Saturday, August 18, 2007

08/18/07

* Syria reportedly gets Russian SA-22s Syria has begun delivery of the first batch of anti-aircraft missile and gun range land-based Pantsyr-S1E defense systems.

* Turkish hijacking ends peacefully Two men who tried to hijack a Turkish plane have surrendered after all 136 passengers and crew escaped unharmed.

* 'Israel is the standard bearer of Satan' Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Israel was the standard bearer of Satan.

* Iranian Guards vow to 'punch' U.S. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they would not bow to pressure and threatened to "punch" the U.S.

* Salah: Israel wants to divide Al-Aqsa between Jews, Muslims The head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, said on Saturday that Israel is trying to forcibly divide the Al-Aqsa mosque.

* Russia Resumes Its Long-Range Air Patrols In Russia's latest assertion of a broader global military presence, President Vladimir Putin announced Friday that the country had resumed the regular long-range air patrols that ended after the Soviet Union collapsed.

* Iraqi Sunni alliance ready to attend political meeting Iraq's top Sunni party, The Iraqi Accord Front, announced that it would attend a political leaders' meeting scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

* Russia forces World Service off FM radio The fallout from the diplomatic row between Britain and Russia spread to the BBC yesterday when Russia announced it was closing down the World Service's main Russian-language broadcasts.

* Police Examine Islamist Terror Made in the U.S.A. A study released this week by the New York Police Department raised alarm bells in both mainstream American and Arab-American communities, albeit for different reasons.

* Sarkozy calls for more market monitoring after recent turmoil Nicolas Sarkozy has called on G7 governments to work with the International Monetary Fund and central banks on financial transparency.