Bret Stephens: Obama's Air Guitar - WSJ.com

Park, Jiao target more glory as China hits 100th Asiad gold
Park Tae-Hwan and Jiao Liuyang look to cap a hugely successful Asian Games Thursday with their fourth gold medals as Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei made their badminton singles debuts. Going into Day 6 at Guangzhou, a dominant China hit the 100 gold medal milestone when they won the women's lightweight double sculls rowing title. The sporting powerhouse has now reached the magic number in each of the last six Asian Games and has its sights now set on its own record of 183 gold posted at the 1990 As...

Powers should stop threatening Iran: Ahmadinejad
Speaking at a news Conference during a visit to Azerbaijan, he gave no indication whether talks tentatively scheduled for next month between Iran and six world powers -- Russia, the United States, Britain, France, China and Germany -- would go ahead. "If they want to achieve positive results they should stop thinking as aggressors. There are those among them who think as aggressors, and they think they can achieve positive results by putting pressure on us and threatening us," he said. He conti...

Powers should stop threatening Iran: Ahmadinejad
BAKU | Thu Nov 18, 2010 1:43am EST BAKU (Reuters) - World powers should stop threatening Iran if they want to achieve results at talks on Tehran's Nuclear Program, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday. Speaking at a news Conference during a visit to Azerbaijan, he gave no indication whether talks tentatively scheduled for next month between Iran and six world powers -- Russia, the United States, Britain, France, China and Germany -- would go ahead. "If they want to achieve p...

Toyota to sell plug-in hybrid in US, Japan, Europe
TOKYO (AP) - Toyota says it is planning to sell a plug-in Hybrid Vehicle in the U.S., Japan and Europe in 2012, targeting 50,000 Vehicles a year at 3 million yen ($36,000) each without subsidies. Toyota Motor Corp. executive Takeshi Uchiyamada outlined the Japanese automaker's green car strategy in Tokyo on Thursday, underlining the move for car makers to adapt to growing concerns about the environment. He told reporters Toyota is planning to sell an Electric Vehicle in 2012 not just in the U....

Toyota to sell plug-in hybrid in 2012, electric vehicle also going on sale in green strategy
Tokyo — Toyota says it is planning to sell a plug-in Hybrid Vehicle in the U.S., Japan and Europe in 2012, targeting 50,000 Vehicles a year at 3 million yen ($36,000) each without subsidies. Toyota Motor Corp. executive Takeshi Uchiyamada outlined the Japanese automaker's green car strategy in Tokyo on Thursday, underlining the move for car makers to adapt to growing concerns about the environment. He told reporters Toyota is planning to sell an Electric Vehicle in 2012 not just in the ...

Toyota to sell plug-in hybrid in US, Europe, Japan
TOKYO (AP) - Toyota is planning to sell a plug-in Hybrid car in the U.S., Japan and Europe in 2012, targeting sales of 50,000 Vehicles a year at 3 million yen ($36,000) each without subsidies, as the automaker strengthens its green lineup to keep up with growing competition. Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada said Thursday that Toyota is also planning to sell an Electric Vehicle in 2012 and not just in the U.S. as it had said before, but in Japan and Europe too. Sale...

Arias: Stopping drug trade "almost impossible"
Denver — Former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias says stopping Drug trafficking in Mexico and other countries is "almost impossible." Arias says that finding a solution to Mexico's Drug war will be difficult given the demand in wealthy countries, including the United States. Arias spoke to The Associated Press Monday in Denver before attending an event sponsored by the Colorado-based group PeaceJam. Arias also weighed in on a border dispute between his coun...

Arias: Stopping drug trade "almost impossible"
Denver — Former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias says stopping Drug trafficking in Mexico and other countries is "almost impossible." Arias says that finding a solution to Mexico's Drug war will be difficult given the demand in wealthy countries, including the United States. Arias spoke to The Associated Press Monday in Denver before attending an event sponsored by the Colorado-based group PeaceJam. Arias also weighed in on a border dispute between his coun...

Nicaragua, Costa Rica urged to pull back in Google map spat
Costa Rica accused Nicaragua of deploying Troops inside its territory last month in a dredging operation around a island in the San Juan River that has been the source of friction for more than a century. In a resolution approved early on Saturday in Washington, the OAS hemispheric forum called for the countries to remove their Armed Forces from the area and begin talks to resolve their differences. Costa Rica has no army but allegedly mobilized Police Forces to the border and asked the OAS to ...

Google Maps Dispute May Go to Court
(NewsCore) - Officials from the Organization of American States (OAS) will meet Wednesday in an attempt to stop a border dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica ending up before the International Court of Justice. The dispute between the two Central American nations began last month when Nicaraguan security forces moved into disputed territory on the northern bank of the San Juan River. An official in charge of the Troops told a local newspaper at the time that he used Google Maps to determine ...

Syria rebuilds Mideast clout, shrugs off US incentives and pressure to shun Iran, Hezbollah
BEIRUT — Syria has bounced back from years of international isolation and is wielding its influence in crises around the Middle East, shrugging off U.S. attempts to pull it away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Damascus played a role in helping Iraq's fractious politicians agree this month to form a new government after eight months of deadlock. Now with Lebanon's factions heading for a possible new violent collision, Arabs have had to turn to Syria in hopes of ensurin...

Despite US effort, "Syria has been doing well in a region that has not"
"..Syria has bounced back from years of international isolation and is wielding its influence in crises around the Middle East, shrugging off U.S. attempts to pull it away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Damascus played a role in helping Iraq's fractious politicians agree this month to form a new government after eight months of deadlock. Now with Lebanon's factions heading for a possible new violent collision, Arabs have had to turn to Syria in hopes of ensuring peace, even...

Despite US effort, Syrian Mideast role on the rise
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria has bounced back from years of international isolation and is wielding its influence in crises around the Middle East, shrugging off U.S. attempts to pull it away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Damascus played a role in helping Iraq’s fractious politicians agree this month to form a new government after eight months of deadlock. Now with Lebanon’s factions heading for a possible new violent collision, Arabs have had to turn to Syria in ho...

BBC film on Lebanon pulled as tension rises
The burning convoy of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri in Beirut in February 2005. Photograph: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters The BBC has suddenly pulled a Documentary film series about the Assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri as tensions mount in Beirut over expectations that Hezbollah operatives are about to be accused of involvement in the killing. The first of three parts of Murder in Beirut was scheduled to be broadcast on BBC World this Saturday, but the producer ...

Japan to attend Nobel Peace Price ceremony
TOKYO (AP) — A Japan Embassy spokeswoman in Norway says its ambassador there will attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Chinese Dissident Liu Xiabo. Embassy spokeswoman Mio Otashiro in Oslo said Wednesday the ambassador will go to next month’s ceremony, despite a request from China that Japan skip the event. Prize winner Liu is serving an 11-year sentence for subversion after calling for reforms to China’s political system. Beijing has accused the West of using the Nobel Pr...

Japan to attend Nobel ceremony for China dissident, despite request from Beijing to skip
Tokyo — Japan's ambassador in Norway will attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo, the Embassy said Wednesday, which risks rekindling tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. China has said the selection of Liu for the award is an interference in its internal affairs and has pressured other countries not to go, including Japan. Tokyo's decision to send its ambassador to the ceremony could cause further tensions between the two Asian powers. Relations have soure...

Japan to attend Nobel Peace Prize ceremony
Tokyo - Japan's ambassador in Norway will attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo, the Embassy said Wednesday, which risks rekindling tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. China has said the selection of Liu for the award is an interference in its internal affairs and has pressured other countries not to go, including Japan. Tokyo's decision to send its ambassador to the ceremony could cause further tensions between the two Asian powers. Relations have soured...

Japan to send envoy to Nobel peace award ceremony
Tokyo | Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:55am EST Tokyo (Reuters) - Japan said on Wednesday it will send an Envoy to attend a Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honoring Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo, in a move that could thwart recent efforts by Tokyo and Beijing to cool tensions. Ties between Asia's two biggest economies have deteriorated since September after Japan detained a Chinese skipper whose trawler collided with Japan patrol vessels off islands in the East China Sea that both countries claim. The skipper ...

Japan to attend Nobel Peace ceremony for China dissident, despite request from Beijing to skip
Tokyo — Japan's ambassador in Norway will attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Chinese Dissident Liu Xiabo, the Embassy said Wednesday, which risks rekindling tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. China has said the selection of Liu for the award is an interference in its internal affairs and has pressured other countries not to go, including Japan. Tokyo's decision to send its ambassador to the ceremony could cause further tensions between the two Asian powers. Relations have soured...

Russian, Iranian leaders meet in bid to mend rift
The presidents of Russia and Iran will meet in the Azerbaijani capital Baku Thursday hoping to mend an unprecedented breakdown in relations between the two traditional allies. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be among the leaders of five States littoral to the Caspian Sea meeting to address overlapping claims to the sea's vast energy riches. But bilateral talks between Medvedev and Ahmadinejad scheduled for Thursday afternoon are sure to ov...

Iran holds war games, set to launch S300s
Published: Nov. 17, 2010 at 4:13 PM Tehran, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A senior Iranian Military commander says his country has conducted Defense drills at its sensitive Nuclear facilities ahead of planned aerial war games taking place over the country this week. The Mehr state news agency quoted Air Force commander Gen. Ahmad Mighani saying that "tactical drills that resembled real combat" had been carried out in Fordo, Tehran, Natanz, Bushehr and Isfahan where Iran's Nuclear reactors are located. The co...

Neocons For START
Further underlying the pure obstructionism of many Senate Republicans, Max Boot joins Bob Kagan in supporting the treaty. Good for them. It is a pretty insignificant issue in the grand scheme of things, and sabotaging the reset with Russia cannot be good for the interests of the United States, especially since Russia's support has been critical in tightening the screws on the Tehran coup regime. ...

A growing number of climate negotiators call for a stop to the bickering so that we can find solutions to climate change
The newest and perhaps best hope to push for strong international action to fight Climate Changes took place recently in Costa Rica. The countries in the so-called Cartagena Dialogue met again to discuss how this group of countries could help push for aggressive action at the international Climate treaty negotiations that will take place in December in Cancún, México. I just happened to be in Costa Rica before this meeting, working with our partners to help Costa Rica become more c...

U.S. will not probe Inpex's Iranian activities
WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:44pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it will not investigate Inpex Corp (1605.T), Japan's top Oil explorer, for its past investments in Iran because of its decision to pull out of an Iranian oilfield project. Inpex on October 15 announced that it would withdraw from Iran's Azadegan Oil Field project because new U.S. sanctions against Iran over its Nuclear Program posed a potential threat to the company's business. The company, whi...

Indonesia Hellhole to Anyone Non-Muslim
Slavery is a fundamental, integral part of the Islamic religion, law and culture and continues in these Muslim nations. Muslims themselves are slaves of Islam, forbidden from leaving. In the 21st century, Indonesia enslaves it’s own people or sends them as slaves into the Islamic World or they join Muslims living in the west which is unaware of their slave status! “Indonesia is a major source of women, Children, and men trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexu...