Plus: 'We Certainly Did Not Bet Against Our Clients,' Blankfein Says
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Goldman Sachs Executives testifying for fraud..[ 1084 ]
Plus: 'We Certainly Did Not Bet Against Our Clients,' Blankfein Says
Iran and the nuclear fuel deal, [ 1083 ]
Iran FM hopeful for nuke fuel deal, no sanctions
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Tuesday, April 27, 2010; 9:41 AM
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday expressed optimism Tehran would soon strike a deal with the international community to provide his country with nuclear fuel - the latest in a new Iranian diplomatic push to stave off fresh U.N. sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.
As part of the push, top Iranian officials have been courting some non-permanent Security Council members to pre-empt possible sanctions.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks with Bosnian leaders Monday after making little progress in Austria over the weekend. And last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Uganda, another non-permanent member of the 15-nation Council.
On Tuesday, Mottaki held talks with visiting Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim.
"We are hopeful to see a fuel exchange go into operation in the near future," Mottaki said, adding that Brazil, also a non-permanent member, could play a more effective decision-making role in the Council.
The U.S. and its allies fear Iran's nuclear program aims to produce nuclear weapons, and are pushing for tougher sanctions in the Security Council over Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment - a process that can lead to nuclear weapon making.
The call for sanctions stepped up after Iran last year rejected a U.N.-backed plan that offered nuclear fuel rods to a Tehran reactor in exchange for Iran's stock of lower-level enriched uranium. The swap would have curbed Iran's capacity to make a nuclear bomb.
Under the U.N. proposal, Iran was to send 2,420 pounds (1,100 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium abroad, where it would be further enriched to 20 percent and converted into fuel rods, which would then be returned to Iran. Sending its low-enriched uranium abroad would leave Iran with insufficient stocks to enrich further to weapons-grade level.
Tehran needs the fuel rods to power a research reactor in the Iranian capital that makes nuclear isotopes needed for medical purposes. Once converted into rods, uranium can no longer be used for making weapons.
Iran, which denies any plan for making nuclear arms and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, has made several counteroffers to the West, including one to swap smaller batches of Iran's low-enriched uranium.
But the U.S. and its allies say the proposals obviate the goal of rendering Iran unable to build a nuclear-powered warhead.
Amorim said both Iran and the West should show more flexibility in efforts to find a peaceful solution. Iran should provide guarantee that its nuclear program has no military ambitions in return for enjoying its right to have peaceful nuclear technology, the Brazilian top diplomat said.
Separately, Amorim was quoted as saying in an interview with the official IRNA news agency that a swap between Iran and the West could take place in Brazil, if his country was asked to host the exchange.
"Such a proposal has not been offered to us so far," Amorim said, according to IRNA. "If we receive it, we consider it."
Σάρα εναντίον Σαμάνθα.... [ 1082 ]
Stop helping Armenia [ 1081 ]
"West and Russia have to stop helping Armenia until it lets go of something that doesn't belong to it" |
27 April 2010 [14:15] - Politics |
Interview with Mike Hancock, member of the British Parliament, a member of the Monitoring Committee and Committee on Political Affairs of PACE. |
Ukraine’s Parliament descended into chaos today [ 1080 ]
Smoke bombs thrown in Ukraine Parliament in protest over Russian treaty
(Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
The Speaker Volodymr Lytvyn is forced to take cover under an umbrella as eggs are thrown
Tony Halpin, Moscow
Ukraine’s Parliament descended into chaos today as smoke bombs were set off and eggs thrown at the Speaker in opposition protests against a new treaty with Russia.
Clouds of smoke filled the chamber and deputies fought each other in the aisles ahead of a critical vote to ratify an agreement allowing Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to remain in Ukraine until the middle of the century.
The Speaker, Volodymr Lytvyn, was forced to hide under two black umbrellas held up by aides as opposition deputies hurled eggs at him in a bid to disrupt the proceedings. Alarms went off when two smoke bombs were thrown, but deputies continued to debate the treaty even as the chamber filled with fumes.
Despite the protests, 236 deputies in the 450-seat Rada voted to ratify the treaty, allowing Russia to retain its naval base at Sevastopol in Crimea for up to 30 years after its current lease expires in 2017. The deal was signed by Ukraine’s pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych during a visit by his Kremlin counterpart Dmitri Medvedev to Kharkiv last week.
Opposition parties led by the defeated presidential candidate Yuliya Tymoshenko denounced the agreement as a sell-out of Ukraine’s sovereignty. They unfurled a huge Ukrainian flag in the chamber and some deputies screamed “shame, shame!” as the treaty was passed.
“Today will go down as a black page in the history of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Parliament,” Mrs Tymoshenko, the former Prime Minister said.
Up to 10,000 protestors massed outside the parliament in Kiev, with pro-western opponents of the treaty shouting “death to traitors” as the controversy threatened to trigger fresh political confrontation in Ukraine’s divided society. Thousands of supporters of Mr Yanukovych’s Party of Regions also turned out at a rally carrying banners describing Ukraine and Russia as “strategic partners”.
Russia has promised to sell gas to Ukraine at a 30 per cent discount in return for being allowed to retain the base. Mr Yanukovych estimated last week that this would be worth $40 billion (£26.7bn) to Ukraine’s struggling economy over the next decade.
Mrs Tymoshenko and Ukraine’s former president Viktor Yushchenko have denounced the treaty as a betrayal of national interests. Mr Yushchenko, who came to power in the 2004 Orange revolution, had insisted that the fleet must leave Ukraine when the present lease expired.
“If society today turns a blind eye to the Kharkiv agreement, it is possible that it will be the biggest loss to our sovereignty and independence,” he warned ahead of today’s vote.
Mr Medvedev broke off relations with Mr Yushchenko last year, accusing him of being “anti-Russian”. But he has moved swiflty to cement relations with Mr Yanukovych, meeting him five times since Ukraine’s new president took office in February.
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Prime Minister, was also in Kiev today for talks with Mr Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. He offered an unprecedented deal to create a joint holding company to work on projects for nuclear power generation.
He told reporters that the gas deal would be a financial “burden” for Russia, adding: “The amount that this has cost us is really something else. For this kind of money I could have eaten Yanukovych and your Prime Minister together.”
Russia’s parliament, the Duma, also ratified the treaty today in a parallel session to the one in Kiev, by a vote of 410 to zero in favour. Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said: "The Black Sea fleet acts as a guarantor of security both in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea. The agreement offers us serious opportunities to promote further military and military-technical cooperation between the armed forces of Ukraine and Russia.”
The Black Sea fleet has been based in Sevastopol since the 18th Century but its future was cast into doubt after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine and Russia agreed a 20-year lease in 1997.
Tensions have escalated over Crimea, with some senior politicians in Moscow arguing that they should reclaim the territory. It was transferred to Ukraine from Russia by the Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev in 1954.