuters

And it isn't a pilot for a new series:

A group of female Iranian martial artists have taken legal action against Britain's Reuters news agency for branding them as assassins, Press TV reports.

Last month, Reuters showed a number of Iranian girls training martial arts in a city near Tehran, claiming Iran was training more than 3,000 female ninjas to kill any possible foreign invaders. The distorted Reuters report was picked up by other British media outlets.

Following the strong reaction of Iranian media to the report, Reuters made changes to parts of the report but refused to apologize for slander.

The Iranian girls, accused by Reuters of being assassins, say the damage has already been done and they are now taking legal action against the agency for defamation of character.

The athletes say the Reuters journalist asked them what they would do if their country came under attack. Reuters used the girl's patriotic response as an excuse to call them assassins.

“The lady from Reuters asked me only one question which had a very obvious answer. I believe that anyone anywhere in the world would defend his country if it were attacked…but she twisted our words to make us look bad and described us as assassins in the headline of her story,” Khatereh Jalilzadeh told Press TV.

“We are taking legal action because the ladies that train in Ninjutsu first and foremost enjoy it as a sport. It's about working out and staying fit. Reuters has blatantly lied about us,” she added.

Another female ninja said the Reuters' report can definitely be a problem.

“It can harm our chances to travel to other countries to take part in gobal tournaments and international championships because Reuters is considered by many to be a reliable source,” Raheleh Davoudzadeh said.

“At this point, there is not much they can do to undo the damage... That is why we are taking legal action... We want the whole world to know that Reuters has lied about us,” the Iranian ninja added.

Akbar Faraji, who established Ninjutsu in Iran over 22 years ago, condemned the British media accusations, saying his students will pursue the complaint to the end.

“We have filed a defamation lawsuit against Reuters and we intend to pursue it as far as necessary because it is a matter of reputation,” he said.

“Reuters has introduced us as assassins to the whole world. The truth must come to light and everyone should know that we are only a group of athletes. We are supervised by the Ministry of Sports and the federation of martial arts,” Faraji concluded.

The Reuters journalist who conducted the interview left Iran shortly before a court case was opened.

Probably a smart move.

"Syria's battle against US-Zionist-Saudi colonialism" (IRIB Radio-Iran)

In which the Syrian Vice-President informs us “If the Syrian Army did what the armed groups are doing, we could have crushed them a long time ago.”

On the real situation in Syria we present you excerpts of an interview given by Syrian Vice-President Mrs Najah al-Attar to a group of Indian journalists in Damascus, during which she said that her country was once again waging a battle against colonialism.

She said the conspiracy against Syria had started with the redrawing of maps during the colonial era, noting that the former colonial powers were unhappy with the principled foreign policy the country had adopted since independence in 1948.

Mrs Najah al-Attar said: “They (that is, the US, France, Britain, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar) want us to change our position. They have a project for the Middle East that aims to put an end to our unity and encourage sectarianism,” she added, noting Libya was a graphic illustration in this regard. She pointed out that the West along with its supporters in the region showed absolutely no remorse for the killing of 150,000 Libyan people, most of them civilians, in the conflict. In Iraq, more than a million people perished as a result of the US invasion in 2003 and the sanctions imposed on that country. She said President Assad could not implement his reform package at a faster pace because of the catastrophic events that shook the region after he took over. First, there was the US invasion of Iraq, which led to an upsurge in terrorism in the region and resulted in the influx of more than two million refugees into Syria. Then there were the two wars waged by Israel, against Lebanon and Gaza. Both the wars had briefly threatened to engulf the entire region. Najah al-Attar wondered why the West was silent about the casualties that Israel had inflicted in the two wars on hapless civilians. “Israeli atrocities do not make the West unhappy,” she added. She charged Washington and its allies with funding and training rebel groups in Syria even while hypocritically calling for a peaceful dialogue to end the crisis. “They [the West] are calling it a revolution of the people. Our people want normalcy. They believe in the President.” She emphasised that the reform process would be implemented carefully. “The new Constitution will guarantee a new life for the citizens. There will be more media freedom.” The government plans to set up an independent media body. The opposition parties already publish weekly papers.

Najah al-Attar said her country was the only one in the region to oppose US hegemony. “Syria is facing hardship but it has the courage to keep on supporting the resistance,” she said. Syria is the main backer of the resistance, Hizbollah and Hamas in the region, and has been uncompromising in its stance against Israel. The Syrian leader revealed that Washington had conveyed to Damascus that Syria could have stability if it “cut off support to Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran”. According to Najah al-Attar, the Syrian government bent over backwards to accommodate the demands of the international community and the opposition. “Our offer for dialogue has been rejected. The opposition wants only change of the government.” The Syrian Army was withdrawn from Homs, Dera'a and Idlib so that the Arab League Observers Mission could carry out its work unimpeded. She noted that the report prepared by the head of the Mission was ignored by the Arab League as it did not fit the League's game plan. “The Persian Gulf states are acting like puppies of the Americans,” she observed. The senior Syrian leader conceded that there were “some good people” in the opposition and that the government had kept the door for negotiations open. “Russia's mediation efforts were rejected by the opposition. We are sad but not afraid.” President Assad reiterated his offer of talks when Kofi Annan, the newly appointed United Nations/Arab League envoy to Syria, visited Damascus in the second week of March.

Najah al-Attar dismissed reports of defections from the Syrian Army. She said only a small number had defected. “Our Army will never be divided. We are protecting not only ourselves but the entire Arab nation.” She defended the Army's human rights record, asserting that it is doing its best to protect civilians. “If the Syrian Army did what the armed groups are doing, we could have crushed them a long time ago.” She was especially scathing about the interference of neighbouring Turkey in the internal affairs of Syria. “Turkey has been acting as an agent of the US There have been protests inside Turkey against the role of the government there. The Turkish people don't want their government to take sides.” She said Libyans, al-Qa'eda, and Turkish and French military officers were operating inside Syria. She also revealed that some of the weapons came from Israel. Najah al-Attar said Syria was being subjected to “information warfare”. Reports in the Western and Arab satellite channels, she said, were not based on the facts on the ground and the threat posed by terrorism was being downplayed deliberately. She said 90 per cent of the Syrian people had stopped watching Qatar's al-Jazeera and Saudi Arabia's al-Arabiya. “They are seen as partners of the armed terrorist groups.” There is no denying the fact that al-Qaeda is very much active in Syria. The suicide bomb attacks in Damascus and Aleppo in recent months are illustrations. In fact, the presence of militant groups has helped galvanise public opinion in favour of the government. The Syrian people do not want their country to become another Iraq or for that matter a new Libya, where armed militias are today ruling the roost after the country was supposedly “liberated” with the help of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

“The US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are spokesmen of and partners in fostering terrorism,” Najah al-Attar said. She said that besides civilians, the militant groups had targeted communication centres and gas pipelines. Syria today suffers from a shortage of electricity as a result of acts of sabotage against its energy grid. The Vice-President is confident that her country will soldier on despite the odds stacked against it. “Syria is self-sufficient and it has no external debts,” she explained. Diplomats in Damascus are of the view that Syria can rough it out as it has been used to decades of sanctions. But the latest set of sanctions has had a debilitating effect. For some months, Syria has not been able to export its oil, a key source of foreign exchange. Syria's oil is refined in western Europe and sold in the domestic markets. Traditional friends such as Iran are bound to help Syria in times of need. Venezuela has already dispatched a consignment of refined oil to Syria. Many Syrians outside the government say that the government can survive another 10 years being unaffected by the sanctions. “Sanctions will affect the common man but nobody is going to starve,” a resident of Damascus observed. He said the unemployment rate was rising alarmingly. The West and the Arab monarchies are promising a bonanza for the Syrian people if there is a regime change. At the Tunis Conference, $20 billion was on offer for a new government in Syria. But, he said, the Syrian people were aware that the West was using the country as a pawn.

A well-placed Syrian technocrat, who is ambivalent about the government on certain issues, told the Indian journalists that the attacks by the Western media and al-Jazeera became shriller whenever the government introduced more reforms. The opposition, he said, was aware of the “media game” and was willing “to sleep with the devil” to achieve its goal. He described the anti-Assad insurgency as one that “does not have a road map and which excludes the minorities and other groups”. He said many of the rebel fighters were “Salafists”. He, for one, would prefer a “civil war” rather than allow the country to be run by Salafists.

Ahmad Hussain, the Grand Mufti of Damascus who lost his son to the bullets of terrorists a few months ago, said Dr. Bashar al-Assad – an ophthalmologist by profession – would like nothing better than to practise medicine again but circumstances had forced him to stay on in power. The spiritual head of Syrian Sunnis said the President “is neither sectarian nor has a military background”. He said under Assad Syria would become a shining example for the rest of the Arab world, but the Persian Gulf countries and some of Syria's immediate neighbours were working overtime to sabotage Assad's plans to build a strong nation. “The unfolding situation in Syria does not suit the West,” the Grand Mufti said.

So sad--Assad can't pursue his beloved opthamology . . .

"UN Human Rights Council's 'Resolution' against DPRK Assailed"

I'm amazed the UNHRC manages to condemn North Korea. Can you imagine what a country has to do to get this treatment if it isn't Israel?

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK Monday gave the following answer to the question raised by KCNA as regards the "resolution" against the DPRK adopted at the recent session of the UN Human Rights Council:

Forces hostile towards the DPRK adopted again the "resolution" against it, regarding it as a thorn in their flesh, at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council. This is what they do every year.

The DPRK strongly refutes the "resolution" as one that does not deserve even a passing note as it is a product of the disgusting farce staged by those hostile forces out of their inveterate enmity towards the system in the DPRK.

It is a ridiculous and foolish daydream to try to hurt the sovereignty of the DPRK and pull down the dignified socialist system by abusing human rights, general value of mankind, for meeting their sinister political purpose.

The invasion of sovereign states, interference in their internal affairs, violation of sovereignty and killing of civilians by the imperialists in many parts of the world under the pretext of "advocating human rights" have drawn denunciation from mankind.

The DPRK will decisively frustrate all the challenges and intrigues of those hostile forces with the might of the single-minded unity and unswervingly keep to the path of independence, path of Songun chosen by its people.

(North) Korean News now has an article based on Ahmadinejad's "existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to freedom" speech

Iran: it's Songun and Juche, too!

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a recent diplomatic conference bitterly censured the U.S. and the West for shielding Israel.

The U.S. and Europe spend tens of billions of dollars each year in Zionists to help a criminal regime to continue its occupation of Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem, he deplored.

Saying the existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to freedom, justice and to all the independent nations, he reiterated his call upon the international community to show greater sensitivity to the tragedy of the people that suffers the Israeli occupation.

"A Gift for Muslim Couple" available at Amazon

Amazon helpfully supplies a "book description" that probably came from the publisher:

The Book Tuhfatuzzow-Jain (Gift for Muslim Couple) is indeed a presentation to the newly wedded couples as well as to all the married couples. This is a collection of writing from the pen of Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Rah), who was a very prolific writer on almost every topic of Islamic learning. It consists of various quotations from his books and all the quotations deal with the subject of marriage and after marriage relationship, as well as the various pitfalls of marriage, causes of breakdown and their causes. The Book also has various Sunnah traditions of the Prophet (SAW), Quranic verses and fine examples of real life incidents, different aspects of family life and explained how to run the institution of marriage successfully.

The book evidently allows a certain amount of violent disciplining of wives--as long as it isn't excessive.

"Toulouse shooter arrested in pre-dawn police raid" (AFP)

This appears to be very fresh news. Via Times of Israel:

After a pre-dawn shootout, French police arrested a 24-year-old man suspected of carrying out the Toulouse Jewish school massacre, Wednesday morning.

The man, who according to French media reports is linked to al-Qaeda, was captured by police in a house in northern Toulouse. His brother and mother were also arrested on suspicion of aiding him.

Channel 10 news reported that the suspect told police that he committed the attack out of a desire to avenge the death of Palestinian children by Israel.

Two police officers were reportedly injured in the operation, with CNN reporting that one of them was shot in the knee.

A source close to the investigation told AFP that the suspect exchanged words with police, and that he claimed to be a member of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.

French media sources said the suspect spent time training on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. [...]

Update: The headline seems to be saying he is already in custody. That looks premature as far as I can tell now.

"'Destroy All the Churches': Wahabi 's Poor Treatment of Christians" (ABNA-Iran)

Here is an Iranian article that, I suppose, wants to make that point that Shi'ism is more tolerant than Wahhabism. A summary box after the article-title states: "According to several Arabic news sources, last Monday, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, declared that it is 'necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.'"

The Grand Wahabi Mufti made his assertion in response to a question posed by a delegation from Kuwait: a Kuwaiti Wahabi parliament member recently called for the "removal" of churches (he later "clarified" by saying he merely meant that no churches should be built in Kuwait), and the delegation wanted to confirm Wahhabis's position on churches.

Accordingly, the Grand Wahabi Mufti "stressed that Kuwait was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, and therefore it is necessary to destroy all churches in it.

Well, we noted, there are churches in every other country on the Arabian Peninsula: Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE. You are the only exception. Are you suggesting that all those churches should be closed? Yes, came the reply. Every one of them.

Ahmadinejad: "the existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to freedom"

In which we learn that "nobody is ever allowed to ask a question or conduct a research on how the Zionist regime was established." I think he means the Holocaust here since in his universe nobody is allowed to do "research" on it:

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the occupation of Palestine is a historical problem and the existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to freedom, justice and all independent nations.

“The Europe and the US spend tens of billions of their wealth on the Zionists each year to help a criminal regime…continue its occupation [of Palestinian lands],” he said, addressing a convoy of pro-Palestinian activists in Tehran who are heading to al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Sunday.

He also slammed the Western states for showing no tolerance towards questioning the existence of Israel.

“Despite all liberal claims of the Western states, nobody is ever allowed to ask a question or conduct a research on how the Zionist regime was established,” the president said.

“The issue of Palestine is not an argument between one person and another or a conflict created between the followers of one prophet and another …but the dispute over Palestine is a dispute over dominating and managing the world,” Ahmadinejad added.

The Iranian chief executive further stated that the Zionists try to pitch states and nations against each other and create a rift between governments and their people and spearhead international terrorism.

“The hegemonic current aims to establish this regime in Palestine as the focal point of the Middle East which is also the center of the world’ resources and energy, in order to continue the historical trend of hegemony,” he said. [...]

What a loony.

"All Service Members Are Waiting for Order to Fire"

Kim Jong Un is already "peerlessly great"?

All servicepersons of the Korean People's Army, fully ready to launch a sacred war of retaliation with a will to wipe out the enemies, are just waiting for an order to shower fire on them.

Rodong Sinmun Friday says this in a bylined article.

It goes on:

The sacred war of Korean style is a manifestation of the resolution force with arms the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors to pay a thousand-fold dearer price for the thrice-cursed crimes against ethics and morality and glorify the history of the great sun for all ages. It is also aimed to hold in high esteem Kim Jong Un, another peerlessly great man who is identical to general secretary Kim Jong Il, and implement the leader's last instructions for national reunification at any cost.

The above-said war to eliminate such traitors as Lee Myung Bak, Kim Kwan Jin and Jong Sung Jo with arms of Mt. Paektu is the storm for self-destruction they have invited themselves.

It will result in making a clean sweep of the worst traitors who hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK in a bid to prolong their dirty remaining days and getting the pent-up grudge of the nation settled without fail.

Those conservative media and all hues of riff-raffs in south Korea who had been involved in the Lee group's racket for confrontation with the DPRK even a bit will never escape the strike of the DPRK style.

The world will clearly witness the inexhaustible and tremendous might of Kim Il Sung's nation, Kim Jong Il's Korea where all service personnel and people have risen up in the spirit of Mt. Paektu to protect the dignity of its supreme leadership.

All hues of riff-raffs will never escape the style strike? Sounds like a rap record.

"Official Praises High Election Turnout as Iranians' Crushing Response to Enemies" (Fars News-Iran)

Gotta love that headline:

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi praised the Iranian people's massive participation in the March 2 parliamentary elections, and described it as a crushing response to the enemies' negative propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

"Three decades after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, US officials still think they can achieve their objectives through political pressure and economic sanctions," Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday.

However, these officials received an appropriate response following a high turnout of the Iranian people in various scenes to defend the Islamic establishment, he added.

They are aware of the Iranian people's strong support for the Islamic establishment but Israeli and Western media launched propaganda to exert an international pressure on Iranians, he stated.

"West media propaganda and efforts by Western officials to put the Iranian nation under pressure failed through the massive participation of people in the Majlis elections and their highest participation record," the official said.

Araqchi, who is deputy foreign minister for Asia-Pacific and the Commonwealth nations' affairs, emphasized that Israeli and Western media were defeated in a psychological warfare against Iran by the vigorous turnout of Iranians.

Iranians from different walks of life came to the polling stations in large numbers on March 2 to determine the fate of the country's legislative body for the next four years. Iranians staged a high turnout in the country's 9th parliamentary elections in a move deemed as a straight message to the US war rhetoric.

Over 48 million Iranian voters were eligible to cast their ballots, and initial estimates showed that at least 65% of them have been present at the polling stations. [...]

According to a Memri article:

The number of eligible voters was close to 48 million. Following calls from opposition circles to boycott the elections, the regime stated in advance that it anticipated a turnout of 65%, and immediately after the elections, it announced that the turnout had indeed been 64.2% . . . In an interview with the Kaleme website, Ardeshir Amir Arjomand, the spokesman of the Green Movement Coordination Council and an advisor to Mousavi, thanked the public for boycotting the elections, and said that the reported turnout rate of 64% had been pre-determined by the regime. He added that this figure was just as reliable as the claim of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad that over 50% of Syria's citizens had participated in the recent referendum even while he was massacring them.

"Canadian Jewish groups slam Zionist regime's warmongering" (IRIB Radio-Iran)

The denunciation is even ascribed to "the Jewish community in Canada":

By organizing rallies to protest Tel Aviv policies, the Jewish community in Canada has denounced Zionist regime's crimes against the Palestinians as well as its warmongering against Iran.

According to Press TV, Jewish groups, particularly the Independent Jewish Voices of Canada (IJVC) have played a major role in organizing rallies against a war with Iran.

IJVC, founded in 2008, describes itself as representing the Jewish people in Canada who have in common a strong commitment to social justice and universal human rights. The organization was as a result of the national Independent Jewish Canadian Conference.

IJVC activist, Diana Ralph told Press TV in Ottawa “There is no evidence that Iran has developed nuclear weapons, and it’s ironic that Zionist regime has a very large nuclear stockpile and also has the backing of the US which has the largest nuclear stockpile.”

Activists say that the media campaign against Iran has also helped Zionist regime mask its treatment of the Palestinian people.

More about Diana Ralph here.

Huffpo: Supreme Leader "Willing to Make Negotiations Succeed"

Most of the evidence for the claim made in the post title seems to consist of internal developments with no apparent connection to nuclear negotiations. For instance:

In addition to hinting at the West, Khamenei is preparing Iran's domestic arena for negotiations. Internal factors have always influenced the Islamic Republic's nuclear policies, and despite the marginalization of pro-reform forces, rifts within the conservative camp are running deeper as factions struggle over political and financial resources. It is clear to both the P5+1 and Khamenei that factional infighting adversely affects nuclear negotiations -- as recent history shows. For this very reason, Khamenei is trying to present an image of a unified Iran vis-à-vis the world.

It just sounds like a dictator consolidating his power to me. Another development that is supposed to mean that the future is bright for nuclear negotiations is the reappointment of Rafsanjani to the Expediency Council.

"Agricultural Workers Vow to Wipe Out Lee Myung Bak Group of Traitors"

Beating ploughshares into swords?

Meetings are taking place at various agricultural units in the DPRK at which agricultural workers vow to wipe out the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors through a merciless sacred war as it hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK.

The statement of the spokesman for the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army was read out to be followed by speeches at the meetings.

The speakers expressed their towering resentment at those traitors and military hooligans who are behaving in a provocative manner, far from making an apology for their hideous provocations against the DPRK.

They said:

The above-said dastardly acts are thrice-cursed crimes against the nation and ethics. We, therefore, can never pardon those cruel gangsters and warmongers for their thrice-cursed high treason.

The party, army and people are united single-mindedly around the leader. This is the true picture of Songun Korea.

The agricultural workers, who regard it as their unshakable faith and a fundamental requirement for their lives to devotedly defend the leader, will intensify the drive for boosting the agricultural production in the spirit of showering fire on the enemies and turn out as one in a just sacred war if an order is issued.

Let's see, they will "intensify the drive for boosting the agricultural production in the spirit of showering fire on the enemies." Is that good for growing tomatoes?

Angry Arab now has an editorial-length English essay on current events in Gaza

He calls it "Tolerable Savagery." Here are some paragraphs:

[...] Israel has been killing Palestinians all week but this time the US government reacted. It condemned Palestinian violence, literally. News of dead Palestinians doesn’t matter to US editors at daily newspapers or TV news shows. There is of course more than a ting of racism to the way Palestinian dead are treated in the US. They simply are not as valuable as human beings as Israeli dead.

Israel, accustomed to the practices of lies, fabrications, exaggerations, distortion, and obfuscation in its propaganda, immediately poses as a victim. This is a state that posed as a victim when it attacked three countries in 1967, and invented a Hitlerian concept of murder and war that allowed it to kill anyone and to attack any state under the pretext that the state or the person may harm Israel in the future. One can only imagine if Iran were to practice such a concept in the world today.

So Israeli propaganda covers up the victimization of Palestinians by typically inflating the damage from missile attacks (advanced forms of firearms really): even people who trip in a shelter are listed as “injured” and people who are “shocked” from the noise are also listed as “victims.” In an election years, those people may get sympathy calls from Obama and his Republican rival. [...]

If the US media wants to delve into the "careers" of the Palestinian dead, that's fine with me. Let's hear about Zuhayr Al-Qaysi's achievements as Secretary General of the PRC. Don't let him remain an anonymous casualty number!

"Iran ‘smart concrete’ to protect N-sites from US bunker busters" (PressTV-Iran)

Not the same concrete as that inside Ahmadinejad's head evidently:

As tension escalates between the US and Iran, American officials are increasingly concerned that the use of “smart concrete” may render Iranian nuclear sites impervious to US bunker-buster bombs.

An article published by Aggravate Research website, which represents Aggravate Industries, stated that due to Iran's geographical situation, the country is under constant threat of earthquakes.

As a result, the website said, Iranian engineers are very good at developing “ultra-high performance concrete” (UHPC) which is among the toughest and most rigid building materials in the world.

It added that the new Iranian concrete, made on an indigenous formula, is now a major concern for Washington in addition to Iran's uranium enrichment work, whose technology has been also indigenized.

“Unlike conventional concrete, Iranian concrete is mixed with quartz powder and special fibers - transforming it into high performance concrete that can withstand higher pressure with increased rigidity,” the article stated.

Due to its combination, the new Iranian-made concrete is an excellent building material with peaceful applications like the construction of safer bridges, dams, tunnels, increasing the strength of sewage pipes, and even absorbing pollution.

However, the article said, like any dual-use technologies that carry both civilian and military applications, the UHPC can also be used to protect underground facilities from bombardment, which could pose a real headache for military endeavors into Iran.

According to the article, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently expressed his concern that in case of a real conflict, the American bunker busters may not be able to penetrate Iran’s deepest bunkers should the UHPC be employed for military purposes. [...]

"Iran slams international silence on Zionist regime attacks on Gaza" (IRIB Radio-Iran)

Iran oozes hypocrisy with the best of them:

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the new round of Zionist regime's deadly airstrikes on the besieged in Gaza Strip, calling the attacks blatant violation of human rights.

According to IRNA, on Sunday in a statement, the Foreign Ministry condemned recent airstrikes on Gaza which have claimed the lives of 18 Palestinians since Friday.

“In line with its targeted state-sponsored terrorism approach, the Zionist regime has embarked on violent assassination of Zuhir al-Qaisi, Secretary-general of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and a number of his aides,” the statement added.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also slammed the international community for its total silence on Israeli regime rights violations.

“International organizations and rights bodies must not remain silent toward this blatant violation of human rights and the killing of innocent Palestinians by the Zionists and must fulfill their humanitarian and legal responsibility to defend the people of Palestine,” the statement said.

It added that although killing innocent men, women and children by Israel is nothing new, meaningful silence of the international organizations and human rights bodies in the face of Israeli reimge’s crimes and aggression is inacceptable to the world’ public opinion and the Muslims.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also urged the Islamic countries and independent governments to give a strong response to the Israeli crimes.

"President al-Assad Meeting Annan: Syria Ready to Make Successful any Sincere Effort to Find Solution to Events" (SANA-Syria)

So it's all worked out, then:

President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday said Syria is ready to make successful any sincere effort to find a solution to the events taking place in the country, adding that the success of any effort requires first studying what is happening on the ground instead of relying on the virtual space that is promoted by some regional and international countries to distort the facts and give a picture contrary to what Syria is undergoing.

President al-Assad's remarks came during his meeting with UN Secretary General's envoy Kofi Annan and the accompanying delegation.

The President was briefed by Annan on his preliminary vision on the situation in Syria, with the UN Secretary General's envoy stressing his commitment to work fairly, neutrally and independently, as well as his rejection to foreign interference in the Syrian affairs and his belief in a peaceful solution.

Annan expressed hope to work with the Syrian government to launch diplomatic dialogue in the framework of a political process to restore stability to Syria and realize the aspirations of the Syrian people.

President al-Assad said that any political dialogue or political process can not succeed as long as there are armed terrorist groups that are working to spread chaos and destabilize the country through targeting citizens, both civilian and military, and vandalizing private and public properties. [...]

"National grid separates Iran's internal networks from internet" (ISNA-Iran)

This is not so clear, but it sounds like an attempt to limit ordinary Iranians to a government-filtered internet:

Iranian Communications Minister Reza Taghipour said internal networks would be separated from internet by launching national information network.

"Internet can be used inside Iran as well as national information network for general use and reception of that kind of data not available in the national network," Taghipour told ISNA.

"Internet in its essence is an unsafe network, it will be changed to a safe network for the electronic government's exchanges through launching the national grid and using locally-made software," he added.

The issue of security would be resolved through running the national network, Taghipour said adding the national information network needs all-out cooperation of the public and private sector, since it will not work like internet at the beginning.

Why would it need "all-out cooperation of the public and private sector" it it is just a security system for government communications?

"Servicepersons Vow to Wipe Out S. Korean Traitors"

To those who usually skip these posts, believe me, I understand. However, this is unbelievably bellicose rhetoric:

Meetings took place in North Hwanghae and Ryanggang Provinces on Friday at which servicepersons and people vowed to wipe out through a merciless sacred war the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors who hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK.

The statement of the spokesman for the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army was read out to be followed by speeches.

The speakers branded the Lee group of traitors as human scum worse than rabid dogs, hordes of traitors bereft of elementary ethics and morality.

They called for uninterruptedly staging the DPRK-style sacred war in an indiscriminate and intensive way till the Lee group of traitors makes an apology for its high treason before the nation.

The DPRK has the most powerful and merciless striking means and methods which are unknown to the world and beyond human imagination. Such human scum as the group of traitors can never get out of the range of the heavy strikes of its revolutionary armed forces, they said, went on:

The revolutionary armed forces of Mt. Paektu will shower fire deadlier than what was done on Yonphyong Island and thus blow up not only the dens of such human scum but Chongwadae and other bulwarks of the group of traitors so that they may not hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK and defame its inviolable system any longer.

The speakers underscored the need to firmly protect Korean style socialism, the supreme dignity and life of the DPRK, united close around the headquarters of the revolution, bearing deep in mind the unshakable conviction that the DPRK is sure to triumph under the leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un. [...]

Chongwdae is the "Blue House," the South Korean presidential office and home.