Huckabee calls for stronger border security
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8V4TLOO1.html
Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee toured Border Patrol facilities and hiked to the edge of Rio Grande during a Saturday morning campaign stop in which he called for stronger border security and stricter immigration laws.
As he stood under a railroad bridge in Laredo, the former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister was flanked by actor Chuck Norris and Jim Gilchrist, founder of the anti-illegal immigrant Minutemen Project.
"I come away from this with a better understanding of this, but also a sense of urgency that as a country we need to put our resources on border protection rather than waiting until people have gotten past our borders into our country and then creating problems," the Republican candidate said.
"There's an old saying: It cost a whole lot more to do it over than it does to do it right. Doing it right is capturing criminals at the border."
Huckabee, who addressed a small crowd of reporters and several local members of the Republican Party, stressed that the U.S. government needs to have stricter immigration laws.
"If they're people with a criminal background or they're people who happen to have a suitcase with a dirty bomb, I'd kind of like to know that before they walk through the border," Huckabee said.
Huckabee's visit coincided with a local protest against the border fence. The visit to Laredo was part of an intense campaign push in Texas, which also included stops in College Station and Houston on Saturday.
Huckabee has said that he hopes that by winning the Texas primary Tuesday, he will keep Republican rival John McCain from getting the delegates required to become the GOP presidential candidate. Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island also have primaries Tuesday.
In Texas, Huckabee hopes to appeal to social conservatives, who make up the bulk of the Republican primary voters. Huckabee opposes abortion, gay marriage, an assault-weapons ban and an immediate removal of troops from Iraq.
Overall, McCain has 939 delegates to Huckabee's 245.
Huckabee’s Alamo? GOP Candidate Sends Mixed Signals About Post-Texas Plans
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334370,00.html
It could be Texas or bust for Mike Huckabee.
The long-shot GOP candidate is making a big final push in the Lone Star State ahead of Tuesday’s four-state primary contest. The former Arkansas governor says he’s going to keep “plugging away” until somebody reaches the 1,191 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
But depending on how he looks at it, front-runner John McCain could just shut him out come Wednesday morning.
Huckabee’s been sending mixed messages about what he means by that 1,191-delegate threshold. He said Friday he is in the race until somebody reaches 1,191 “pledged” delegates.
If that’s the case, it looks like no candidate will reach that figure come Wednesday morning.
McCain, who’s already earned presumptive nominee status and has been embraced by a cross-section of party figureheads, has 1,014 total delegates, according to the latest Associated Press tallies. But he has 912 pledged delegates.
Even if he wins all 256 delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, he’d still be more than 20 short, potentially pushing the race forward another week to the Mississippi contest. Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont vote Tuesday.
But if Huckabee’s waiting for a candidate to reach 1,191 total delegates, as he’s said on previous occasions, Tuesday could be the end for him. Total delegate counts include unpledged delegates, who go the convention not bound to the results of their states’ primaries or caucuses.
Huckabee has earned 257 total delegates.
Asked what he’ll do if neither candidate reaches the magic number, Huckabee said Friday in Texas: “I guess we keep plugging away. Our attitude has always been … as long as people are contributing and giving us the capacity to keep going and we, you know, haven’t been defeated by the number of delegates that are required to beat us, then we’re still in it.”
Huckabee strategist Ed Rollins told Politico.com that come Wednesday the campaign might suspend or scale back its operations, “but we’re not quitting” if nobody reaches the delegate threshold.
He said the tentative plan is to continue through Mississippi March 11 and even Pennsylvania in April.
But with McCain virtually assured the nomination, in due time, both candidates seem to be kicking back.
McCain is not campaigning this weekend, instead hosting a group of governors and senators near his vacation home in Arizona. The campaign insists it’s a social affair, and not a strategy session.
Meanwhile, Huckabee took time out Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, to try his hand at lassoing cattle. He missed on several attempts, but his wife, Janet, proved the better cowgirl, successfully lassoing one of the fake calves right off the bat.
“OK, so you’re laughing at me,” Huckabee joked to the crowd. “Do you think John McCain can do this better?”
He spent Saturday touring part of the Texas-Mexico border with former GOP candidate Rep. Duncan Hunter and border patrol agents. There he stressed the importance of border security.
Huckabee’s kept a busy schedule in Texas, but polls show he’s trailing McCain in the state by double digits.
An average of Texas polls on RealClearPolitics.com showed McCain with 55 percent, Huckabee with 32 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul with nearly 8 percent.
The former Arkansas governor said Friday he still wants the chance to debate McCain, who’s said he doubts he’ll take up Huckabee on the offer.
“I wish he would (debate) if he’s got time to take off this weekend,” he said.
But McCain already has turned his attention to the general election, spending his stump time going after Democratic front-runner Barack Obama and blasting him for his positions on the Iraq war, NAFTA and other issues.
McCain Will Not Renounce Pastor Endorsement
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/McCain_Will_Not_Renounce_/2008/03/01/76968.html
John McCain is refusing to renounce the endorsement of a prominent Texas televangelist who Democrats say peddles anti-Catholic and other intolerant speech.
Instead, the Republican presidential candidate issued a statement Friday afternoon saying he had unspecified disagreements with the San Antonio megachurch leader, John Hagee. Hagee endorsed him at a news conference Wednesday in San Antonio.
"However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee's views, which I obviously do not," McCain said in the statement.
His campaign issued the statement after two days of criticism from the Democratic National Committee, the Catholic League and Catholics United.
Democrats quoted Hagee as saying the Catholic Church conspired with Nazis against the Jews and that Hurricane Katrina was God's retribution for homosexual sin, and they recited his demeaning comments about women and flip remarks about slavery.
"Hagee's hate speech has no place in public discourse, and McCain's embrace of this figure raises serious questions about John McCain's character and his willingness to do anything to win," said Tom McMahon, executive director of the Democratic National Committee.
McCain was pressed on the issue Friday morning in Round Rock, Texas. Hagee "supports what I stand for and believe in," McCain said.
"When he endorses me, that does not mean that I endorse everything that he stands for and believes in," McCain said. "I don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my campaign."
He added that he was "proud" of Hagee's spiritual leadership of his congregation at the 17,000-member Cornerstone Church.
The Catholic League and Catholics United called on McCain to reject the endorsement.
"By publicly addressing this issue, you will reaffirm to the American public and to Catholics that intolerance and bigotry have no place in American presidential campaigns," Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, wrote McCain in a letter sent Thursday.
McCain's response to the two days of criticism stood in contrast to his rapid denunciation of a radio talk show host who denigrated Barack Obama, repeatedly using Obama's middle name, Hussein, and calling him a "hack, Chicago-style" politician.
McCain immediately apologized and said he repudiated the statements of the radio host, Bill Cunningham, while warming up a Cincinnati crowd for McCain on Tuesday.
"Any comment that is disparaging of either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is totally inappropriate," McCain said at the time.
Navy Ship With Steel From World Trade Center Ruins Christened USS New York
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334332,00.html
Thousands of people, including families of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, gathered Saturday for an at-times chilling and rallying service to christen a Navy ship built with twisted steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center.
The hulking grey USS New York, which abruptly rose from the horizon, bore a seal on the bow bearing 7.5 tons of steel from the site. The shield included two gray bars to symoblize the Twin Towers; a banner over that declared "Never Forget."
"May God bless this ship and all who sail on her," ship sponsor, Dotty England, said before smashing a bottle of champagne against it, producing a loud thump to go with the spurting liquid and flying streamers.
Story after story of lives lost, and touched, by the attacks peppered the ceremony, held under the blazing sun and broadcast on large screens.
"To New York, we say thank you for lending your sacred seal, your name," U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., said. More importantly was that New York lent its spirit, he said.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said ship names provide a legacy, and for their crews, serve as a source of strength and inspiration.
When the attacks occurred, the ship was planned but had no name. It was named the New York at the request of former New York Gov. George Pataki. The steel from the World Trade Center site is in the part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way.
"It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation," said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.
The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It can carry about 360 sailors and 700 Marines who can be brought ashore via landing craft and helicopter. Its prospective commanding officer is Commander F. Curtis Jones, a native New Yorker. It is to be commissioned next year, said England's wife, Dotty England, before the christening.
Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., said Sept. 11th was a turning point in the nation, and will never be forgotten because remnants of the disaster are part of the ship.
"If the USS New York has to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, PCO Jones and his crew ... have my full support," he said to a standing ovation.
"May God bless this ship and all who sail on her," ship sponsor, Dotty England, said before smashing a bottle of champagne against it, producing a loud thump to go with the spurting liquid and flying streamers.
Story after story of lives lost, and touched, by the attacks peppered the ceremony, held under the blazing sun and broadcast on large screens.
"To New York, we say thank you for lending your sacred seal, your name," U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., said. More importantly was that New York lent its spirit, he said.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said ship names provide a legacy, and for their crews, serve as a source of strength and inspiration.
When the attacks occurred, the ship was planned but had no name. It was named the New York at the request of former New York Gov. George Pataki. The steel from the World Trade Center site is in the part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way.
"It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation," said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.
The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It can carry about 360 sailors and 700 Marines who can be brought ashore via landing craft and helicopter. Its prospective commanding officer is Commander F. Curtis Jones, a native New Yorker. It is to be commissioned next year, said England's wife, Dotty England, before the christening.
Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., said Sept. 11th was a turning point in the nation, and will never be forgotten because remnants of the disaster are part of the ship.
"If the USS New York has to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, PCO Jones and his crew ... have my full support," he said to a standing ovation.
Ill. Judge Rejects Abortion Notification Law
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/331680.aspx
CHICAGO - A state law requiring parental notification before a minor can get an abortion will remain on hold, a federal judge ruled, the latest in decades of complex legal wrangling.
Abortion rights groups on Saturday praised the decision, saying it could end chances for the measure to take effect. Proponents of the law said they were disappointed, and the attorney general's spokeswoman said the state would consider an appeal.
The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was passed in 1984 and updated in 1995 but never enforced because the Illinois Supreme Court refused to issue rules spelling out how judges should handle appeals of the notification requirement. A federal court held that the law could not take effect without the rules in place. In 2006, the Supreme Court unexpectedly adopted the necessary rules.
In a decision entered Friday, U.S. District Judge David H. Coar rejected a request from Attorney General Lisa Madigan that the federal court dissolve the order that put the law on hold.
Coar said the law still fails to give a teenager workable judicial options to notify her parents, calling parts of the statute "contradictory and incomplete."
Madigan spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said Saturday that the attorney general's office was "still looking at appropriate next steps for the state, including an appeal."
Thomas Brejcha of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society's Pro-Life Law Center, said he expected Madigan to appeal, if need be, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"It's a major defeat for the people of Illinois," he said. "This is a defensible, constitutional law."
Currently, 35 states have parental notification or permission laws, and most states enforce them, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights.
Illinois is the only state in its region that doesn't have such laws, and anti-abortion activists say that enables teens from other states to travel there to receive abortions.
The American Civil Liberties Union says that most teens inform their parents about their abortions anyway and that laws requiring notification leave some girls vulnerable.
"We're very pleased," said Lorie Chaiten of the Illinois chapter of the ACLU. "This should be the end of that law."
Christians worldwide to pray for end to Burma brutalities
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.worldwide.to.pray.for.end.to.burma.brutalities/17134.htm
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) will co-host a Day of Prayer for Burma in central London on Saturday 8 March as part of an international initiative to end the oppression of Burma's minority populations, particularly the largely Christian Karen group.
The Global Day of Prayer for Burma is an annual event initiated in 1997 by Christians Concerned for Burma at the request of Burma’s democracy leader, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
It is hoped that several hundred people will join in the prayer day hosted by CSW, Partners Relief and Development, Karen Aid and the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP).
Speakers include Oddny Gumaer, author of a new book on Burma called Displaced Reflections and co-founder of Partners Relief and Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working with Internally Displaced People in eastern Burma.
Benedict Rogers, CSW’s Advocacy Officer for South Asia and author of A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma’s Karen People, will also speak.
Mr Rogers has made over 20 visits to Burma and its borderlands, including the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Mon peoples on the Thai-Burmese border, the Chin people on the India-Burma border and the Kachin on the China-Burma border. He has recently returned from visiting the Thai-Burmese border and Burmese refugees in Malaysia.
CSW’s Advocacy Director Tina Lambert said: “The Global Day of Prayer for Burma is a crucial event for focusing people’s thoughts and hearts on the crisis in Burma.
"With recent events including the regime’s brutal crackdown on protests last September, continuing offensives against civilians in Karen State and further human rights violations in all parts of the country, prayer for Burma is now even more vital than ever."
CSW condemned the recent assassination of the Karen leader Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, and the regime’s efforts to rubber-stamp its rule by introducing a "sham constitution through a sham referendum which would exclude Burma’s major democratic and ethnic representatives".
These developments combined "make it so important for churches around the world to remember Burma, and we hope many people will be able to join us in this important event in London”, she added.
On Sunday 9 March churches around the world are urged to pray for Burma during their services.
The Global Day of Prayer for Burma will take place at the Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3DW (nearest tubes: Victoria and Westminster) from 10am-4pm
Poland's PM to Discuss US Missiles
http://www.newsmax.com/international/poland_missile_defense/2008/03/01/76997.html
WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's prime minister said Saturday he intends to sound out officials in Washington on the U.S. approach to helping modernize Polish armed forces in return for accepting a missile defense base.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk heads to Washington next week, and will meet with President George W. Bush to discuss U.S. hopes of building an interceptor base in Poland. The base would be part of a missile defense system the U.S. says is needed to protect the United States and its European allies from possible attacks from Iran. Bilateral talks on the issue opened early last year.
The American plan would also involve a radar system in the neighboring Czech Republic.
Tusk is scheduled to visit Washington March 8-10.
"I'm not going to Washington to make declarations, but rather to hear whether Poland's expectations _ which are not excessive _ as to U.S. help in modernizing Polish armed forces are being treated seriously or not," Tusk told reporters.
"I am going there to listen to the Americans, not to make declarations to them."
In return for allowing the 10-missile installation, Warsaw wants the U.S. to help modernize its armed forces, especially to provide air defense systems such as Patriot 3, THAAD or AMRAM.
On Friday, U.S. officials said they made a good start in talks with Poles on a possible deal.
A top Polish diplomat who took part in the talks, held in Warsaw, said they had "opened a separate negotiating path" on Polish hopes to bring its armed forces up to date, in view of current security challenges and threats.
"We talked about the situation in the region, about security and about challenges and threats to Poland," Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, said on TVN24.
"Then we discussed the condition of the Polish army, whether what we have is sufficient to counter these threats and we tried to identify the areas where Polish armed forces need to be modernized."
Russia fiercely opposes plans for U.S. missiles to be placed so close to its borders and has warned it will aim it's own weapons at the installations.
Bush Pushes For More NATO Troops in Afghanistan
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Bush_NATO_Afghanistan/2008/03/01/77021.html
Ratcheting up pressure on NATO partners, President George W. Bush said on Saturday that he would use the alliance's next summit to push for more troops in Afghanistan to share the "heavy burden" there.
Bush's appeal was the latest in a U.S. drive to persuade reluctant NATO allies to take on a larger role in combating a resurgent Taliban and their al Qaeda allies in the most volatile parts of the country.
U.S. officials are disappointed at the meager results of their pressure campaign so far and warn that NATO's credibility could be at stake. The issue is expected to figure prominently at NATO's April 2-4 summit in Bucharest.
"I am going to go to Bucharest with the notion that we're thankful for the contributions being made and encourage people to contribute more," Bush said at a joint news conference with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the president's Texas ranch.
Bush stopped short of naming the allies he believes should commit more troops while acknowledging "certain political constraints on certain countries."
But he insisted, "My administration has made it abundantly clear we expect people to carry a heavy burden if they're going to be ... in Afghanistan."
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Bush, Rasmussen agreed, "We need more troops in Afghanistan ... I feel confident that we can convince partners to contribute with more troops than today." Denmark has nearly 800 troops mostly in southern Afghanistan.
PRESSURE ON FRANCE, GERMANY
The United States wants France, Germany and other allies in particular to deploy troops to the south of the country where the fight against Islamist militants has been toughest.
Britain, Canada, Poland and others have backed the U.S. demand. In what would be a major blow to the 43,000-strong NATO mission, Canada has warned that it will not renew its deployment past 2009 unless other NATO allies come up with 1,000 troops to support its operation in Kandahar.
Germany, under pressure from Washington, has recently softened a longstanding insistence that it cannot exceed a self-imposed limit of 3,500 troops in Afghanistan, and no longer excludes reinforcements this year.
France has also signaled a willingness to send more troops, but appears to be balking about sending them south.
A senior Bush administration official, briefing reporters on Friday, said the United States expects "helpful" troop contributions to come out of the Bucharest summit, but that any increase would be within limits.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said during a visit to Germany last month that the NATO alliance was at risk if it became split between members willing and unwilling to fight.
The United States has 29,000 troops in Afghanistan, split between those assigned to the NATO mission and forces operating independently, and plans to send an additional 3,200 Marines in April.
Russia Votes for Putin's Successor
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334368,00.html
Russians began voting Sunday in a presidential election that will produce a successor to Vladimir Putin and almost certainly open a path for Putin to take a new and powerful role after eight years in which Russia's global influence expanded and its domestic democracy contracted.
There is no significant opposition to Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's endorsed choice to take over the presidency, and Medvedev says that if he wins he will ask Putin to become prime minister — an offer that Putin is sure to accept.
Medvedev has even based his platform on a vow to pursue "the Putin plan," a telling demonstration of how Putin established dominion over Russian politics through genuine popular support and through measures that have marginalized opposition parties and put national broadcast media under the state's thumb.
Critics denounce the election as little more than a cynical stage show. The Central Elections Commission threw the only liberal candidate — former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov — off the ballot for allegedly forging signatures on his nominating petitions. Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who is the Kremlin's most internationally prominent opponent, shelved his ambitions to run after his supporters were refused rental of a hall in which to hold the mandatory nominating meeting.
"It's not an election; it's a farce. Its results were known long ago," Kasparov said Saturday after handing in a petition denouncing the vote at the election commission's headquarters in Moscow.
Medvedev's opponents are Gennady Zyuganov, head of the fading Communist Party; ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky; and the little-known Andrei Bogdanov.
Many activists and ordinary Russians claim that workers are being pressured by bosses to vote and that some have been ordered to turn in absentee ballots, presumably so that someone else could vote in their stead.
International election observers will be barely visible. The influential Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe refused to send observers, saying Russian authorities were imposing such tight restrictions that it could not work in a meaningful way.
With Medvedev's victory virtually assured, the main political uncertainty in Russia in the transition period is whether he will be a truly independent president or essentially Putin's handmaiden. The premiership that Putin is expected to take is the most powerful executive position in the government and Putin would be likely to maximize its influence.
Speculation persists that the parliament, overwhelmingly dominated by Putin's supporters, could expand the prime minister's powers, or that Medvedev could resign before his term is out, allowing Putin to return to the presidency.
But the president sets the government's philosophical and rhetorical tone, including its foreign policy, and the carefully spoken Medvedev so far has shown little of Putin's penchant for provocative criticisms of the West or bold assertions of Russia's reviving military might.
Medvedev did raise eyebrows recently with his comment that he could work with any U.S. president who didn't have "semi-senile" views.
Putin's confrontations with the West — including allegations that Western organizations were trying to foment revolution and his apparently drawing of parallels between the United States and Nazi Germany — underlined the new boldness that Russia feels as its economy soars.
The new president's major domestic tasks hover around economic issues. Russia got rich from skyrocketing world oil prices, but the economy is hugely dependent on natural resources and needs to diversify to solidify long-term prosperity. Inflation — more than 11 percent last year — is undermining the nascent middle class.
Medvedev meanwhile has identified corruption as a key problem.
Overall, the race has prompted little excitement. State-controlled television news programs have given almost no coverage of the three other candidates.
Medvedev has not formally campaigned, but spent the campaign period traveling across Russia, visiting farms and industrial enterprises, meeting with young people at sporting events and the elderly at nursing homes. Those trips have dominated television newscasts in recent weeks.
Russia Urges Israel, Palestinians To Cease Fire
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/Russia_Urges_Israel/2008/03/01/76988.html
MOSCOW -- Russia called on Israel and the Palestinian territories to end the latest wave of violence to give a chance to peace talks.
At least 68 Palestinians have been killed in four days of intense Israeli air strikes and raids in the tiny Hamas-controlled Gaza strip, home to 1.5 million people straddling Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.
Israel said it was responding to cross-border rockets which killed an Israeli man in the border town of Sderot on Wednesday and wounded three others in the major southern city of Ashkelon.
"Moscow once again voices its categorical condemnation of the rocket attacks on Israeli territory," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "They must stop immediately."
Moscow also said it could not accept that "shells and bombs are falling on the heads of peaceful (Palestinian) women and children, under the pretext of fighting these acts of terror".
"Given the tough blockade of the Gaza Strip, the permanent humanitarian catastrophe, such acts by Israel only give extra arguments to those not willing that Israel and a future Palestinian state should live in peace and harmony," the statement said.
Israeli-Palestinian Fighting Leads to Deadliest Day in Gaza Since 2000
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334257,00.html
Israeli troops turned heavy firepower on rocket squads bombarding southern Israel Saturday, killing 54 Palestinians in the deadliest day in Gaza since the current round of fighting erupted in 2000.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in the clashes, the military said.
The violence took a heavy toll on Gaza civilians. Moderate Palestinian leaders called the killings a "genocide" and threatened to call off peace talks.
"The response to these rockets can't be that harsh and heinous," said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "It is nowadays described as a holocaust."
The spasm of violence came days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to arrive in the region to nudge Israel and Palestinians closer to a peace accord. But the rising tensions threatened to mar her visit.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled consultations on the crisis for later Saturday, according to the U.N. spokesman's office.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called a late-night meeting of security commanders, his office said in a statement. While expressing regret for civilian casualties, Barak blamed "Hamas and those firing rockets at Israel," the statement said, pledging to continue the offensive to protect Israeli towns and cities.
On Friday, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai renewed a threat to invade Gaza to crush militant rocket squads that attack southern Israel daily.
At least two dozen Palestinian civilians, including a baby, were among those killed, and militants said 25 fighters died. Health officials said about 200 people were wounded, 14 of them critically.
The overall death toll was the highest in a single day since the current round of violence erupted in September 2000. The highest previous death toll was 38 on March 8, 2002.
The intense fighting Saturday pushed the Palestinian death toll to more than 80 since fighting flared Wednesday. About half of those were civilians.
Palestinian fighters kept up a steady stream of rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli targets, firing around 50 on Saturday alone in defiance of the Israeli assault. Six Israelis were injured by rockets that reached as far as Ashkelon, a coastal city 11 miles north of Gaza.
The Israeli military said one of its airstrikes on northern Gaza targeted a parked truck loaded with 160 rockets.
On Thursday, militants raised the stakes by firing Iranian-made rockets into Ashkelon, striking closer to Israel's heartland than ever before and putting more Israelis at risk. Palestinian rocket fire earlier in the week also killed an Israeli man.
Shortly before midnight Friday in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, a 13-month-old girl was killed by shrapnel. Hamas blamed Israel, but residents said a militant rocket fell short and landed near the baby's house. The day's violence snowballed from that point on.
Before dawn Saturday, the battleground shifted to the town of Jebaliya and its nearby refugee camp, a center of militant activity in northern Gaza.
Soldiers backed by tanks and aircraft conducted house-to-house searches and took up positions on rooftops as they clashed with militants detonating land mines and firing heavy machine guns, assault rifles and mortar rounds.
A wounded man and boy lay in a gutter near a dead man. Ambulance workers took away the dead man as a youth appealed to paramedics to treat the wounded.
"Take them, they are still alive," he pleaded. Another man urged the wounded to "bear witness," or proclaim their Muslim faith before they die. The two began reciting a Muslim prayer near a boy whose lower body was ripped by shrapnel.
Tareq Dardouna, a Jebaliya resident, said a relative was killed outside his home in the crossfire that began at 3 a.m.
"His body is still on the ground," Dardouna said in a telephone interview from his home, where he was tending to four wounded people amid screaming children. "Ambulances tried to come, but they came under fire. ... We are in a real war."
Two sisters and another civilian were killed by tank shells that struck two houses in separate attacks in Jebaliya, Palestinian officials said.
At one of the damaged houses, paramedics rushed an unmoving woman lying on a stretcher, her face covered with a cloth, out of a room clouded with dust.
By evening, more than 40 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers had been killed in the Jebaliya fighting.
All but the most critically injured were sent home from Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest. Beds crammed hospital corridors, and the intensive care unit was overflowing, a doctor at the hospital said. The doctors union urged its members to cancel leaves and appealed for blood donations.
The U.N. shuttered 37 schools it runs in northern Gaza because of the fighting, affecting some 40,000 students said Christopher Gunness, a U.N. official. A three-day strike was declared in Gaza, and publicly run schools and universities were closed.
Mosques across northern Gaza and Hamas-affiliated radio appealed to civilians to stay home. Hamas closed off roads to evacuate security compounds and to keep residents away from potential airstrike targets. They also turned off street lights, apparently so militants wouldn't be seen from the air.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said Palestinian leaders including Abbas recommended suspending peace talks at a meeting Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
"I think it will be suspended," Qureia said. "What is happening in Gaza is a massacre of civilians, women and children, a collective killing, genocide," Qureia added. "We can't bear what the Israelis are doing, and what the Israelis are doing doesn't led the peace process any credibility."
Hamas remained defiant and vowed to retaliate.
In Syria, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal described Israeli attacks against civilians in Gaza as "the real Holocaust."
"If (Israeli officials) decided stupidly to invade Gaza, we will fight them with God's help," Mashaal told reporters from his base in Damascus. "We will fight them like lions."
Mashaal blamed the rival Fatah, headed by Abbas, for helping along Israel's attacks.
"I accuse the president of the Palestinian Authority of providing coverage of this holocaust in Gaza," Mashaal said. Hamas has said Abbas' condemnation of rocket fire has given a pretext to Israel's assault on Gaza.
Israeli officials met Saturday to discuss the Gaza violence and its implications for peacemaking. Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said talks didn't preclude fighting. Talks are "based on the understanding that when advancing the peace process with pragmatic (Palestinian) sources, Israel will continue to fight terror that hurts its people," he said.
Vice Premier Haim Ramon told Channel 2 TV that Israel should fight in Gaza, but not reoccupy it. Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the tiny seaside territory in late 2005, but militants proceeded to fire rockets from the abandoned territory at Israeli communities.
Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, took control of Gaza by force from the rival Fatah in June.
Israeli government spokesman David Baker said Israel was "compelled to continue to take these defensive measures" to protect more than 200,000 Israelis living under the threat of Palestinian rocket barrages.
Militants "hide behind their own civilians, using them as human shields, while actively targeting Israeli population centers," Baker said. "They bear the responsibility for the results."
Israeli military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich called Saturday's action a "pinpoint operation" provoked by the rocket attack on Ashkelon earlier in the week. She blamed the high civilian toll on Hamas' practice of using homes to store and produce projectiles.
"We are not targeting homes and we have no intentions of targeting uninvolved civilians," she said. "We will target launchers and Hamas militants, and bunkers."
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which had been in a deep freeze for seven years, resumed in November at a U.S.-sponsored conference. At the gathering, the two sides pledged to try to reach an accord by the end of this year. In recent weeks, negotiators have met almost daily.
But even when violence is at a lower level, Abbas' efforts are compromised by the fact that he only rules the West Bank, while Gaza is controlled by Hamas. And Israel's fragile government would be hard pressed to make concessions to the Palestinians while Gaza militants pummel southern Israel.
Syria Criticizes U.S. Warship Deployment Off Lebanon as 'Muscle Flexing'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334252,00.html
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Saturday that a U.S. Navy deployment off the coast of Lebanon threatens security in the region and warned the United States it cannot impose its own solution to the long-running political crisis in Lebanon.
"There is a history of American fleet intervention in Lebanon. I think these experiences were not at all useful," al-Moallem said.
The planned deployment of at least three warships, announced Thursday, appeared to be aimed at making an American show of strength at a time of increasing international frustration at the volatile political deadlock in Lebanon between the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and the Syria and Iran-backed opposition, led by Hezbollah.
State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters Friday that the warships are an important sign of U.S. commitment to security in the region. "It should provide comfort to our friends" and, for U.S. adversaries, "a reminder that we are there."
Al-Moallem said the American military move is counterproductive. "Such a show of force will not be useful and will not lead, as they claim, to security in the region. It is against the security of the region," he said.
"I say to those Lebanese who are betting on America's ... muscle flexing off the coast of Lebanon that this is a losing bet," he added. "America cannot impose a solution in Lebanon as it sees it."
The government and opposition in Lebanon have been locked in a 15-month power struggle, with Hezbollah and its allies trying to force out Saniora's administration. The deadlock has prevented the country from electing a president since November, leaving the post empty in a dangerous power vacuum.
The United States — along with anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon — accuses Damascus of trying to reimpose its control in Lebanon.
Al-Moallem's allusion to past U.S. military intervention in Lebanon was referring to the 1980s when, at the height of the Lebanese civil war, some 17 U.S. ships patrolled the Lebanese coastline and bombarded Muslim militia positions on shore. A Marine contingent was also stationed at Beirut airport.
Suicide bombings against the Marine base and the U.S. Embassy in 1983 and 1984 killed over 200 Americans, eventually leading to a U.S. withdrawal.
Al-Moallem accused Washington of obstructing a settlement to the Lebanese crisis.
"The presence of this warship reinforces what we have been saying, that America is obstructing proposed political solutions in Lebanon," he said. Among those solutions, he said, was an Arab initiative which Moussa has been trying for weeks to market among feuding parties in Lebanon.
"America, by sending this warship, is sending an important message to the secretary general (Moussa), the Arab initiative and the Arab League," al-Moallem said, without elaborating.
The American deployment of warships off the coast of Lebanon is "unacceptable" and shows that the U.S. did not learn from the lessons of Iraq, the state-run Syrian Tishrin newspaper also said Saturday.
Moussa was in Damascus Saturday to discuss with Syrian officials the Lebanese crisis, as well as an Arab summit to be held in Damascus later this month.
U.S.-allied Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt are reportedly threatening to boycott if no president is elected in Lebanon by then.
Syrian parliament legislator Mohammed Habash told the pan-Arab Asharq Awsat newspaper that any thinking of relocating the summit venue would be considered "a suicide for the Arabs' joint efforts and will have very dangerous repercussions."
Bush: Listen to Generals on Troop Levels
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Bush_Listen_to_Generals_/2008/03/01/77013.html
CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush declined Saturday to repeat promises made by others in his administration that more U.S. troops will return home from Iraq than scheduled before he leaves office.
Decisions about troop cuts beyond those now planned through July would be based on generals' recommendations, the president said.
"There is going to be enormous speculation," he said in a joint appearance at his ranch with Denmark's prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. But, Bush said, "My sole criteria is that whatever we do, it ought to be in the context of success."
He did suggest strongly that Iraq's provincial elections in October will require bringing more troops home to wait until after the voting.
"I think our generals ought to be concerned about making sure there's enough of a presence so that the provincial elections can be carried out in such a way that democracy advances," he said.
A senior administration official had told reporters during a briefing Friday at the White House, "I fully expect there to be more reductions this year - and so does the president."
Troop withdrawals are scheduled to bring the U.S. force presence in Iraq down to 15 brigades by July, for a troop total of about 140,000.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, makes his next required report to Bush in early April. He is expected to recommend the president wait for about four weeks to six weeks after the end of that round of cuts before deciding upon more, in order to assess the impact on the insurgency, Iraqi government's readiness and security gains. That would put off any new decision about cuts until August or September at the earliest, and Bush's remarks seemed to suggest it would come even later.
A chief topic of the talks between Bush and Fogh Rasmussen was NATO's increasingly tough fight in Afghanistan against militants.
The U.S., so far unsuccessfully, has pressed for some NATO members to send more troops to Afghanistan and drop military restrictions that the U.S. says hampers the effort. Bush and Fogh Rasmussen made the case again.
"We expect people to ... carry a heavy burden," Bush said.
The president sought to strike a balance between berating allies and meeting an urgent goal. "I understand that there's certain political considerations on certain countries," he said. But Bush said his message during a NATO summit in Romania in early April will be to both thank contributing nations and "encourage people to contribute more."
Added the prime minister: "We need more troops in Afghanistan."
All 26 NATO nations have troops serving with the mission. The fighting in Afghanistan is at its most intense since the Taliban government was driven from power by U.S. forces in 2001.
But those in the southern front lines - mainly Canada, Britain, the U.S. and the Netherlands - are irked that others countries such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain restrict their forces to the relatively peaceful north and west. Canada has threatened to pull out its combat troops from the south if other NATO members do not come through.
A senior administration official said Friday that while there should be no expectation of "a surge of NATO" to come out of the Romania summit, there are likely to be "announcements that will be helpful." The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to more candidly describe White House thinking, did not elaborate.
There are increasing signs that France, under the new leadership of President Nicolas Sarkozy, appears ready to answer the call. The White House hopes that such a decision would encourage similar ones from other countries, or at least keep Canada from leaving.
The United States has 29,000 troops in Afghanistan, both as part of the NATO mission and in its own terror-fighting and training efforts, and is sending an additional 3,200 Marines in April. Denmark has about 600 Danish troops in the south.
Bush declined to criticize Iraq's government for inviting Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Baghdad. The trip Sunday will be the first ever to Iraq by an Iranian leader. Bush suggested it was normal for neighbors to visit.
But he did seize on mention of the subject to offer his own pointed message to Tehran: "Stop exporting terror."
With U.S. hostility toward Iran growing over its suspected nuclear weapons program, Bush said, "The international community is serious about continuing to isolate Iran until they come clean about their nuclear ambitions."
Bush also offered advice for what Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, should say to Ahmadinejad. The U.S. accuses Iran of seeking dominance over Iraqi affairs and of training and supplying Shiite militia fighters with the ability to target Americans; Tehran has denied the charge.
"The message needs to be: Quit sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our citizens and that the message will be that we're negotiating a long-term security aggreement with the United States precisely because we want enough breathing space for our democracy to develop."
Denmark is hosting an important climate meeting in December 2009 and the prime minister used his appearance with Bush to push for U.S. contributions to reducing carbon emissions to slow global warming.
"We need a comprehensive global agreement and American leadership is needed to reach that goal," Fogh Rasmussen said.
He also pleaded for American leadership to persuade fast-growing nations such as China and India to cut emissions.
One delicate topic that did not come up in public was Denmark's decision to investigate claims the CIA secretly used an airport on his country's remote Arctic territory of Greenland as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program for suspected terrorists.
The trip to the ranch was a diplomatic coup for Fogh Rasmussen. He pedaled around Camp David in Maryland with Bush in 2006 and went mountain biking with the president at the ranch Friday.
Bush said the two biked Saturday morning before their appearance - and he seemed in awe of his visitor. "The man did not even break into a sweat," Bush said, before serving his guest cheeseburgers and potato salad for lunch. "You're in incredible condition."
Fogh Rasmussen was gracious, calling his visit "a challenging stay, I must say."
"You made me work very hard out there," he said.
Top Turk general says Iraq withdrawal on schedule
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL01678169
ANKARA - Turkey's top general said on Saturday the Turkish armed forces withdrew its troops from northern Iraq on schedule and dismissed speculation that it had acted under pressure from its NATO ally the United States.
Turkey pulled its troops out of northern Iraq on Friday, ending a major offensive against Kurdish PKK rebels that Washington had feared might destabilise the wider region.
Yasar Buyukanit, head of the military General Staff, told the Milliyet daily the decision to pull out was taken on military grounds and said there was no need to continue the ground operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
"If they say that the army withdrew early, then let them go there (northern Iraq) and stay for 24 hours," Buyukanit said, referring to the deep snow and subzero temperatures in the tough mountainous terrain where the troops were fighting.
Buyukanit also denied any foreign influence on the decision, which had come just one day after U.S President George W. Bush urged a swift end to the offensive and he hailed the eight-day offensive as a success.
"The armed forces fulfilled their duty with their land and air forces ... They did incredible things there," he said.
The army killed 242 rebels out of 300 targeted in the operation and PKK communications were cut, said Buyukanit.
But Turkish newspapers noted the unexpected withdrawal came a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a brief trip to Ankara, called for a short and carefully targeted campaign.
"Gates left, the operation ended," the liberal Radikal newspaper headline read on Saturday.
"It has to be accepted that finishing the operation straight after Gates' departure was unfortunate timing," said Murat Yetkin, a columnist for Radikal.
SUSPICIONS
Turkey, which has NATO's second biggest army, sent thousands of soldiers into northern Iraq on Feb. 21 to attack PKK rebels who use the region as a base for attacks on Turkish territory.
Iraq and Washington have both welcomed the withdrawal, but some commentators said its timing could upset Turkish pride amid suspicions that the United States had forced an early pullout.
"A very successful military campaign turned into a diplomatic retreat. It will be hard to remove doubts from the public's mind. U.S.-Turkey relations will be hurt again," said Ertugrul Ozkok, columnist in Hurriyet newspaper.
Newspapers said the sudden decision to withdraw had taken even Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan by surprise. His office was forced to tweak the text of an address given by Erdogan on Friday night to take into account the end of the land operation.
"Erdogan was most surprised of all," said the Taraf daily.
Erdogan denied he had been unaware of the plan to withdraw.
"I have been in close contact with the General Staff since the beginning (of the operation), during every second of it," Erdogan said in comments broadcast by Turkish TV on Saturday.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people since the group first took up arms in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. (Editing by Gareth Jones)
Newsmax Obtains Copy of New U.N. Iran Sanctions Draft
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Newsmax_Obtains_Copy_of_N/2008/03/01/77004.html
UNITED NATIONS -- NewsMax has obtained a copy of an outline the United States wants the U.N. Security Council to adopt regarding the imposition of a third round of sanctions on Iran.
Tehran has refused repeated Council demands to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program. Iran insists its "activities" are peaceful, the Bush administration says the enrichment can easily be diverted to military use and wants it stopped.
Washington will get the Council to approve new restrictions on the travel of key Iranian officials, new import-export and banking controls.
The following is the verbatim draft resolution the Security Council is expected to adopt in a formal meeting now scheduled for Monday:
Germany, France and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: draft resolution --
The Security Council,
Recalling the Statement of its President, S/PRST/2006/15, of 29 March 2006, and its resolution 1696 (2006) of 31 July 2006, its resolution 1737 (2006) of 23 December 2006 and its resolution 1747 (2007) of 24 March 2007, and reaffirming their provisions,
Reaffirming its commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the need for all States Party to that Treaty to comply fully with all their obligations, and recalling the right of States Party, in conformity with Articles I and II of that Treaty, to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination,
Noting with serious concern that, as confirmed by the reports of 23 May 2007 (GOV/2007/22), 30 August 2007 (GOV/2007/48) and 15 November 2007 (GOV/2007/48) of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has not established full and sustained suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing activities and heavy water-related projects as set out in resolution 1696 (2006), 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007) nor resumed its cooperation with the IAEA under the Additional Protocol, nor taken the other steps required by the IAEA Board of Governors, nor complied with the provisions of Security Council resolution 1696 (2006), 1737 (2006) and 1747 (2007) and which are essential to build confidence, and deploring Iran’s refusal to take these steps,
Noting with concern that Iran has taken issue with the IAEA’s right to verify design information which had been provided by Iran pursuant to the modified Code 3.1, emphasizing that in accordance with Article 39 of Iran’s Safeguards Agreement Code 3.1 cannot be modified nor suspended unilaterally and that the Agency’s right to verify design information provided to it is a continuing right, which is not dependent on the stage of construction of, or the presence of nuclear material at, a facility,
Reiterating its determination to reinforce the authority of the IAEA, strongly supporting the role of the IAEA Board of Governors, commending the IAEA for its efforts to resolve outstanding issues relating to Iran’s nuclear programme in the work plan between the Secretariat of the IAEA and Iran (GOV/2007/48, Attachment), welcoming the progress in implementation of this work plan as reflected in the IAEA Director General’s report of 15 November 2007 (GOV/2007/58), underlining the importance of Iran producing tangible results rapidly and effectively by completing implementation of this work plan including by providing answers to all the questions the IAEA asks so that the Agency, through the implementation of the required transparency measures, can assess the completeness and correctness of Iran’s declaration,
Expressing the conviction that the suspension set out in paragraph 2 of resolution 1737 (2006) as well as full, verified Iranian compliance with the requirements set out by the IAEA Board of Governors would contribute to a diplomatic, negotiated solution, that guarantees Iran’s nuclear programme is for exclusively peaceful purposes,
Stressing that China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States are willing to take further concrete measures on exploring an overall strategy of resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiation on the basis of their June 2006 proposals (S/2006/521),
Having regard to States’ rights and obligations relating to international trade,
Welcoming the guidance issued by the Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) to assist States in implementing their financial obligations under resolution 1737 (2006),
Determined to give effect to its decisions by adopting appropriate measures to persuade Iran to comply with resolution 1696 (2006), resolution 1737 (2006), resolution 1747 (2007) and with the requirements of the IAEA, and also to constrain Iran’s development of sensitive technologies in support of its nuclear and missile programmes, until such time as the Security Council determines that the objectives of these resolutions have been met,
Concerned by the proliferation risks presented by the Iranian nuclear programme and, in this context, by Iran’s continuing failure to meet the requirements of the IAEA Board of Governors and to comply with the provisions of Security Council resolutions 1696 (2006), 1737 (2006) and 1747 (2007), mindful of its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security,
Acting under Article 41 of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,
1. Reaffirms that Iran shall without further delay take the steps required by the IAEA Board of Governors in its resolution GOV/2006/14, which are essential to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful purpose of its nuclear programme and to resolve outstanding questions, and, in this context, affirms its decision that Iran shall without delay take the steps required in paragraph 2 of resolution 1737 (2006), and underlines that the IAEA has sought confirmation that Iran will apply Code 3.1 modified;
2. Welcomes the agreement between Iran and the IAEA to resolve all outstanding issues concerning Iran’s nuclear programme and progress made in this regard, encourages the IAEA to continue its work to clarify all outstanding issues, stresses that this would help to re-establish international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, and supports the IAEA in strengthening its safeguards on Iran’s nuclear activities in accordance with the Safeguards Agreement between Iran and the IAEA;
3. Calls upon all States to exercise vigilance and restraint regarding the entry into or transit through their territories of individuals who are engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran’s proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems, and decides in this regard that all States shall notify the Committee established pursuant to paragraph 18 of resolution 1737 (2006) (herein “the Committee”) of the entry into or transit through their territories of the persons designated in the Annex to resolution 1737 (2006), Annex I to resolution 1747 (2007) or Annex I to this resolution, as well as of additional persons designated by the Security Council or the Committee as being engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran’s proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems, including through the involvement in procurement of the prohibited items, goods, equipment, materials and technology specified by and under the measures in paragraphs 3 and 4 of resolution 1737 (2006), except where such entry or transit is for activities directly related to the items in subparagraphs 3(b) (i) and (ii) of resolution 1737 (2006);
4. Underlines that nothing in paragraph 3 above requires a State to refuse its own nationals entry into its territory, and that all States shall, in the implementation of the above paragraph, take into account humanitarian considerations, including religious obligations, as well as the necessity to meet the objectives of this resolution, resolution 1737 (2006) and resolution 1747 (2007), including where Article XV of the IAEA Statute is engaged;
5. Decides that all States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of individuals designated in Annex II to this resolution as well as of additional persons designated by the Security Council or the Committee as being engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran’s proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems, including through the involvement in procurement of the prohibited items, goods, equipment, materials and technology specified by and under the measures in paragraphs 3 and 4 of resolution 1737 (2006), except where such entry or transit is for activities directly related to the items in subparagraphs 3 (b) (i) and (ii) of resolution 1737 (2006) and provided that nothing in this paragraph shall oblige a State to refuse its own nationals entry into its territory;
6. Decides that the measures imposed by paragraph 5 above shall not apply where the Committee determines on a case-by-case basis that such travel is justified on the grounds of humanitarian need, including religious obligations, or where the Committee concludes that an exemption would otherwise further the objectives of the present resolution;
7. Decides that the measures specified in paragraphs 12, 13, 14 and 15 of resolution 1737 (2006) shall apply also to the persons and entities listed in Annexes I and III to this resolution, and any persons or entities acting on their behalf or at their direction, and to entities owned or controlled by them and to persons and entities determined by the Council or the Committee to have assisted designated persons or entities in evading sanctions of, or in violating the provisions of, this resolution, resolution 1737 (2006) or resolution 1747 (2007);
8. Decides that all States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the supply, sale or transfer directly or indirectly from their territories or by their nationals or using their flag vessels or aircraft to, or for use in or benefit of, Iran, and whether or not originating in their territories, of:
(a) all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology set out in INFCIRC/254/Rev.7/Part2 of document S/2006/814, except the supply, sale or transfer, in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 5 of resolution 1737 (2006), of items, materials, equipment, goods and technology set out in sections 1 and 2 of the Annex to that document, and sections 3 to 6 as notified in advance to the Committee, only when for exclusive use in light water reactors, and where such supply, sale or transfer is necessary for technical cooperation provided to Iran by the IAEA or under its auspices as provided for in paragraph 16 of resolution 1737 (2006);
(b) all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology set out in 19.A.3 of Category II of document S/2006/815;
9. Calls upon all States to exercise vigilance in entering into new commitments for public provided financial support for trade with Iran, including the granting of export credits, guarantees or insurance, to their nationals or entities involved in such trade, in order to avoid such financial support contributing to the proliferation sensitive nuclear activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems, as referred to in resolution 1737 (2006);
10. Calls upon all States to exercise vigilance over the activities of financial institutions in their territories with all banks domiciled in Iran, in particular with Bank Melli and Bank Saderat, and their branches and subsidiaries abroad, in order to avoid such activities contributing to the proliferation sensitive nuclear activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems, as referred to in resolution 1737 (2006);
11. Calls upon all States, in accordance with their national legal authorities and legislation and consistent with international law, in particular the law of the sea and relevant international civil aviation agreements, to inspect the cargoes to and from Iran, of aircraft and vessels, at their airports and seaports, owned or operated by Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line, provided there are reasonable grounds to believe that the aircraft or vessel is transporting goods prohibited under this resolution or resolution 1737 (2006) or resolution 1747 (2007);
12. Requires all States, in cases when inspection mentioned in the paragraph above is undertaken, to submit to the Security Council within five working days a written report on the inspection containing, in particular, explanation of the grounds for the inspection, as well as information on its time, place, circumstances, results and other relevant details;
13. Calls upon all States to report to the Committee within 60 days of the adoption of this resolution on the steps they have taken with a view to implementing effectively paragraphs 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 above;
14. Decides that the mandate of the Committee as set out in paragraph 18 of resolution 1737 (2006) shall also apply to the measures imposed in resolution 1747 (2007) and this resolution;
15. Stresses the willingness of China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States to further enhance diplomatic efforts to promote resumption of dialogue, and consultations on the basis of their offer to Iran, with a view to seeking a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution of this issue which would allow for the development of all-round relations and wider cooperation with Iran based on mutual respect and the establishment of international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, and inter alia, starting direct talks and negotiation with Iran as long as Iran suspends all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, as verified by the IAEA;
16. Encourages the European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy to continue communication with Iran in support of political and diplomatic efforts to find a negotiated solution including relevant proposals by China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States with a view to create necessary conditions for resuming talks;
17. Emphasizes the importance of all States, including Iran, taking the necessary measures to ensure that no claim shall lie at the instance of the Government of Iran, or of any person or entity in Iran, or of persons or entities designated pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) and related resolutions, or any person claiming through or for the benefit of any such person or entity, in connection with any contract or other transaction where its performance was prevented by reason of the measures imposed by the present resolution, resolution 1737 (2006) or resolution 1747 (2007);
18. Requests within 90 days a further report from the Director General of the IAEA on whether Iran has established full and sustained suspension of all activities mentioned in resolution 1737 (2006), as well as on the process of Iranian compliance with all the steps required by the IAEA Board and with the other provisions of resolution 1737 (2006), resolution 1747 (2007) and of this resolution, to the IAEA Board of Governors and in parallel to the Security Council for its consideration;
19. Reaffirms that it shall review Iran’s actions in light of the report referred to in the paragraph above, and:
(a) that it shall suspend the implementation of measures if and for so long as Iran suspends all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, as verified by the IAEA, to allow for negotiations in good faith in order to reach an early and mutually acceptable outcome;
Iran Slams UN Sanctions Meeting
http://www.newsmax.com/international/iran_nuclear/2008/03/01/77035.html
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian officials said Saturday that U.N. Security Council debates on new sanctions over the country's nuclear program would be illegal and fresh sanctions would undermine global security.
A U.S. push for a third round of sanctions against Iran is an "exercise in futility," said government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham.
Britain and France delayed a Security Council vote until Monday to try to get more support for the resolution on new sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.
In a television interview, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that a new round of sanctions would prove that the criticism of Iran's nuclear program is politically motivated.
"We said from the beginning that it was a political pretext not a legal and technical issue," he said.
Iran says a report released by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency last week has vindicated Iran's nuclear program and left no justification for any Security Council sanctions.
The 11-page report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei last week said all major issues surrounding Iran's nuclear activities had been fully resolved or are "no longer outstanding at this stage."
The U.S., however, said the report strengthens the case for additional sanctions because it also says Iran failed to heed Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment.
Iran insists its enrichment activities are intended only for peaceful civilian purposes, but the U.S., the European Union and others suspect its real aim is to produce atomic weapons.
The draft Security Council resolution would expand travel restrictions and the freezing of assets to more Iranian officials linked to the nuclear effort. It also would ban trade with Iran in goods which have both civilian and military uses and introduce financial monitoring on two banks with suspected links to proliferation activities.
The resolution also would authorize inspections of shipments to and from Iran that are suspected of carrying prohibited goods.
Ahmadinejad's Historic Trip to Highlight Iran's Rising Influence in Iraq
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334330,00.html
President Bush's last trip to Iraq was kept secret until he arrived at a U.S. military base. Eight hours later he left, after Iraq's leaders traveled to meet him there.
In sharp contrast, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit — the first ever by an Iranian leader to Iraq — was announced in advance. He plans to spend the night here, and Iranian TV will broadcast his departure ceremony live.
Once considered Iraq's archenemy, Iran is now cozy with Baghdad's Shiite-led government and eager to show off Tehran's rising influence as debate rages in the U.S. over how quickly to leave.
Ahmadinejad was to arrive Sunday morning at Baghdad's airport and head to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's headquarters, located right across the Tigris River from the mammoth new U.S. Embassy in the fortified Green Zone.
Ahmadinejad sought to reassure Iraqis ahead of the trip by disputing U.S. accusations that Iran is meddling in Iraqi affairs and fueling violence among Shiite militias.
"Iran has no need to intervene in Iraq. It is friendly to all groups in Iraq. Isn't it ridiculous that those who have deployed 160,000 troops in Iraq accuse us of intervening there?" the Iranian state-run news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
During the two-day visit, Ahmadinejad is scheduled to meet with Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — both Shiites who have made official visits to Iran since taking office.
The trip symbolically serves several purposes for Iran. Ahmadinejad wants to highlight Shiite-dominated Iran's influence but at the same time show that Iran is not a bully, analysts say.
He also may be trying to bolster his support back home ahead of parliamentary elections later this month that are seen as referendum on the Iranian president. Ahmadinejad has come under criticism from all sides in Iran for spending too much time on anti-Western rhetoric and not enough on economic problems plaguing the country.
Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the visit sends a "clear message to Iraqis that the Iranian influence in the country is significant and enduring."
But at the same time, "he doesn't want to threaten the Iraqis. He doesn't want to threaten Gulf states who fear that Iraq will be an Iranian satellite. He has a thin line to walk," he said.
The U.S. has tried to downplay Ahmadinejad's visit, saying it welcomed Iran's stated policy of promoting stability but had not seen any evidence. U.S. officials would not discuss any possible interaction with him, and Talabani's personal guards were reportedly going to provide security for Ahmadinejad and his delegation.
But the visit comes as U.S. officials have sharpened their rhetoric against Iran in recent weeks. Last month, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, who was the No. 2 U.S. military chief in Iraq, warned that Tehran wants to keep Iraq's government weak to block any challenges to Iranian influence.
There is concern in the United States and in Sunni-dominated Arab countries about a growing Iranian dominance in Iraq. The United States has accused Iran of training and supplying Shiite militia fighters in Iraq with weapons and sophisticated explosives designed specifically to kill American tanks and armored vehicles. Iran denies the accusations.
Washington and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution led to the taking of hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Since Ahmadinejad was elected president in fall 2005, the hostility has only grown over Iran's controversial nuclear program.
Envoys from the two countries have met three times in Baghdad over the past year to discuss Iraq's security, although Iran postponed a fourth round last month without giving a reason. Ahmadinejad stressed Saturday that the talks were useful.
"The outcome of (Iran-U.S.) talks have helped stabilize conditions in Iraq a lot," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Iraqi journalists in Tehran.
Falah Shanshal, an Iraqi Shiite lawmaker allied with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said he was hopeful Ahmadinejad's visit will help solve some of Iraq's security problems.
"Iran is a neighboring country and opening a new page of dialogue with it is a step in the right direction." Shanshal said.
Despite the hopeful talk, Iran and Iraq have not always had rosy relations. The two countries were hostile to each other throughout Saddam Hussein's regime and fought a destructive eight-year war after Saddam invaded Iran in 1980. About 1 million people died in the conflict.
But when Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime fell and Iraq's Shiite majority took power after the U.S.-led invasion, long-standing ties between the Shiites of both countries flourished again, though the two neighbors have yet to sign a peace treaty.
Many of Iran's Shiite leaders lived in exile in Iran during Saddam's rule, including al-Maliki, and Talabani, who speaks fluent Farsi, has close ties with Iranian officials.
Iranian ruling clerics also have a history of seeking help here, and Shiite Islam's most revered sites are in Iraq. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sought refuge for years in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf before he returned to Iran and founded the Islamic Republic in the 1979 revolution.
Not everyone is in Iraq is pleased that Ahmadinejad is coming. Some worry that Iraq had become the battleground between the U.S. and Iran and Tehran's growing influence undermines Baghdad's sovereignty.
On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators marched the streets of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, chanting anti-Ahmadinejad slogans. Many held banners including one that read: "We condemn visit of terrorist and butcher Ahmadinejad to Iraq."
"We wish that there would be a commitment from the Iranian president personally to cease all kind of interventions in Iraq's security and political affairs," Abdul-Karim al-Samaraie, a lawmaker with the main Sunni parliamentary bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, told the pan-Arab TV station Al-Jazeera.
Ahmadinejad: Iran-US Talks Helping Iraq
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/331559.aspx
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that U.S.-Iran talks have helped improve security in Iraq but he rejected claims that the Islamic republic is fueling violence there, the state news agency reported.
"The outcome of U.S.-Iran talks have helped stabilize conditions in Iraq a great deal," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Iraqi journalists in Tehran, a day ahead of his landmark visit to Iraq.
Iranian officials also touted their country's growing economic ties to Iraq, particularly $1 billion in loans set aside for infrastructure projects there.
The previously announced loans will be earmarked to reconstruction projects conducted by Iranian companies, Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh Attar told the official IRNA news agency late Friday.
The money "was among the main issues discussed with the Iraqi side," Attar said, as he ended a visit to Baghdad as part of a delegation paving the way for Ahmadinejad's visit.
Some 10 other economic cooperation agreements are expected to be signed between Iran and Iraq during Ahmadinejad's visit. The trip will be the first official visit by an Iranian head of state to Iraq.
Iran's relationship with Iraq has concerned the U.S., which accuses Tehran of aiding Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops. Iran has denied those allegations, saying its interests are better served if Iraq, a fellow Shiite-majority country, is stable.
"The political aim of the president's visit is to materialize the idea of establishing durable peace borders between Iran and Iraq," IRNA quoted Attar as saying.
The Iranian president also plans to inaugurate two power lines during his trip, Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Ahmadian said.
He said one 400-megawatt electricity transmission line would run from the Iranian port city of Abadan to the Iraqi town of Alharasa, and another from Iran's Marivan to Panjwin in Iraq.
A third electricity line supplying power to Khaneqin in eastern Iraq is already operational, Ahmadian said.
Tehran had previously signed a $150 million contract to build a 300-megawatt power plant in Baghdad.
Iraq and Iran were hostile to each other throughout Saddam Hussein's regime and fought a long and destructive war during most of the 1980s.
But when Saddam's Sunni regime fell and Iraq's Shiite majority took power after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, long-standing ties between the Shiites of both countries flourished again, though the two neighbors have yet to sign a peace treaty.
Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, said last August that Iran-Iraq trade in 2006 totaled $2 billion - 97 percent of that exports from Iran into Iraq. Iranian Commerce Ministry officials say they hope trade will soar to $10 billion in the next five years.
Man Arrested for Recruiting, Training Iraq Women for Bombings
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334253,00.html
The U.S. military announced the capture Saturday of an insurgent leader who was recruiting and training women, including his wife, to wrap themselves in explosives and blow themselves up — the latest sign that Al Qaeda in Iraq plans to keep using women to carry out homicide attacks.
In southern Iraq, a British airman was killed in a rocket attack on a base near Basra late Friday, said Capt. Finn Aldrich, a British military spokesman.
The U.S. military said it had killed six insurgents and detained 13 suspects Friday and Saturday during operations against Al Qaeda in Iraq in central and northern Iraq.
In another development, the military said Saturday it had captured a sniper instructor in Baghdad who had been trained by Iranians. Iran has in the past denied such claims.
On the eve of a visit here by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country's state news agency reported that he rejected claims that Iran is fueling violence in Iraq.
"This is the temper of the Americans that they point fingers toward others wherever they are defeated ... instability, divisions and tensions in Iraq result from the occupiers," he said.
In the case of the suicide vests, the military said the man was arrested Thursday in an operation near the town of Kan Bani Sad, north of Baghdad in Diyala province — still an Al Qaeda hotbed.
"The ringleader was a man trying to recruit women to carry out SVEST (suicide vest) bombings. The cell leader used his wife and another woman, to act as carriers of his next SVEST attack," the military said.
Women have recently been used more frequently by Al Qaeda in Iraq as bombers, with six attacks or attempted attacks this year alone, according to U.S. military statistics. That's out of a total of 19 such attacks since the U.S.-led invasion began in 2003, Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said in a recent briefing.
The latest included two women with a history of psychiatric treatment who killed about 100 people at pet markets in Baghdad on Feb. 1.
It remains unclear if Al Qaeda has begun using women because it has been unable to recruit new insurgents or because they are more difficult to detect.
The Iranian-trained sniper instructor was arrested along with three other men, and the military said he was also an expert in the use of bombs known as explosively formed penetrators that are designed to defeat the armor used in American military vehicles and tanks. Most of those bombs are designed and often built in neighboring Iran.
"He reportedly coordinated and facilitated Special Groups militia training in Iran on the use of explosively formed penetrators. Reports indicate he was an associate of several Special Groups criminal leaders involved in attacks on Iraqi and Coalition forces," the military said.
Special groups usually refer to Shiite extremists, mostly those that have broken away from radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
"Iraqi and Coalition forces will continue to target militia groups and criminals who commit hostile acts, dishonoring al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr's cease-fire pledge and undermining security and stability in Iraq," said Cmdr. Scott Rye, a military spokesman, referring to al-Sadr with an honorific title.
The cease-fire, recently extended by another six months, has been a key element in a three-piece puzzle that has come together to help reduce violence since mid-2007. The two other factors are the influx of thousands of U.S. troops last summer, and creation of Sunni-dominated groups funded by the U.S. military to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq, the most extremist of the Sunni insurgents.
Although violence has declined by 60 percent in the past six months, attacks have not stopped. Homicide bombers and car bombs are mainly responsible for civilian deaths, while roadside bombs and Iranian-designed penetrators are used against the U.S. and Iraqi military.
At least 29 U.S. troops died while serving in Iraq in February, the third-lowest monthly casualty toll for the U.S. military since the American-led invasion in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Troop fatalities declined from 40 in January, and also dropped steeply from February 2007, when at least 81 troops died in Iraq.
Iraqi casualties were up compared with January, however, although violence was reduced substantially from a year ago.
The AP count revealed at least 739 Iraqi security forces and civilians were either killed or found dead last month, up from 610 in January. In February 2007, at least 1,801 Iraqis were killed.
The statistics on Iraqi casualties are considered a minimum, and are based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.
There was violence in Iraq again on Saturday.
Police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir in Kirkuk said two separate attacks on buses of Shiites killed five people and wounded 11 on Saturday.
The first attack occurred near the town of Toz Khirmato, 110 miles northeast of Baghdad and killed two people, he said. The bus was coming from Mosul, he said.
The second attack was in the village of Udaim, 70 miles north of Baghdad and killed three others, Qadir said.
Al Qaeda-Linked Extremist Formally Accused of Masterminding Bhutto Killing
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334228,00.html
Pakistani police on Saturday formally accused the top Taliban leader in the country and four others of planning the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
Police filed preliminary charges in court against Baitullah Mehsud, who had been named by the Pakistani government in the Dec. 27 killing of Bhutto in a homicide and gun attack during a public rally. Mehsud, alleged to have Al Qaeda connections, is underground and it is not clear if the police are anywhere close to catching him.
"Police submitted preliminary charges in the Bhutto case before an anti-terrorism court, and the judge issued non-bailable warrants of arrest against Baitullah Mehsud and four other accused" persons, said Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, the chief investigator in the case.
Mehsud was named by President Pervez Musharraf within days of the assassination, but the filing of the preliminary charges Saturday completes a legal formality. It is the first legal step before an arrest can be made.
Mehsud is the commander of Tehrik-e-Taliban, an umbrella group of Islamic militant groups linked to Al Qaeda. Mehsud is believed to be based in the volatile South Waziristan province at the border with Afghanistan, and has been blamed for a series of homicide attacks across Pakistan.
Majeed refused to give details of the investigation into the specific roles that the suspects are accused of playing in the assassination.
"The suspects, declared absconders in the case, were involved in planning to kill Benazir Bhutto," he told The Associated Press.
He said the others named in the charges are Ibadur Rehman, Imramullah, Faiz Muhammad and Abbdullah. All five are accused of being involved in planning and financing the assassination plot, he said. Imramullah and Abbdullah use only one name.
Police have already arrested five suspects in connection with Bhutto's killing, including Husnain Gul, who allegedly facilitated Bhutto's attacker because he wanted to avenge the death of a friend in a military attack on a mosque last year.
Gul and his cousin, identified only as Rafaqat, were arrested recently. Other suspects include a 15-year-old boy, Aitezaz Shah, and two others, Sher Zaman and Abdul Rasheed, who are said to have supplied arms to the attacker, identified as Saeed alias Bilal.
Majeed said earlier that police were still looking for another man, Ikramullah, who is believed to have been assigned to attack Bhutto if she escaped the first blast.
Majeed also has said Bilal met with Mehsud weeks before the attack on Bhutto, according to a detainee who had traveled to troubled South Waziristan.
According to the police, Shah, the 15-year-old boy, said that Mehsud had sent a five-member squad on the day of the attack and that he was among the backup team along with Ikramullah.
It is believed that Bilal first fired at Bhutto and then exploded himself, killing more then 20 others.
U.S. to Scale Back Global Food Aid Amid Soaring Prices
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334255,00.html
The world’s hungry soon will find even slimmer pickings when it comes to emergency food aid from the United States, whose humanitarian relief agency is scaling back amid skyrocketing global prices, The Washington Post reports.
The U.S. Agency for International Development plans to reduce the number of recipient nations, the amount of food given or a combination, the story says.
Officials based their decision on a 41 percent increase in the cost of wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the last six months, which resulted in a $120 million budget shortfall that is expected to rise to $200 million by 2009.
The prices have risen as more of the grains are being consumed by biofuel production and fast-growing markets in China and India, The Washington Post reports.
Dollar Falls Again, Euro Zone Divided
http://www.newsmax.com/money/Dollar_Falls_Again/2008/03/01/76952.html
BERLIN -- The dollar kept spiraling down Friday, hitting another low against the euro and dropping to a three-year record against the yen, as worries about the U.S. economy depress the currency and raise thorny issues in Europe about how to cope with the growing gap.
The euro flew past its previous high to hit $1.5238, before subsiding to $1.5194 late in New York. The euro topped $1.50 this week for the first time since being introduced in 1999 at $1.17, then surged above $1.51 after markets took comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke as a sign that yet more U.S. rate cuts are on the way.
"The dollar looks set to finish the month with yet more downside pressure being heaped upon it," said Gary Thomson of CMC Markets in London.
The dollar also slumped to 103.96 Japanese yen on Friday from 105.36 yen in New York the night before. The dollar has not been below 104 yen since March 2005.
The dollar also fell to 1.0433 Swiss francs from 1.0503 Swiss francs, hitting a record low of 1.0410 francs, according to Dow Jones' Interbank foreign exchange rates.
The two "carry-trade currencies" tend to trade inversely to the market. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 300 points in late trading in New York.
Carry trader borrow currencies from countries with low interest rates and investing the funds in higher-yielding assets, such as the New Zealand dollar and the euro.
The 15-nation currency's looming ascent has some of the United States' large trading partners in Europe considering their options, and drawing two very different reactions: alarm from the French, equanimity from the Germans.
Germany's manufacturing giants are keeping an eye on the record-high euro, but are also planning for the future, devising new strategies to mitigate the effect of the strong currency on their bottom line.
In France the concern is more palpable, with politicians calling for the European Central Bank to intervene to put the brakes on the euro's surge. Budget minister Eric Woerth this week called the "very high" euro "a handicap for our exports."
Planemaker Airbus has groused that for every 10 euro cents the common currency gains against the dollar, the company will lose as much as 1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) - and that adds up. Given that the euro has risen from $1.4726 on Jan. 2 to above $1.52, the cost to Airbus would be 500 million euros ($758.4 million) so far this year.
The euro zone's biggest companies, and some midsized ones, too, all practice currency hedging, which entails purchasing financial contracts on the open market to lock in exchange rates to avoid any pitfalls in the event of big swings.
Automaker BMW AG - which employs 4,700 people at its plant near Spartanburg, S.C., where it produces the X5 SUV and the Z4 Roadster - announced this week it would cut another 5,600 jobs in Germany as part of its cost-cutting efforts. It said it could not rule out more if the euro keeps climbing.
And Volkswagen, AG, Europe's biggest automaker in terms of sales, has said it is looking at building a new plant in the U.S. or elsewhere - in part to avoid the high costs of the euro. Similarly, Porsche AG and Daimler AG are looking at new plants in countries not tied to the euro or the dollar, in places like India and China, to reduce costs and avoid the problems linked to the dollar's decline across many main currencies.
In other late New York trading, the British pound fell to $1.9883 from $1.9926, while the dollar rose to 98.32 Canadian cents from 97.45 Canadian cents.
The dollar's decline has also boosted oil prices, which is denominated in the U.S. currency. Oil hit a record $103.05 last night in Asia.
Gold prices have shot up as well, settling at $975 an ounce in New York after surging to a record $978.50 an ounce. Investors fleeing the volatility of markets and a slumping dollar have been investing in the precious metal.
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