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Iran: No secret arms deal with Syria
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press ReporterSun Jul 22, 8:00 AM ET
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday dismissed as a "media game" recent reports of a secret arms deal with Syria allegedly made in return for an agreement that Damascus would not hold peace talks with Israel.
Mohammad Ali Hosseini refused to provide confirmation of the deal and questioned how the media would know about it if it was confidential.
"This is a media game," said Hosseini during his weekly news briefing. "It is not confirmed."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070722/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_syria
Woman faces charges for kissing painting
Sat Jul 21, 2:56 PM ET
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of kissing a painting by American artist Cy Twombly and smudging the bone-white canvas with her lipstick, French judicial officials said Saturday.
Police said they arrested the woman after she kissed the work on Thursday. She is to be tried in a court in the southern city of Avignon on Aug. 16 for "damage to a work of art," judicial officials said.
The painting, which is worth an estimated $2 million, was on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon. It is part of an exhibition slated to run at the museum through Sept. 30. Officials did not provide further details on the painting.
Twombly is known for his abstract paintings combining painting and drawing techniques, repetitive lines and the use of graffiti, letters and words.
Born in Lexington, Va., in 1928, Twombly has lived in Italy for nearly a half- century. He won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 2001.
~~ from the AP ~~
General seeks troop cut in northern Iraq
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 33 minutes ago
In a move that could portend a strategy change, the commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq said Sunday he has proposed reducing his troop levels and shifting next year to missions focused less on direct combat.
Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon told The Associated Press that if current trends hold, he would like to begin this troop reduction and change in mission in Ninevah province, where he said Iraqi army forces already are operating nearly independently. He has proposed shifting the province to Iraqi government control as early as August.
Ninevah's capital is Mosul, the country's third largest city.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070722/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_shifting_strategy;_ylt=Ah55yZW9HWLHkmaz6_WTHeis0NUE
Iran says "confessions" unveil U.S. plot
By Hossein Jaseb 5 minutes ago
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that televised "confessions" of two detained American-Iranians unveiled a U.S.-backed plan to topple Iran's clerical establishment.
State television aired a program called "In the Name of Democracy" on Wednesday and Thursday, featuring interviews with Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, who Iran accuses of being involved in a U.S.-backed plot to stage a "velvet revolution" in the Islamic state.
Washington has called the program illegitimate and coerced, urging Iran to immediately release the two dual nationals, arrested separately in May while visiting Iran from the United States.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070722/ts_nm/iran_usa_detained_dc;_ylt=AvKpckNTSAjjJJWRu3NOK0rMWM0F
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday that the United States should do more to capture Osama bin Laden and dismantle al-Qaeda operations in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan — even at the expense of an ally, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. While he wasn't explicitly critical of President Bush, the Republican presidential contender outlined in an interview with USA TODAY a more aggressive stance and a different emphasis than the administration has pursued in the region that spawned the terror network
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-07-19-giuliani-pakistan_N.htm?csp=1
CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — The sun has set in one of the world's poorest nations and as the floodlights come on at G'bessi International Airport, the parking lot begins filling with children. The long stretch of pavement has the feel of a hushed library, each student sitting quietly, some moving their lips as their eyes traverse their French-language notes.
It's exam season in Guinea, ranked 160th out of 177 countries on the United Nations' development index, and schoolchildren flock to the airport every night because it's among the only places where they'll always find the lights on.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-07-19-guinea_N.htm
NEW ORLEANS — Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina, much of the city is deserted. Broken glass hangs from the windows of office towers. Weeds flourish in front of boarded-up homes. In the Lower Ninth Ward, entire blocks have been obliterated, the houses carted away to the junkyard, leaving nothing but the square outlines of foundations and the squat, concrete steps that once led to front doors.
Yet many of those surveying this scarred landscape see reason for hope. It arrives, in wave after wave, on the sunburned faces and sweaty backs of hundreds of thousands of volunteers who come to rebuild the Gulf Coast. To many weary residents, every church van with out-of-state plates seems like a beacon of light, a sign they have not been forgotten.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-07-18-faith-building_N.htm
~~ edited to add: why don't those hateful Christians mind their own business?? ~~
First female president for India Pratibha Patil is to become India's first woman president after winning a comprehensive election victory, Indian officials say. Mrs Patil, 72, won nearly two-thirds of votes cast in state assemblies and in India's parliament, they said.
The former governor of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan described her win as "a victory of the people".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6909979.stm
Optimism on Nigeria's war on poverty Nigeria has been the source of more bad news than good recently. But our correspondent Mark Doyle says meeting two very impressive Nigerians in the last week has put him in a much better mood.
Let's be honest, Nigeria has a poor image. Most outsiders think of it as an oil-rich, corrupt place where there are regular kidnappings and outbreaks of religious violence. All of that's true, up to a point. But Nigeria is also a place that can surprise and delight.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6908754.stm
Israeli textbook states Arab view The Israeli government has approved a school textbook that for the first time presents the Palestinian denunciation of the creation of Israel in 1948. The book, to be used only in Israeli Arab schools, notes that Palestinians describe the event as a "catastrophe".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6910859.stm
_____________________________
Fake the heat and scratch the itch
Skinned up knees and salty lips
Let go it's harder holding on
One more trip and I'll be gone
~~ Stone Temple Pilots
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