Archive for December, 2009

The Doha Debates hosted by Tim Sebastien takes on Iran’s nuclear program and asks if it is peaceful

A suicide bomber in a horse and cart has killed eight people and injured five others in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Police say they ordered the man to stop shortly before he detonated his explosives in a crowded street. Three passers by and five people sitting in a car were killed. Local officials say it is unclear whether the bomber was targeting a nearby hotel used by foreigners or an adjacent government building. Security forces are on high alert across the province.

On Friday, a Canadian soldier was killed in an explosion during a patrol in southern Kandahar. 2009 has been the deadliest year for coalition troops and Afghan civilians since the US-led invasion began in 2001. US commanders are warning the violence may worsen, despite a planned surge in foreign forces next year.Source

A former Iranian government spokesman has been jailed for six years. Iranian media reported that Abdullah Ramezanzadeh was convicted of trying to topple the government during protests after elections last June.  The charges against him included “acts against the national security, propaganda against the Islamic state and holding classified documents”.  Other opposition supporters have been sentenced to death by courts following the anti-government protests.  Mr Ramezanzadeh supported pro-reform candidate Mir Houssein Mosavi during the election.  He was a government spokesman under reformist President Mohammed Khatami between 1997 and 2005. Read the rest of this entry »