Headlines for 09-26-07

2 Patriot Act Provisions ruled unlawful U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment." Score one for the good guys.


Iran condemns US House over Guards blacklisting Iran angrily condemned on Wednesday as "worthless and invalid" a vote by the US House of Representatives branding its elite Revolutionary Guards force as a terrorist organization.


US Senate votes to support dividing Iraq on sectarian basis The US Senate approved Wednesday a Bosnia-style plan to divide Iraq on ethnic and religious lines, touted by backers as the sole hope of forging a federal state out of sectarian strife.


Saudis worried Iran nuclear issue headed to 'confrontation' "Definitely what we are seeing is a confrontation in the making,"


Ahmadinejad lauded in Iran for "Lion's Den" visit President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have faced ridicule in the United States by suggesting there were no homosexuals in Iran, but he won praise at home on Wednesday for taking his country's case to "the Lion's Den."


Pentagon seeks $190bn war funds US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has asked Congress for nearly $190bn to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Senate to vote on Iraq division plan The US Senate is expected to vote as early as Tuesday on a Bosnia-style plan to subdivide Iraq on ethnic lines, touted by backers as the sole hope of forging a federal state out of sectarian strife.


Downer flags Iran sanctions "I'm not saying that the end result of this is going to be war," he said.


Russia defends weapons sales to Syria "We are doing exactly what many other arms producers are doing," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in New York.


Webb: Lieberman And Kyl?s Hawkish Iran Amendment Is 'Cheney?s Fondest Pipe Dream' ** On the Senate floor today, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) made an impassioned appeal to his fellow senators, declaring that the Lieberman-Kyl amendment on Iran should be "withdrawn" because the "proposal is Dick Cheney?s fondest pipe dream." Webb cautioned that the "cleverly-worded sense of the Congress" could be "interpreted" to "declare war" on Iran


Peace Churches Host Dialogue with Iranian President and 100 Religious Leaders More than 100 religious leaders today participated in an hour-long, interfaith encounter with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Church Center for the United Nations


Turkey, Iraq in 'Kurd rebel deal'


Homeland Security leaders meet Jewish reps On Tuesday, the directors met with Secure Community Network , a group that provides safety and security training to Jewish organizations. Representatives of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and many major synagogues attended.


Iranian President: If Holocaust happened, why must Palestinians pay? In an address before students and faculty at Columbia University in New York on Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that if the Holocaust really happened, the Palestinian people mustn't be forced to pay the price.


Paul not welcome at RJC event There was time only for leading candidates; and Paul's record of consistently voting against assistance to Israel and his criticisms of the pro-Israel lobby.


Merkel harsh on Iran, anti-Semitism Angela Merkel delivered a stern rebuke of Iran and promised to stay vigilant in confronting anti-Semitism.


Evangelical Split Seen Fueling Giuliani Bid "It's a win-win for him," said a longtime Jewish Republican who is supporting another GOP contender. "The more hawkish he is on Israel, the better he does with some important Evangelicals, despite his views on their other big issues. And it doesn?t hurt him with Jewish Republicans either, although it could prove to be more of a problem if he wins the nomination and then has to appeal to a wider group of Jewish voters."


Congress Throws Covert Israeli Attack on Syria Out Into the Open Ranking minority member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros-Lehtinen also took on the issue of the Israeli attack on Syria, which according to reports was aimed at nuclear devices that Syria received from North Korea.....According to Wexler, who is a strong backer of Israel and a member of the foreign affairs committee, congressional support for the Israeli attack is needed, since it will pose ?an obvious contrast? to the lack of action on behalf of Congress when Israel attacked an Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad in 1981, effectively putting an end to the Iraqi nuclear program.


Syria said ready to cede disputed area to U.N. Syria has indicated it is willing to allow the United Nations to take custody of the disputed Shebaa Farms area claimed by Lebanon but which is under Israeli occupation, a Spanish diplomat said on Wednesday.


House committee congratulates Israel on U.N. gain It also backs Israel's efforts to join the Security Council, the U.N.'s only body with powers of legal enforcement, by 2019. The resolution will now be considered by the full House.


Children are also casualties in world's wars Those children in Palestine and Iraq and all those other "trouble spots" around the world know little, perhaps nothing, about such childhood adventures. What they do know is that big people don't get along and killing each other is a perfectly normal thing.