Sweden’s central bank has announced two new board members plucked from banking and academia to replace two outgoing members, one of whom was an outspoken critic of the Riksbank’s fealty to the country’s inflation goal. … Read More
‘Cooperation in Iran’s interest to clarify peaceful nuclear intent’ – IAEA chief
The urgency of which to reach an agreement appears to be increasing, as Washington and Tel-Aviv threaten a possible military response if diplomacy and sanctions fail to make Tehran restrain its nuclear program. With an Iranian election set for next month, Tehran is looking increasingly unlikely to back down over its controversial nuclear program. Negotiations held last week failed to bring about any major shift or concession from either party. Over the past few months, the IAEA and Tehran have held several talks in an effort to develop a structured approach to addressing the Iranian nuclear issue.“What we can say about the nuclear activity of Iran is that Iran is conducting nuclear activities in a quite steady manner,” Yukiya Amano, Director General of the IAEA told RT.The watchdog, based in Vienna, has on various occasions expressed concerns that Iranian authorities have denied its inspectors access to Iran’s nuclear facility in Parchin. The IAEA says it needs such access to allay international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran maintains that its nuclear research is conducted for peaceful purpose only.“We are not saying that Iran has nuclear weapons or that Iran has decided to develop nuclear weapons but we have pieces of information that indicate that Iran was involved in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devises,” Amano stressed.The head of the nuclear watchdog added “We do not draw conclusions but we put questions and we tell our Iranian friends that they need to clarify the issues.”Though closely linked, the talks between the IAEA and Iran remain separate from discussions that Tehran is holding with six world powers, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.Last week Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said that Tehran and the six world powers will resume talks on its nuclear program “in the near future,” most likely some time before the Iranian elections on June 14.But in the meantime, Amano underlined that “Cooperating with IAEA fully should be in the interest of Iran. They say all of their activities are for peaceful purposes and we would like to help Iran to clarify the issue.”The IAEA chief also stresses that a repeat of the Iraq scenario, where failure to cooperate was used as a pretext to invasion, is unlikely to happen with Iran. Asked about Israel’s double standards in regards to the alleged possession of nuclear weapons and Iran’s push for nuclear development, Amano said that international law applies differently to Israel as it is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.“Israel is not a member of the NPT so what IAEA can do is vary the activities in the facility which Israel decided to place under our safeguard, we do not have the authority to go beyond that.” The issue of Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons, which has not yet been officially acknowledged by Tel Aviv, is crucial to an international effort to create a region nuclear free zone. A conference on the introduction of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was called for at a May 2010 conference to review the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The idea has failed to materialize, as Israel said it would not attend the international conference. “Many countries of the international community want Israel to attend a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Conference and the NPT. My role is to maintain the channel and share the information and advice,” Amano said.In regards to the use of nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster, the watchdog’s head said“Our safety features have been strengthened,” adding that the“Fukushima accident was a huge wake-up call for all the countries to enhance safety.” Despite the Fukushima accident, the use of nuclear power will continue and expand, Amano explained. … Read More
Ongoing military rape epidemic: 85k vets treated for sex abuse in 2012
The data shows the long-term financial and emotional costs of sexual assault in the military for both men and women. Of the 85,000 veterans suffering from what the Department of Veterans Affairs calls “military sexual trauma”, 60 percent were female and 40 percent were male. In comparison, only 4,000 American veterans sought disability benefits in 2012, which is 20 times less than those suffering from sex abuse trauma, the Associated Press reports.Ruth Moore, a veteran from Milbridge, Maine, first sought treatment from a counseling center 16 years after she was raped twice while serving the Navy. She has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder linked to the assaults, and has been unable to work.“We can’t cure me, but we can work on stability in my life and work on issues as they arrive,” she told AP.Earlier this month, the Pentagon acknowledged that “sexual assault is a persistent problem” among service members, and that about 26,000 military service members said they were sexually assaulted in 2012, ninety percent of which chose not to file a report.It is undeniable that victims of sexual assault often face emotional consequences. But Dr. Margret Bell, a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ military sexual trauma team, told AP that the US government should also be concerned about the costs of treating so many victims. Veterans who claim to have suffered sexual abuse in the military have access to free heath care.“It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they’ve had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care,” Bell said. “There’s no documentation required. They don’t need to have reported it at the time.”Receiving treatment for sexual assault is easier than doing so for disabilities: veterans must be medically diagnosed with PTSD or a similar problem, submit proof of how they acquired their disability, and have an examiner confirm their condition before the disabled can receive health care.According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, one in five women and one in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma – but few seek treatment. This indicates that many more than 85,000 veterans have been victims of military sexual activity against their will. There are about 22 million veterans in the US.The numbers demonstrate the need for action to reduce the number of sexual assaults that occur in the military each year, both for victims’ health and the government’s cost. Moore estimates that her treatment will exceed $500,000 over the course of her lifetime — money that the government could potentially save by doing more to address sexual assault in the military. … Read More
Breaking: Feds Disappear Adam Kokesh!
As witnessed in footage of the event filmed by fellow activists, Kokesh appears to have been arrested for the victimless crime of exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. … Read More
Car bomb explosion kills 4, injures 46 in Dagestan, southern Russia
The first car with the explosive placed underneath reportedly went off causing no fatalities or injuries. Once law enforcement arrived at the scene, the second bomb detonated, Interfax reported citing the local Investigative Committee.“As far as I know there are three people dead. One of them is our employee,” spokesperson of the Court Bailiffs’ Service Magomed Buttaev told RT.The death toll rose to four people after another man, an employee of the court bailiffs’ service, died of his injuries in hospital, according an Interior Ministry spokesman.Initial reports suggested eight people died at the scene, Interfax news agency reported.“Two cars were detonated within several minutes. At least eight people have been killed, while the number of injured is being clarified. More than 20 cars have been damaged,” the agency quoted the representative of Dagestan’s Investigative Committee. However, the chief physician in Dagestan, Kazanfar Kurbanov, has later confirmed that three people died and 24 were injured. “There have been 46 people hospitalized,” Interfax reported citing its source.As said, the blasts occurred approximately 15 minutes apart from each other with the two bombs were detonated remotely. Interfax quotes a source who said that an explosive was also found in a trash can.“It has already been established that the first explosive was placed under the car,” one of the spokesman told media.The force of the second blast was the equivalent of up to 50 kg of TNT, Rasul Temirbekov from the local Investigative committee told ITAR-TASS, adding that the first blast was less powerful, nearly causing damage to nearby parked cars.According to law enforcement officials, perpetrators clearly used a tactic which is quite common in Dagestan, when the first blast is bait to attract more people and the second explosion goes off when people are at the scene, thus injuring and killing law enforcement members.“The majority of injured are police officers who arrived at the scene after the first blast. There are at least 15 of them now,” ITAR-TASS quotes the local Interior Ministry.Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has sent doctors and psychologists from Moscow to Makhachkala. The IL-76 jet will deliver 26 specialists to Dagestan, and then return with victims of the blast to Moscow hospitals if needed.No one has claimed responsibility for the double blast, with no suspects yet identified. Investigators have said they will use the registration plates of one of the vehicles involved, in a bid to track down the culprits.“We plan to ID the owner of the exploded car and unravel the case trough this information,” an investigative committee spokesperson said. There’s a belief that the car was stolen.In a recent incident near a shopping center on May 1, two teenagers were killed and another two injured as they tried to uncover the dangerous object, wrapped up either in a box or a bag. … Read More
Plane with over 130 aboard catches fire on landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport (VIDEO)
The UTair airline plane had arrived in Moscow from the southern Russian city of Stavropol. Boing 737-400 is a medium-range, narrow-body jet airliner. Approximate range: 5,000 km. Overall length: 36.5 meters. Wingspan: 28.9 meters. First flight took place on 19 February 1988, entering service on September 15, 1988. Capable of carrying up to 168 passengers. Cockpit crew: two members. “The plane’s left landing gear leg caught fire upon landing. Preliminary reports suggest the brake wheels were destroyed,” Ria Novosti news agency has quoted a police source, adding that the airport was closed at 7:48 am Moscow time (0308 GMT) and reopened at about 10:00 am after the aircraft had been removed from the runway.An unnamed fireman at the scene confirmed to the Russian news channel Russia 24, that the incident had been “dangerous.”The plane was carrying 136 people but none of the 129 passengers or 7 crew members were injured in the incident.Despite the plane being nearly full, everyone was evacuated promptly, according to one of the passengers.”The plane banked on landing. However, it landed quite successfully. Then the flight attendant announced the evacuation. Passengers were hurried down escape chutes. Passengers saw the burst wheel and fire. “Within three minutes there were no passengers left onboard,” according to Evgeny Popov, a reporter for Russia 2, who coincidentally happened to be on the flight. The airport had to divert 23 flights to neighboring airports, as the emergency unfolded.The last emergency situation took place at Vnukovo airport on December 29, 2012, when a Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian budget airline Red Wings performed a hard-landing and skidded off the runway, crashing into a highway. The plane, flying from the Czech Republic, was practically empty, with only crew of eight on board. Five of them were killed. … Read More
‘Monsanto Protection Act’ might be repealed in Senate
According to the Huffington Post, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) plans to introduce an amendment in Washington that would repeal Section 735 from the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, a provision that has put St. Louis, Missouri-based Monsanto in the sights of environmentalists around the world.Deep within the nearly 600-page spending bill, Section 735 includes language that lets biotech companies that experiment with genetically-engineered and genetically-modified crops test and sell lab-made products even if legal action is taken against them.“The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards,” dozens of farmers wrote the House of Representatives before the bill was passed in March. “Further, it would compel USDA to allow continued planting of that same crop upon request, even if in the course of its assessment the Department finds that it poses previously unrecognized risks.”But despite pleas from agriculturalists around the world, both the Senate and House approved the spending bill — with Section 735 in tow — and the act was signed into law just days later by US President Barack Obama.Since being passed in late March, the spending bill has attracted immense criticism from all different sectors, including small-time farmers, Tea Party activists and even members of Congress. According to Huffington Post, however, Sen. Merkley is expected to be the first lawmaker in Washington to walk into the Capitol with a plan to repeal the amendment. HuffPo reported on Thursday that Merkley is planning to introduce an amendment on a separate farm bill going up to vote shortly that will reverse the so-called ‘Protection Act.’Should the prediction prove correct, it would suggest a change of heart for Sen. Merkley. According to the Vote Smart Project, Merkley was one of 73 senators that voted in favor of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act when it went up for vote on March 22. Only 26 senators voted ‘nay’ during that hearing, and the House approved it shortly thereafter.Monsanto has called Section 735 “a positive step to ensure US farmers and our food chain are shielded from supply disruptions caused by litigation over procedural issues unrelated to sound science or the safety of biotech crops.” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) told Politico earlier this year that he co-authored the language of the amendment along with Monsanto. Previously, Blunt received $64,250 from Monsanto to go towards his campaign committee between 2008 and 2012.Demonstrations are scheduled in 36 countries on six continents later this month for anti-Monsanto activists to come together and protest the company. Speaking to Bloomberg this week, Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant said his critics exercise a “strange kind of reverse elitism” fueled by social media campaigns to condemn his company.“Most of the people that become motivated to engage the political issues have become convinced that going down the road of genetically engineered foods is not the way to meet the needs of a food insecure population,” Grant said. “There is space in the supermarket shelf for all of us.” … Read More
