Israel touts new spie plane More posturing

Adding fuel to the fire after todays second round of missile tests from Iran Israel put its latest spy plane on display, which it claims can
track Iran's nuclear facilities and provide Israel with an early
warning of an attack.

The United States waded into the war of words when Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran today that the United States would
not back down if Israel, or its oil supply, is threatened.

"We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies," Rice said in the Republic of Georgia at the close of a three-day Eastern European trip.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted saying "Israel is the strongest country in the region and has proved in the past that it doesn't hesitate to act when its vital security interests are at stake."

Betancout Marraige Over

In an interview with the Bogota newspaper El Tiempo, Juan Carlos Lecompte acknowledges Betancourt was cold to him when they where reunited in front of TV cameras.

Lecompte says in the interview published Wednesday that Betancourt's love for him "could have disappeared" during her six years as a rebel hostage.

Betancourt France without him, accompanied by her two children from a previous marriage.

Lecompte also stated that he gives no credibility to rumors of an affair during her imprisonment.

Last night Larry King interview she spoke of deep love and loss for some of the people she spent time with during her captivity.

Lecompte was not a topic discussed.

Democrats push Oil companies to Use or Lose oil leases

House Democrats propose a bill aimed at increasing domestic oil production by forcing Oil companies to increase production on over 68 million acres in the lower 48 states with a "use or lose" approach.

The legislation would also put pressure on companies to speed development of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

Democrat attempts to pass a similar bill last month failed.

"Right now, the president has 700 million barrels of oil. He can release a small percent of it, less than 10 percent of it; have immediate impact on the price at the pump now, within 10 days, not within 10 years," U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

The White House rejected Pelosi's request, saying the reserve is intended only for severe supply disruptions.

Bush plans to meet with his economic advisors at the Energy Department on Friday to receive a briefing on how the rising energy prices are affecting the U.S. economy.

Bush, who has appealed to Congress to lift a moratorium on offshore drilling, will also discuss his plan to increase domestic drilling and reforms that could increase U.S. refining capacity.

Many lawmakers have blamed the influx of large index traders, such as hedge and pension funds, in futures markets for the price run up.

"Speculative bubbles emerge, regulators do nothing in the name of
letting markets do their magic, the bubble bursts, and consumers and
taxpayers pay the bill," Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro said at the
hearing.

Computers responsible for 5$ spike in oil prices on the day

According to financial news as oil prices spiked today computer software added to the problem as prices breached a level that triggered computer-generated buying programs.

As prices rose today on news of Iran's second missile test in the Persian Gulf and The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said attacks will resume attacks on oil facilities. this week oil futures skyrocketed past the previous days high of $138.29.

OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said at a press conference in Vienna today that he hoped there would be no military conflict between Israel and Iran, adding that "if something were to happen, it is impossible to replace the production of Iran.''

The International Energy Agency increased its 2008 demand forecast for the first time in six months today, because of rising consumption in developing countries.

Fannie and Freddie may need bail out

[Bloomberg] Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest providers of financing for U.S. home loans, fell to the lowest levels in 17 years in New York trading after a former Federal Reserve president said the companies may need a government rescue.

Fannie Mae tumbled 14 percent and Freddie Mac slumped 22 percent in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after UBS AG analysts said in a report that Freddie Mac's decline creates ``challenges'' for the company's plan to raise $5.5 billion.

Chances are increasing that the U.S. will bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because they don't have enough capital to weather the worst housing slump since the Great Depression, former St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole said in an interview. Freddie Mac owed $5.2 billion more than its assets were worth in the first quarter, making it insolvent under fair value accounting rules. The fair value of Fannie Mae assets fell 66 percent to $12.2 billion, data provided by the Washington- based company show, and may be negative next quarter, Poole said.

Washing Times War Footing

Washington Times - EDITORIAL: Iran's provocation

Pushes fourth the viewpoint that Iran is essentially building nuclear weapons and is intent on provoking a war in the region.

Unless something drastic has changed the best public information about Iran's nuclear capability the 2007 NIE still puts Iran years away from developing nuclear weapons.

Photos and articles published today and backed up by comments from the state department supported the opinion that one of the nine missile fired in the Wednesday exercise failed to fire and was subsequently fired today.

There is just no contest here. America military domination is clear to anyone who's spent 10 minutes watching home video from soldiers in Iraq. A fast stop on the wikipedia shows clearly the dominant posture of American forces in the region.

For all the quoted Iranian bluster they have nothing to stand on.

If America and her allies go on the offensive this will be a very short war.

The consequences though will perhaps be devastating. An expansion of the middle eastern war to Iran will make it virtually impossible to extract American or UN forces from the region for decades to come.

With the direct costs of the Iraq war mounting into the hundreds of of billions and America's deficiet rapidly approaching 1/4 of the worlds entire economy. The cost of expanding the war into Iran could be unimaginable.

While clearly it's crucial to maintain the stability of Israel Iran has nothing, then are years away from nuclear weapons and using them would spell certain destruction for there nation and there is little doubt much of this destruction would come in the form of Tactical Nuclear Weapons.

Iran is and has been a real threat to regional stability for decades, but very few people believe they would fire nuclear missiles at Israel, even fewer people believe they would survive long if they did.

Western Media is fueling a fire supported by people who believe in the inevitability of this conflict and it's divine results.

As has been clearly demonstrated with North Korea there is a better option.

While many contend that the government of Iran and thereby it's people are solely intent on the destruction of Israel the reality is there are not in any position to achieve these ends.

No real attempt has been made by western diplomacy to reach out to those in the Iranian government and public who support more moderate approaches.

The Zealots on both sides push for a war that will have no victor.

Chinese don't want Sarkozy at Olympics

According to an opinion poll conducted by Sina.com.cn the Chinese people do not want French President Nicolas Sarkozy to attend the Olympics.

This comes after Sarkozy threatened to boycott the Olympics in Beijing, stating that his attendance would depend on the outcome of talks between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama.

The durvey says 88 percent of those who responded said they viewed Sarkozy's comments "extremely unfriendly". The same number roughly said they did not "welcome his presence" at the opening ceremony.

More than 100,000 people have taken part in the poll according to Sina.com.

Gaza Truce crumbling

Unarmed Palestinian man shot dead as three week old Gaza truce crumbles.

"At around 3 o'clock
an army force identified a suspicious person crossing the fence from
Gaza into Israel near Kissufim," an Israeli army spokesman said on
Thursday.

"The force called on him to stop and fired warning shots but he did not stop and the soldiers fired at him and killed him. When they approached his body they saw he was unarmed," the spokesman said.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is linked to the Fatah party of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said the man was one of its members.

Two missiles were later fired from northern Gaza into the Israeli town of Sderot, in an attack claimed by al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

Abu Qusai, a spokesman for the group, said the rockets were fired in retaliation for the killing of its one of its fighters in Gaza and the death of one of its members in the West Bank town of Jenin a day earlier.

The shooting in Gaza and the rocket attacks come a day after Israeli security forces shot and killed a Hamas member in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli troops shot the man as he tried to escape arrest near the town of Jenin on Wednesday, the Israeli army said.

"The operative, Talal Sa'ad Talal Abed, was initially critically wounded and received medical treatment at the scene, but died on the way to a hospital," an Israeli army statement said.

Civil rights groups file suit to Void Spie Bill

As President Bush signed the controversial eavesdropping bill into law The American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others immediately filed suit in Manhattan federal court and called for the law to be voided.

"The lawsuit asks the court to stop the government from enforcing the new unconstitutional wiretapping law, which will give the Bush administration unfettered power to spy on Americans without warrants or judicial oversight," the group said.

Bush quickly signed the bill a day after Congress gave it final approval, with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama dropping earlier opposition to vote for passage. Obama's Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, has supported the bill but was absent for Wednesday's vote.

The bill authorizes U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop without court approval on foreign targets believed to be outside the United States.

Critics complain this allows warrantless surveillance of the phone calls and e-mails of Americans who communicate with them. The bill seeks to minimize such eavesdropping on Americans, but critics say the safeguards are inadequate.

Fed Urges overhaul in US Financial Regulatory systems

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress they agreed the Fed needs a stronger hand in supervising investment banks to help shield the broader economy from problems like the ones that forced the emergency rescue of investment bank Bear Stearns.

"The Bear Stearns episode and market turmoil more generally have placed in stark relief the outdated nature of our financial regulatory system, and has convinced me that we must move much more quickly to update our regulatory structure and improve both market oversight and market discipline," Paulson told Congress.

"We should consider how to most appropriately give the Federal Reserve the authority to access necessary information from complex financial institutions ... and the tools to intervene to mitigate systemic risk in advance of a crisis," he said.

"Cooperation between the Fed and the SEC (Securities and Exchange
Commission) is taking place within the existing statutory framework
with the objective of addressing the near-term situation," Bernanke
said in comments that echoed a speech he gave on Tuesday.

"In the longer term, however, legislation may be needed to provide a more robust framework for the prudential supervision of investment banks and other large securities dealers," he said.

"Any potential commitment of government support should be an extraordinary event that requires the engagement of the Treasury Department and contains sufficient criteria to prevent costs to the taxpayer to the greatest extent possible," he added.

"Regulation alone cannot eliminate all future bouts of instability,"
Paulson said. He added that market participants should not count on
getting lending from the Fed or any other government support easily.

"For market discipline to effectively constrain risk, financial institutions must be allowed to fail," Paulson said.

Global Equity firms buying cheap land

As reported by Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)

Falling prices, dwindling transactions and property developers' discount offers may be frightening away individual buyers but seem to be attracting more international investors in the real estate sector.

Blackstone, one of the largest US private equities, in June acquired a commercial project in Shanghai for 1.1 billion yuan ($160.24 million), the first time the company invested in China's property market. Other international funds, said industry insiders, are also looking for mature properties in key cities.

"We have received lots of inquiries from investors in the United States and Europe interested in investing on the mainland following a downward adjustment in property prices," said Malcolm Tam Yuk-cheung, a financial advisory leader at Deloitte China Real Estate Industry.

"They are looking both at opportunities to acquire a stake in a property company and to directly invest in projects," he said, adding these investors typically target an average 15 percent internal return rate before leverage.

Obama mocks McCain advisor

Obama mock McCain economic advisor Gramm's comments. "He named the U.S., and I quote, 'A nation of whiners.' Whoa," Mr. Obama said. "A nation of whiners?"

Obama continued "It's a figment of your imagination, these high gas prices." in a town hall meeting in Fairfax, Virginia.

"This comes after Senator McCain recently admitted that his energy proposals for the gas tax holiday and drilling will have mainly psychological benefits," Mr. Obama continued as the audience laughed.

"America only has one Dr. Phil ," he said. "When it comes to the economy, we don't need another one. Its not just a figment of your imagination, its not all in your head."

Do we have any choice but to stay on target

Airlines globally are feeling the pinch and there is real concern that the problems of economy and lack of spending are bringing on Contagion across global markets.

Western Powers have placed themselves squarely opposed to Islam, and both militarily and economically the battle lines are shaping up for the big show down.

Some are talking about the reality that we simply are left with no choice but to finish these guys off if we stand any chance of pulling through this on the other side.

For three decades the west has felt strangled by OPEC and Iran has been there every step egging on the US and supplying weapons training and money to groups opposed to Israel.

It's clear that the EU the US and Israel have done there best to keep tensions alive.

Israel's often brutal repression of the Palestinian people and a lack on both sides to commit to a real plan to settle the disputes and build a Palestinian state have only served to keep hostilities alive.

American military build up in the middle east has been steady and now with forces completely encircling Iran many Iranian's believe the battle is inevitable, some Americans are starting to think this way too.

America and Israel have bound themselves together in the face of Islamic hostility, and America has stated repeatedly over the decades it will protect it's ally yet Iran continues to make threats.

It seems clear both sides want this battle to happen and if that's the case it will.

McCain Ad says the recession is all in your mind

Top McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm says McCain has the economy covered, it's all in your mind.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet."

He goes further to suggest that foreign interests dividing up the nations wealth, privatized military crumbling schools and infrastructure and endless wars have nothing to do with our economic problems we're just being pussies.

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, he said.

Then he reminds us money doesn't mean shit if you have all the guns. We'll just take it back in over the next few decades.

"We've never been more dominant; we've never had more natural advantages than we have today," he said. "We have benefited greatly" from the globalization of the economy in the last 30 years.

With our military encircling the middle east and missile defenses across Europe, Sarkozy calling for a big investment by the EU in military forces and the German army at it's most powerful point since the end of WW2, this is a pretty solid plan, lets see what Obama comes back with.

No dissent allowed in Karzi's Afghanistan

An Afghan governor who criticised a recent US air raid which killed at 15 civilians has been sacked by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

Tamim Nuristani, governor of Nuristan province, was fired hours after telling Al Jazeera that the US raid on July 5 was poorly executed and would inflame tensions.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition said that it had targeted fighters who had attacked a military base in the province.

But
while Nuristani said that a mistake by US forces may have caused the
deaths, he said the incident was "inexcusable because [the US] knew
that ... civilians were leaving the area" being targeted.

"I think the president, the whole cabinet and the people of
Afghanistan are getting angry and that is not helping our cause, nor
the Americans or Nato. It is helping the Taliban, not us," he said in
the interview.

UN above the law

A Dutch court has ruled that survivors of the 1995 Serb assault that killed 8,000 Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica cannot sue the United Nations for failing to protect their families.

Relatives of victims and survivors of the massacre had been seeking compensation from the UN and the Dutch state.

But the judgment handed down by the district court in The Hague on Thursday said it had "no jurisdiction to hear the action against the UN".



"... the court concludes that in international law practice the absolute immunity of the UN is the norm and is respected."

Srebrenica was a Muslim enclave protected by Dutch UN peacekeepers.



On July 11, 1995, it was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces who loaded thousands of men and boys onto trucks, killing about 8,000 of them before throwing their bodies into mass graves.

Statue of Liberty Crown May Reopen

NEW YORK - The National Park Service is considering reopening Lady Liberty's crown for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to documents a congressman released on July Fourth.

The park service requested bids last
month to study what it would take to safely open the Statue of
Liberty's iconic headpiece to the public, according to documents
released by U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.

Liberty Island was closed after the
terrorist attacks. The statue's base, pedestal and lower observation
deck reopened in August 2004, after a $20 million effort to enhance
fire safety.

But the crown and its interior
observation deck, which soar about 265 feet above New York Harbor,
remained closed because the Park Service said there was no way to
evacuate them safely in an emergency. The narrow spiral staircase that
leads up to the crown doesn't comply with fire and building codes.

Visitors are now limited to the statue's 154-foot-tall pedestal.

Weiner, a member of the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security,
helped arrange a congressional hearing in September on reopening the
crown.

Foreign Sovern Wealth Funds gobble up American Icon Chrysler Building

Arab sovereign wealth funds funnel oil wealth back into the US as they purchase over 1.8 billion in the form of property purchases, the latest victim the landmark Chrysler building.

The Arab nations flush with massive wealth from oil are actively buying commercial property in the US.

Sovereign wealth funds are government owned entities not private investors as has been the case in the past.

These funds are in effect government purchases of American soil and it has man people, especially in New York very concerned.

According to one New Yorker. "It makes me sick, because all our money is going over there with the oil and it's coming back here and they are gobbling up all the real estate."

Images of Iranian Missle Altered

According to the New York Times at least one picture released from the public relations arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard may have been altered to hide an apparent miss-fire.

Iranian stone age weapons miss-fire and they try to cover it up?

Sarkozy halts EU expansion Calls for rise of EU military strength

STRASBOURG, France -- The European Union (EU) will not be able to enlarge further till the reform treaty crisis is settled, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a European Parliament session here Thursday.

An EU comprising more than the present 27 members could not function without reforms, said Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

The Lisbon Treaty, designed to streamline the EU's policy-making mechanism, was rejected by Ireland in a national referendum last month.

Sarkozy said the EU should not press Ireland to have a second referendum, while stressing that there should be no renegotiation on the hard-forged treaty.

The treaty, signed by EU leaders last December in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, needs to be ratified by all member states before it can come into force.

The charter provides for key institutional reforms in the EU, including creating posts for a long-term EU president and an enhanced role for the bloc's foreign policy chief.

Sarkozy also highlighted France's priorities during its EU presidency including climate change, energy, immigration, European defense and agricultural policy reform.

France took over the six-month rotating EU presidency on July 1.

On European defense, Sarkozy said the EU defense system could function alongside the NATO defence mechanism.

"How can Europe become a political power if it cannot defend itself?" he asked.

France has long been the driving force behind calls for a stronger EU defense, including the development of cross-border troop training among EU nations, despite concerns that a such a defense system could clash or overlap with that of NATO.

Rove Breaks the law refusing to testify before Congress

Following in the tradition of the Bush administration, former White House advisor Carl Rove, the man who's been called "Bush's Brain" ignored a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about accusations of political pressures applied to the Justice Department to influence prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama, among other things.

The house subcommittee ruled that Rove was breaking the law.

Prosecutors have called for Rove to be arrested.

Following in the footsteps of the President and Vice President, Rove says he is bound to follow the White House's guidance, although he
has offered to answer questions specifically on the Siegelman case —
but only with no transcript taken and not under oath.

Without transcripts these men can say anything they want and none of it can be used against them in any form of prosecution.

The waltz of the criminals that drove us to war and destitution marches on.

Gay rights activist call for Hyatt boycot

Gay rights groups call for a boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, a non-unionized facility in downtown San Diego, based on claims the owner Doug Manchester contributed $125,000 to Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriages.

Organizers urge the public to avoid the hotel because they sau the support for Prop 8 amounts to unfair treatment of gays and lesbians.

“Manchester's contribution to this anti-marriage initiative is
discrimination plain and simple,” said Brigette Browning, president of
Unite Here Local 30, which represents 4,500 hotel and restaurant
workers.

In May, California became the second state in the nation to allow
same-sex marriage after the state Supreme Court ruled that laws banning
it violate the right to marry in the state constitution. A court ruling
in Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in that state four years
ago.

In November, voters get a chance to overturn the California ruling, if they vote for a constitutional ban under Proposition 8.

“This is someone who is giving an exorbitant amount of money to write discrimination into the constitution for the very first time,” said Fred Karger, who is helping to organize the boycott and is running an
organization opposed to Proposition 8, said he is also urging the
public to boycott Manchester's other hotel, the Grand Del Mar.

Paris TV

Paris Hilton is planning a reality show featuring a host of A-list stars to show about their lives in the spotlight.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Hilton was inspired by recent shows following the lives of Dina Lohan and Denise Richards.

The socialite reportedly offered the idea to several broadcasters, including Bravo and Lifetime.

Hilton apparently wants the show to
feature herself, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Tori Spelling, Nicole
Richie and the Olsen twins.

The two-hour special would show how celebrities deal with the paparazzi and press.

New York Slaver goes to jail

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- A millionaire who inflicted years of abuse on two Indonesian housekeepers held as virtual slaves in her Long Island mansion was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison.

Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted with her husband in December on a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens.

The trial provided a glimpse into a growing US problem of domestic workers exploited in slave-like conditions.

China goes transgenic

BEIJING -- China's State Council, or cabinet, on Wednesday approved a program for the development of transgenic species to shore up the country's sustainable agricultural development.

The State Council agreed at an executive meeting that the program is of strategic importance in strengthening the country's capacity for agricultural technological innovation, increasing farmers' income and enhance the agriculture sector's global competitiveness.

The program aims to gain genes of great commercial value whose intellectual property rights belong to China, and develop high-quality, high-yield and pest-resistant genetically-modified new species, according to the meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao.

The meeting urged relevant authorities to fully understand the importance and urgency of the program and waste no time implementing it.

The meeting also reviewed and approved a guideline on the deepening of economic system reforms in 2008.

Hostilities break out in Lebanon

At least two people have died and dozens wounded in a fresh outbreak of violence in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

A security official said that clashes began between armed men in the pro-government Bab al-Tabbaneh and pro-opposition Jabal Mohsen districts late on Tuesday and intensified on Wednesday morning.

Albania and Croatia enter NATO

Croatia and Albania have signed membership accords into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, opening the way for them to join the Western military alliance, most likely by early next year.

After the signing by their foreign ministers, the two Balkan nations are now able to sit in on meetings of Nato's main decision-making body, the North Atlantic council.

They will become full members, under the alliance's defence umbrella, after membership is ratified by their parliaments and those of the 26 current members.

Nato officials hope that can be done before an alliance summit in April.

Pipeline will link India and Iran

India will soon sign a deal on a pipeline that will transport gas from Iran, India's oil minister has said.

The $7.5bn project, which will bring gas from Iranian fields to India and Pakistan is expected to be signed "next month", Murli Deora said at a World Pertroleum Congress (WPC) event in Madrid on Thursday.

"The only issue is where to take the delivery, the delivery point," he said, adding the two options were on the India-Pakistan border or the Pakistan-Iran border.

"But these things are being sorted out at a very high level now, and I hope by next month things will be okay."

The deal was discussed at the sidelines of the WPC event, Deora said.

Talks on the 2,600km pipeline began in 1994 but stalled amid tensions between India and Pakistan and differences over prices and transit fees.

But India and Pakistan said last month that they had come to a commercial agreement on the deal.

India has been under pressure from the United States not to do business with Iran.

Washington accuses Tehran of being a state sponsor of terrorism and of seeking to build nuclear weapons, claims Iran denies.

But New Delhi, which imports more than 70 per cent of its energy needs, has been looking around for fresh supplies of oil and gas.

Earlier this year, India told Washington not to interfere in its dealings with Iran after a US state department spokesman said India ought to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

India said that Iran had the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy but has asked Tehran to co-operate with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

Indian Kashmir government collapses

News CENTRAL/S. ASIA
Indian Kashmir government collapses
Azad's handling of the land-transfer issue has sparked statewide protests [EPA]

The government of the Indian-administered province of Jammu and Kashmir has collapsed.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the chief minister, resigned on Monday after weeks of protests over the transfer of land to a Hindu shrine trust.

Thousands of Muslims in the province protested against the move, which they called an effort to alter the region's demographics.

On July 1, the government revoked the land-transfer order, which defused tensions in predominantly Muslim Kashmir's capital Srinagar but led to more violent protests in Jammu, a Hindu-majority area.

At least six people were killed and hundreds wounded in the protests.

The withdrawal of support from an alliance partner also played a role.

Iran Test fires more missles

Iran's military has test fired more missiles in the Gulf on the third day of its war games, state TV reported on its website.

Thursday's tests, which included the firing of shore-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles, have added to growing tensions between Iran and the West, with officials on both sides issuing warnings to the other.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, said the country would "set on fire" Israel and the US navy in the Gulf as its first response to any American attack over its nuclear program.

State TV said that the war games also included the firing of a torpedo that Iran unveiled in 2006 and had described as a super-fast weapon capable of hitting enemy submarines.

More "longer and medium range missiles were fired" in night-time exercises, it said.

Condoleezza Rice, the US
secretary of state, said US Military has enhanced its
security presence in the Gulf and would not hesitate to defend itself
or allies in the region.

She added that it is time for Iran to "get on the right side of the
international community. It ought to be talking about that, not about
threats against America or threats against America's allies because
frankly it's not going to do them any good," she said.

The US accuses Iran of covertly seeking to develop nuclear weapons,
a charge that Tehran vehemently denies. Iran says its nuclear programme
is aimed at peaceful civilian purposes.

China refuses to accept equal cuts so there will be no emissions deal

The Chinese position is that it's a developing nation and therefore it should not have to be bound by the same emissions standards as the west.

This position seems untenable when the worlds largest building is complete in the worlds most impressive airport in Beijing. How can the fastest growing economy, lowest inflation and worlds third largest nuclear arsenal (if not now the second) be considered off the hook on emissions.

Beijing Airport T3 Video Guide for Air China Passengers

North Korean Denuclearization talks resume

For the first time in nine months Six-nation talks with North Korea in Beijing.

Scheduled for three days the talks will outline a process for verification of North
Korea's Nuclear Declaration submitted last moth to Chinese officials.

The US commited to softening sanctions and removing the DPRNK off the list of
state sponsors of terrorism.

The nuclear standoff began
in late 2002 when the US accused the North of seeking to secretly
enrich uranium in violation of a 1994 disarmament deal.

The architect of Pakistan's nuclear programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan,
said last week that he recalled uranium enrichment equipment being sent
from Pakistan to North Korea in 2000.