MFS - The Other News

                      Morning Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - May 14. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - May 14. Here (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 4.7 activity. More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 109.Source : Here .

• Japan : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog.Here.

• 'Days of blood and violence ahead'.(Ynet).East Jerusalem tensions near boiling point as participants in funeral of teen killed during 'Nakba Day' riot predict dark days.Hundreds attended the Saturday funeral of 17-year-old Milad Ayache, who suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen during a 'Nakba Day' riot in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Friday. Calls of "Allahu Akbar" and "With our souls and our blood we will redeem you, Shahid," sounded during the procession, which started at Ras al-Amoud and went through the volatile Silwan neighborhood as well. Participants also hoisted Palestinian flags.Prior to the funeral, the Jerusalem Police increased deployment near the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amoud, where Ayache resided, in an effort to thwart further rioting.   Deployment was also bolstered along the funeral procession's route, which ended at the Muslim cemetery in Temple Mount. Currently, it is unclear who fired the deadly shot. The Jerusalem District Police in investigating the incident, but a police request to autopsy the body was denied by the family. Palestinian sources said it is believed the fire came from the direction of Biet Yonatan.Abu Sharif, a resident Silwan, told Ynet that "All of Silwan in taking part in the funeral. People here are furious. Today and tomorrow will be days of blood and violence." Samir, another neighbor, added that "the atmosphere here is very strained. The police murdered a child. It's typical of the Israeli police and government."During the funeral, a group of mourners tried to force their way into a nearby Jewish home and started stoning security forces; who resulted to using crowd-control measures. Earlier, Palestinian sources reported that two Palestinians suffered rubber-bullet injuries during a clash with security forces near Beit Yonatan, in east Jerusalem. Palestinian protesters continued clashing with security forces in the capital's east after the funeral as well: demonstrators stoned security forces near the Dung Gate, effectively blocking traffic and a similar clash near Mount of Olives ended with the arrest of four Palestinians.Said Ayache works at the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, where he translates Hebrew books into Arabic. "I went to school to try and understand the Israelis, but the occupation is robbing us of all hope. I hope my son becomes a symbol for the Palestinian people, to get rid of the Israeli occupation and the settlement in the middle of Silwan."Hmmmm.....'Genius' Obama "Israel may benefit from the Arab winds of change".Read the full story here.

• Army WILL open spillway to save New Orleans from swollen Mississippi...but 22,500 people will be flooded as a result.(Dailymail).The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will open the Morganza Spillway today, unleashing 600,000 cubic feet of water per second and forcing 22,500 people to leave their soon to be flooded homes.Authorities hope that by opening the spillway they will relieve the swollen Mississippi River and avoid catastrophic flooding Louisiana's two largest cities Baton Rouge and New Orleans.By opening the levee, flood water will be diverted to 18,000 acres of farmland, 11,000 buildings, a wildlife refuge and a small oil refinery in the Atchafalaya River basin.It will be the first time the spillway, located about 45 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, has been opened in nearly 40 years.Volunteers and state officials are currently going house to house making sure residents know about the opening and evacuation plans.The 'trigger' for the spillway opening will be when the flow reaches 1.5 million cubic feet per second at Louisiana’s Red River Landing - expected sometime later today.Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told residents in the affected areas to start leaving their homes and said the state has plans with the American Red Cross to provide shelters for evacuees.'Now's the time to evacuate,' Mr Jindal said. 'Now's the time for our people to execute their plans. That water's coming.'Opening the spillway will release a torrent that could submerge about 3,000 square miles under as much as 25 feet of water in some areas.When fully opened, the spillway can allow 600,000 cubic feet of water per second.Earlier this week, the Corps issued maps showing that New Orleans, Baton Rouge and other cities along the Mississippi would be inundated if the Morganza was not opened.Mr Jindal, a Republican, and New Orleans Mayor Mich Landrieu, a Democrat, have both previously said failure to open the Morganza could lead to flooding in New Orleans.In addition to threatening densely populated areas, lower Mississippi flooding could force shut-downs of as many as eight refineries and at least one nuclear power plant alongside the river.The refineries make up about 12 percent of the nation's capacity for making gasoline and other fuels.Hmmm.....The President?My guess he'll be playing Golf as a the good Christian he is,observing the scriptures he likes to quote!Read the full story here.

• Obama slammed over jokes about 'moats' and 'alligators' in immigration speech... by border residents forced to leave homes.(DailyMail).Residents of an Arizona town who fled their homes because of a massive fire say they are outraged at Obama’s claims to have secured the Mexican border.Hundreds of people evacuated their homes in Portal because of the fire that is suspected to have been started by illegal immigrants in the drug and human smuggling corridor, 50 miles north of the Mexico border.The residents, many of whom have been staying in refugee centres, said they were sickened at Obama’s jokes about Republicans wanting alligators and moats on the border in an immigration speech in Texas.‘Neither the border, nor daily life is secure,’ wrote the residents affected by the fire, which broke out on Sunday, in a petition they are sending to the White House.‘It is with great wonderment and sadness that we listened to your May 10 speech on immigration issues. ‘All of the joking about moats and alligators cut residents of Portal, AZ, to the core as we sheltered with friends or at a Red Cross evacuation site, to survive a terrible fire that still threatens our lives and property, as well as our ecotourism-based economy.’Speaking in Palo Alto on Tuesday, President Obama had boasted that the U.S.-Mexico border was more secure than ever before.Jeff Gee, one of the organisers behind the petition and a firefighter still battling the fire, said he was insulted by Obama's speech.‘I’m really disappointed at current border security, I’m really disappointed at the President’s speech saying that people like me wants moats with alligators, but moats with alligators might work, nothing else,’ he told Fox News.‘We’re doing everything we can to get the word out that this is serious problem, it’s not just a border issue, the drugs and crime are moving through the corridor and they keep going to major cities.’Cochise County sheriff Larry Dever said: ‘These people are not overreacting. What they suggest in letter is very deep part of their belief system based on their experience and their experience has been horrific.‘They see human smuggling and drug trafficking, they sit on their porch and watch people walk through, they've had their homes burgled,’ he told Fox News.‘It's a beautiful landscape and for those that moved out there for a sense of tranquility and peace, that's been destroyed.’Hmmmm....The trouble with lies is that the truth eventually catches up MR President.Read the full story here.

• Forget about the 'Big Bang' theory! Take a look at The evolution of European Union legislation.Read and weep here.

• Irish Muslim convert questioned over alleged Obama remarks.(IrishTimes).GARDAÍ ARE questioning a man about remarks he allegedly made in a newspaper interview in which he was reported as saying he would harm US president Barack Obama if he could.The arrested man, who is Irish but converted to Islam while living in the Middle East a number of years ago, was arrested yesterday morning at his home in Dublin’s north inner city. He is originally from the inner city.The suspect, who is 44 years old, is reported to have told a journalist that, if he was unknown or could somehow be unrecognisable in Dublin, he would like to “do something” to Mr Obama.He was reported as saying he would be happy if Mr Obama was killed, reportedly describing him as an enemy of Islam.The suspect is known to gardaí for some of the extreme views he has previously expressed. He has given interviews in which he has made comments sympathising with Islamic extremists, including those engaged in terrorism.However, The Irish Times understands he is being questioned merely about his alleged comments in the article published in recent days. There is no evidence he had any intention of acting on the views ascribed to him.The man’s alleged comments about Mr Obama come less than two weeks before the US president visits the Republic, as one of the biggest security operations in the State is being put in place.The suspect was taken to Store Street Garda station where he was being held last night under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. He can be held for up to 72 hours without charge.Hmmmm.....More 'outreach to Muslims' is definitely a must it seems.Read the full story here.

• Pakistan slams US over Bin Laden raid.(Al-Jazeera).Lawmakers pass resolution calling for end to drone strikes and independent investigation into Abbottabad operation.Pakistan's parliament has demanded an end to US drone strikes on its territory, as well as an independent probe into the May 2 raid by US forces that killed Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, in Abbottabad.The strongly worded resolution came at the end of an in-camera joint sitting of the parliament in Islamabad on Saturday. The session began on Friday.Lawmakers were briefed by senior military officials, including Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Director General of Military Operations Maj-Gen Ashfaq Nadeem Ahmad and Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Muhammad Hassan.Parliamentarians, who were debating "the situation arising from unilateral US action in Abbottabad", termed the continued occurence of missile strikes by US drones "unacceptable"."Such drone attacks must be stopped forthwith, failing which the government will be constrained to consider taking necessary steps including withdrawal of [the] transit facility allowed to NATO," the resolution said.The parliamentarians also rejected the government's initial plan to have an inquiry into the circumstances around the raid be carried out by the Pakistani army.They called on the government "to appoint an independent commission on the Abbottabad operation, fix responsibility and recommend necessary measures to ensure that such an incident does not recur".The parliamentary resolution strongly criticised the US raid in Abbottabad, saying "unilateral actions cannot advance the global cause of elimination of terrorism", while warning of "dire consequences for peace and security in the region and the world" if a repeat of that operation was staged.The resolution also calls on the Pakistani government to rethink its strategic partnership with the United States.It says Pakistan should "revisit and review its terms of engagement with the United States, with a view to ensuring that Pakistan's national interests are fully respected and accommodated".The resolution also highlighted the importance of international cooperation against terrorist groups "on the basis of a true partnership approach, based on equality, mutual respect and mutual trust".The joint sitting of parliament was held behind closed doors and under tight security. Journalists were not allowed inside the chamber to cover the proceedings.Meanwhile, the toll from a double suicide bombing outside a Frontier Constabulary fort in Charsadda, in northwest Pakistan, rose on Saturday to 80, with 150 people injured, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported.The bombers had targeted some 900 paramilitary recruits who had just completed their six-month training at the fort and were getting into vehicles at the beginning of 10 days of leave.The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, terming it "the first revenge" for the killing of Osama bin Laden.Hmmmm.....Read the full story here.

• Trustees Show Permanent Deficits for Social Security.(TheHeritage).How Will This Report Affect the Social Security Debate?The debate about whether Social Security faces a problem and needs to be fixed is over. The 2011 trustees report, which was released this afternoon, shows that the program already faces massive permanent annual deficits. In 2010, Social Security spent $49 billion more in benefits that it took in from its payroll tax. This year, that deficit will be approximately $46 billion.Now is the time to focus on solutions. Instead of just blindly defending the current program, both Congress and the Obama Administration should propose comprehensive programs that permanently fix Social Security. It is one thing to oppose a solution; it is another to come up with a plan and fix the problem.

Social Security Problem $1.2 Trillion and One Year Worse

In net present value terms, Social Security owes $9.1 trillion more in benefits than it will receive in taxes. The 2011 number consists of $2.6 trillion to repay the special issue bonds in the trust fund and $6. 5 trillion to pay benefits after the trust fund is exhausted in 2036—a year earlier. This is an increase of $1.2 trillion from last year’s report, which also reflects several changes to assumptions and methodology.What Does It All Mean?Bad News for Younger Workers. Unfortunately, younger workers have a great deal to worry about. Even though their parents’ and grandparents’ benefits are fairly safe, theirs are not. Any worker born after 1970 will reach full retirement age after the trust fund is exhausted. Unless Congress acts soon, younger workers can look forward to paying full Social Security taxes throughout their careers but receiving only about 75 percent or less of the benefits that have been promised to them. In addition, they will have to repay the Social Security trust fund, an expense that will total almost $6 trillion by the time the trust fund is exhausted in 2036.Improving Retirement Savings Is a Must. Allowing American workers to save and invest a portion of their income in accounts that they would own is the lowest-cost way to ensure that they have an adequate retirement income. Increasing the ability of workers to save for retirement will reduce their dependence on Social Security for retirement income and enable them to increase retirement security.Hmmmm....."Change" the worst kind ever!Read the full story here.

• Iran - Final showdown coming?Ahmadinejad sacks government ministers.(Al-Jazeera).Iranian president shake up government by also abolishing three departments, including the country's oil ministry.Three Iranian ministers have been dismissed and their departments dismantled in a government restructuring that cuts the number of ministries from 21 to 17, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, has announced.Ahmadinejad announced the sackings of the country's ministers of oil, social welfare, and industry and mining, following a recent law passed by parliament which requires him to shrink the country's number of ministries, the ISNA news agency reported on Saturday.While a change was expected, the sudden dismissal comes as a surprise, as all three were considered staunch supporters of Ahmedinejad, and because Iran's parliament is still discussing an earlier proposal suggesting that the country's oil and energy ministries, as well as labour and social welfare ministries, should be merged.It was not immediately clear who would take over the merged agencies. According to Iranian law, parliament has to approve the remit of any new ministry.But parliamentary approval could be a difficult path, as parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani has been publicly critical of Ahmadinejad's domestic and economic policies.For the world's fifth largest oil exporter, the abolition of the oil ministry could have major effects, although the specific impact remains unclear.Read the full story here.

• Mideast envoy George Mitchell to resign.After Obama "Having stabbed Israel from all sides in the back"?(WashingtonPost).Former senator George J. Mitchell Jr., the veteran dealmaker picked by President Obama to lead Palestinians and Israelis to the peace table, has resigned his post in a move seen as emblematic of the frustrations and disappointments of the administration’s two-year effort to revive the Middle East peace process.Mitchell, who brought warring Irish factions together for the 1998 Belfast Peace Agreement, told the White House he would step down next week as special envoy on Middle East peace, a job he was given amid high expectations on Obama’s second day in office.He gave no official reason, but a White House statement on Friday said the 77-year-old former Senate majority leader was returning to his family after 28 months of difficult, and ultimately unsuccessful, negotiating.“He took on the toughest job imaginable and worked grueling hours to advance the interests of the United States and the cause of peace,” the statement quoted Obama as saying. It said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had appointed Mitchell’s chief deputy, David Hale, as acting envoy. Whether intentionally or not, the shift came just as the White House was preparing for what is likely to be a pivotal week in Middle East diplomacy. Obama is scheduled to deliver a major policy address on the region on Thursday, followed by talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu’s visit to Washington will include a speech to Congress that will lay out Israel’s views on a possible peace deal.Hmmmm....What's the odds of Obama recognising the Palestinian state next week?Read the full story here.

• Geert Wilders : A warning to America!(KleinVerzet).A warning to America - Speech by Geert Wilders @ Tennessee Freedom Coalition, Cornerstone Church, Nashville, 12 May 2011.Dear friends from Tennessee. I am very happy to be in your midst today. I am happy and proud to be in this impressive church.My friends, I am here to speak words of truth and freedom.Do you know why America is in a better state than Europe? Because you enjoy more freedom than Europeans.And do you know why Americans enjoy more freedom than Europeans? Because you are still allowed to tell the truth. In Europe and Canada people are dragged to court for telling the truth about islam. I, too, have been dragged to court. I am an elected member of the house of representatives in the Netherlands. I am currently standing in court like a common criminal for saying that islam is a dangerous totalitarian ideology rather than a religion.The court case is still pending, but I risk a jail sentence of 16 months.Last week, my friend Lars Hedegaard, a journalist from Denmark, was fined because in a private conservation, which was recorded without his knowing, he had criticised the way women are treated in islamic societies.Recently, another friend, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, a human rights activist from Austria, was fined because she had criticised islam's founder Muhammad. Unfortunately, there are many similar cases.I am especially happy to be in your midst because here I can say what I want to say without having to fear that I will be dragged to court upon leaving this church. My dear American friends, you cannot imagine how we envy your First Amendment. The day when America follows the example of Europe and Canada and introduces so-called "hate speech crimes" which is only used to punish people who are critical of islam, that day America will have lost its freedom.My friends, let us hope that this never happens.Last week, we celebrated Liberation Day in the Netherlands. We celebrated the liberation from the Nazi occupation in 1945. Many American soldiers, including many young Tennesseans, played a decisive role in the liberation of the Netherlands from nazi tyranny. We are immensely grateful for that. Young Americans gave their lives so that the Dutch might be free. I assure you: The Dutch people will never forget this.Unfortunately, however, the Europe which your fathers and grandfathers fought and died for is not the Europe we are living in today.I travel the world to tell people what Europe has become. I wish I could take you all on a visit to my country and show you what Europe has become. It has changed beyond recognition as a result of mass immigration. And not just any mass immigration, but mass immigration driven by the dangerous force of islam.My friends, I am sorry. I am here today with an unpleasant message. I am here with a warning. I am here with a battle cry: "Wake up, Christians of Tennessee. Islam is at your gate." Do not make the mistake which Europe made. Do not allow islam to gain a foothold here.Islam is dangerous. Islam wants to establish a state on earth, ruled by islamic sharia law. Islam aims for the submission, whether by persuasion, intimidation or violence, of all non-Muslims, including Christians.The results can be seen in Europe.Read the full story here.

• Terrorists Have Rights Too.What International Law Says about the Killing of Bin Laden.(Spiegel).The elimination of al-Qaida figurehead Osama bin Laden earlier this month was widely celebrated. But was it the right thing for the US to do? International law expert Kai Ambos argues that killing him was both illegal and morally dubious.Terrorists, even Osama bin Laden, are humans. As such, they have rights; human rights. Among these rights are the right to life, the right to humane treatment and the right to a fair trial. Fundamental human rights remain valid even in a state of emergency; they are impervious to such exceptions.

In peacetime, the right to life can only be limited in extraordinary circumstances, in particular by reason of self defense. If it is true that Osama bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot, self defense in response to an unlawful attack on the part of entering US Special Forces can be ruled out. Clearly, such an operation takes place under extreme pressure and it is conceivable that the Special Forces acted on the mistaken belief that they were under attack by bin Laden or his people -- criminal lawyers call this "putative self defense" -- but this would not make the killing lawful. It would only cast light on the mental state of the troops in question, and thus their culpability.

Yet, these soldiers are especially trained for such an operation, they are the elite of the elite. If we cannot demand restraint in the use of force from them, then we can't demand it from anybody -- not from the ordinary policeman in the street nor from the citizen defending his life or home. From this perspective, it seems unlikely that they shot bin Laden out of fear or by mistake. Rather they knew perfectly well what they were doing and killed him wantonly and willingly.

Here is the problem. A targeted killing of a terrorist does not, contrary to what US President Barack Obama has suggested, do a service to justice; rather, it runs contrary to it. A state governed by the rule of law, treats even its enemies humanely. It arrests terrorists and brings them before a court. This is exactly what Germany did with the Red Army Faction (RAF) and what it does today with al-Qaida members. This is what the US did in Nuremberg with the Nazis and what it promotes all over the world with other criminals against mankind. Why are the criminals of al-Qaida treated differently?

Should their guilt be established by way of a fair trial, they can be punished with severe sentences, including in some countries like the US, with the death penalty. The trial must come first, though. A killing in the absence of a fair trial constitutes an extra-judicial or extra-legal execution, which is unworthy of a state ruled by law (Rechtsstaat). Indeed, it is an act for which countries not ruled by law (Unrechtsstaaten) are charged before human rights bodies. Those who carry out or approve such extra-judicial killings forfeit the right to reproach authoritarian states for the very same practices.War, i.e. an "armed conflict" under International Humanitarian Law, presents a different legal situation. In such circumstances, people can lawfully be killed when they directly participate in hostilities. The prohibition on killing is suspended in international armed conflicts for combatants and in non-international armed conflicts for so-called fighters or de facto combatants.

These actors can, under specific conditions, also be the subjects of targeted killings. The most important condition is that the principle of proportionality is complied with, i.e. less severe measures (such as arrest) are to be preferred and unnecessary civilian victims must be avoided. If a targeted killing occurs in foreign territory, the territorial state must consent to the operation; otherwise the action amounts to a violation of state sovereignty, prohibited by Public International Law.

None of the United Nations Security Council resolutions on the fight against international terrorism, and in particular al-Qaida (Res. 1267 of 1999 to Res. 1974 of 2011), authorize the carrying out of operations on foreign territory, nor the arrest, and even less the killing, of (suspected) terrorists. These resolutions can, at best, be read, in line with the various Terrorism Conventions, as allowing the extradition or prosecution (aut dedere aut iudicare) of terrorism suspects.

In the case at hand, the targeted killing was not permitted since the US -- contrary to the misleading rhetoric of "the war on terror" -- is not involved in an armed conflict with al-Qaida. A loose and decentralised terrorist network does not fulfil the criteria for classification as a party to a conflict within the context of International Humanitarian Law. It lacks, above all, a centralized and hierarchical military command structure and the control of a defined territory. One may be able to understand this position in the light of Sept., 11 and what it did to the self-esteem of the US, the world's only superpower, humiliated as never before. But does this justify carrying out a policy which deliberately sidesteps the recognized principles of international humanitarian law? To the disappointment of many, the Obama administration has forcefully reconfirmed this position by killing bin Laden and by the killing of many alleged al-Qaida members (and civilians) before him by the increased use of predator drones.Read the full story here.

• Texas House Bans Offensive Security Pat-Downs.(CBS).The Texas House passed a bill that would make it a criminal offense for public servants to inappropriately touch travelers during airport security pat-downs.Approved late Thursday night, the measure makes it illegal for anyone conducting searches to touch “the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person” including through clothing.It also prohibits searches “that would be offensive to a reasonable person.”The bill’s chief sponsor is Republican Rep. David Simpson, who said, “this has to do with dignity and travel, and prohibiting indecent, groping searches.”He believes it will keep Transportation Security Administration officials from treating travelers like criminals, though the measure may be superseded by federal law.After a brief but raucous debate, lawmakers approved the measure with little opposition — drawing applause from supporters.Hmmmm....."Don't tread on me and don't touch my junk either!Read the full story here.

• Fukushima worker collapses and dies at stricken nuclear plant.(DailyMail).A worker at Japan's tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power station has died after collapsing at its waste disposal building. He is the first person to die at the plant since the March 11 quake and tsunami struck. The disaster caused a string of fires, explosions and radiation leaks which amounted to the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.The contract worker, who was in his 60s, had only started working at the plant the day before he died. He was carrying equipment when he collapsed. He died later in hospital, said Naoyuki Matsumoto, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the plant.The company does not yet know the cause of the his death, Mr Matsumoto said. The worker had been wearing a full safety gear, and there were no harmful levels of radiation detected in his body.Hmmm......At Chernobyl many seemingly healthy individuals just collapsed dead from heart failure.Read the full story here.

• Turkish prosecutors ask Israel to ID Mavi Marmara attackers.(TodaysZaman).İstanbul Public Prosecutor's Office has submitted a letter to Israeli judicial authorities, demanding the identity of responsible people in a lethal Israeli raid into Mavi Marmara ship last year and other related official documents.Israeli raided the ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on May 31 last year, killing eight Turkish and one American national. Turkey requests official apology and compensation for the families of the victims. Israel says its naval commandos faced with resistance and acted in self-defense while boarding the ship.In a two-page letter the İstanbul Public Prosecutor's Office sent as part of an ongoing court case investigating the May 31 flotilla raid, the incident was described and the names of the killed and wounded were listed.The letter demanded names and contact details of suspects or those who ordered the suspects to realize the raid along with official copy of information and documents related to the incident.Hmmmm.....Anything to start a war ,Israel should not beg Turkey to stop the next flotilla.Read the full story here.

• Eye for an eye: Woman blinded by scorned lover granted permission to throw acid into his eyes by Iran court.(DailyMail).A woman who was blinded when a scorned lover threw acid in her eyes has the chance to get a gruesome revenge today.A court in Iran has given permission for 32 year-old Ameneh Bahrami to get her own back by pouring acid in the eyes of her attacker, a fellow student at Tehran University.The court's OId Testament ruling - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth - has sparked controversy even in Iran where medieval justice still holds sway. But Ameneh still appears bent on revenge.Twenty-seven year old Majid Movahedi threw sulphuric acid in her eyes at a bus-stop in 2004 after he had begged her in vain to marry him. For months he had stalked her and she was left blind and disfigured. She later underwent 19 operations.The court awarded her £19,000 in compensation and Majid went to jail. But Ameneh did not want the money. She wanted her attacker to suffer the same anguish she was forced to endure for more than six years.'His mother phoned my parents. She asked for mercy. 'She said that Majid would always work for me if he could keep his eyes. But now it's too late,' she was reported as saying yesterday.She has received death threats because of her determination to exact revenge.'The police have told me not to go out on the street alone,' she said. 'My parents are scared. They think the judges are wrong.'Arrangements have been made for Ameneh to inject the acid into her attacker's eyes as he lies in a Tehran hospital under an aesthetic at midday today. Twenty drops in each eye.At the last moment Ameneh could still change her mind. But yesterday she said: 'I'm very happy. After six years I'm getting justice. But we are both losers because we have both suffered greatly.Hmmmm....Welcome to Iran A.D. 620?Read the full story here.

• Updated ! Iran postpones acid blinding punishment.(Al-Jazeera). Court-ordered blinding of Iranian man who hurled acid in the face of a university classmate has been postponed.The court-ordered blinding of an Iranian man who hurled acid in the face of university classmate Ameneh Bahrami has been postponed.The sentence had been scheduled to be carried out at noon (7:30am GMT) on Saturday at the judiciary hospital in Tehran in the presence of a physician and representatives of the coroners' office and the prosecution.Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabari, reporting from Tehran, said: "The victim showed up at the hospital this morning where she was told that because of various interviews she had granted western media, the judiciary officials had decided to postpone carrying out the punishment, which is five drops of sulfuric acid in each eye.""The execution of qesas (retribution in kind) of Majid (Movahedi)... has been postponed to an unknown date," the ISNA news agency reported on its website just hours before the appointed time.Movahedi was sentenced to be blinded in both eyes in February 2009 after being convicted of hurling acid in the face of Bahrami when she repeatedly spurned his offer of marriage.His victim, who has been the driving force behind the sentence, had travelled to the Iranian capital from Spain in the expectation of it being carried out and had even said she was ready to do the blinding herself."I was very happy that this was going to end today. And yes, I was going to carry out the punishment myself, but I was afraid that I would get acid on my hands, so a doctor is going to do it. It's been six years that I've been waiting for this day," Bahrami told Al Jazeera."The verdict is completely legal and I would like to carry it out. But if it is not possible, then the physician designated by the judiciary will do it," she said.It would be first time such a penalty was carried out in Iran. Amnesty International had called on Friday for a stay of the sentence, which it described as "a cruel and inhuman punishment amounting to torture"."Regardless of how horrific the crime suffered by Ameneh Bahrami, being blinded with acid is a cruel and inhuman punishment amounting to torture," the London-based human rights watchdog said."The Iranian authorities have a responsibility under international law to ensure it does not go ahead."The Islamic sharia code in force in Iran provides for 'eye-for-an-eye'-style retributive justice, most commonly for murder, or those convicted of causing intentional physical injury.Bahrami, who was 24 when she met Movahedi in 2002, now lives in Spain where she has been undergoing medical treatment for her disfigurement for years.She is blind in both eyes and still has serious injuries to her face and body. She told ISNA that the implementation of qesas would serve as a lesson for other acid throwers in the country."I still strongly stand with the carrying out of the qesas. I want qesas. I will become more serene," she told the news agency on May 11."This serenity will not stem from the culprit suffering hardship and pain but that (with the carrying out of the sentence) there is the probability of more deterrence regarding those who want to commit this crime."A number of acid attacks have been reported in Iran in recent years.Hmmmm....Don't you just 'hunger' for Sharia law in the U.S.?Read the full story here.

• Iraqi PM Praises Growing Ties With Iran.(Memri).Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has lauded growing relations with Iran, saying that his country supports enhanced economic cooperation with it. Speaking on the sidelines of a May 11 meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Baghdad, Maliki said that Iraq welcomes investments by Iranian companies. He expressed hope that the two neighbors will hold a meeting at the earliest opportunity to discuss ways to boost economic cooperation and joint ventures. In a meeting with Al-Maliki, Salehi called the entrance of Saudi military troops into Bahrain a "strategic mistake" and said that the Bahrain issue has "no military solution."Hmmmm.......Iran....Iraq.....Turkey ....Obama...full circle?Read the full story here.

• Sadrists: Unfreezing Jaysh Al-Mahdi Militia Last Resort If U.S. Military Presence Extended.(Memri).The Sadrist movement, under cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (who spends most of his time Iran, presumably to pursue higher religious education), has issued yet another threat about what it will do if the U.S. military presence in Iraq is extended. A leader in the movement, Hakim al-Zamily, said that extending the presence of the U.S. military in Iraq would require two-thirds of the votes in parliament. He added that even if that vote was secured, the Sadrist movement would first resort to mass demonstrations and sit-ins but ultimately would use the [Iranian armed, trained and financed] Jaysh al-Mahdi militia for armed resistance. Al-Maliki has remained equivocal about the question of extension, although he said he would defer to the views of the army commanders. Al-Iraqiya declared that it would fully abide by the decision taken by the government on the subject but expressed no a priori objection to extension. The Kurds support extension without reservation.Hmmmm......More 'buddies' from Iran.Read the full story here.

• Tehran U Lecturer: Iran Must Help Bahrainis Harm Saudi Arabia.(Memri).Mustafa Malakutian, political science lecturer at Tehran University, told the Rajanews website, which is affiliated with supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Iran must indirectly aid the anti-Syria demonstrators in Bahrain with military training and building of missiles, with the aim of harming Saudi oil wells. He also suggested Investing in Saudi oil in order to raise its price in the world. The Iranian news agency Fars, which is close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), rejected an Al-Arabiya report that Malakutian is a senior IRGC official and said that he had no security role in the regime and that the channel had reported on the incident during the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi to the Gulf countries, with the aim of harming the IRGC. A MEMRI investigation found that Malakutian studied at the political faculty of the IRGC in Qom in 1989.Hmmmm.......All this while the US has an 'action figure' as president.Read the full story here.