Friday, August 21, 2009

08/21/09

* Afghan rivals claim poll victory The two leading contenders for Afghanistan's presidential election have both claimed victory.

* 'Saudi Arabia planning nuclear plant' With the world seemingly unable to stop Iran's nuclear march, other countries in the region are now pushing forward with their own plans to build nuclear power plants.

* Anger at Lockerbie bomber welcome Britain and the US have strongly condemned the jubilant welcome given in Libya to the man convicted of the bombing of a US plane over Lockerbie.

* Former U.S. Statesmen Say U.S. Role Critical to Securing Middle East Peace The meeting between President Barak Obama and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak this week (Tuesday) was the latest in a series of meetings aimed at exploring new avenues for peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

* Israel fury at Sweden organ claim Israel is to lodge an official complaint with Sweden over claims in a newspaper that Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians to sell their organs.

* Germany: Settlements major impediment to peace The German government said ahead of a visit next week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that urgent action was needed on Israeli settlements in the West Bank in order to move towards peace in the Middle East.

* WHO predicts 'explosion' of swine flu cases The global spread of swine flu will endanger more lives as it speeds up in the coming months and governments must boost preparations for a swift response to a coming "explosion" of cases.

* Haredi writer: Gays should be forced to face firing squad A Haredi Web site this week published an article calling for police to arrest the managers of the Tel Aviv gay center that was the scene of a shooting that left two dead earlier this month.

* Czech senators in fresh move against Lisbon treaty A group of centre-right Czech senators has attacked a national law linked with the EU's Lisbon Treaty and plans to ask the country's constitutional court to suspend ratification until the legislation is changed.

* Muslim Holy Month Set to Begin This Week Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer, is to begin later this week.