U.S. gets some love, and hate, in Tehran

Officials praise Washington for placing an Iranian insurgent group on its terrorism list even as crowds mark the anniversary of the U.S. Embassy hostage-taking in 1979 with chants of ‘Death to America.’

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Beirut and Tehran – Supporters of Iran’s government took to the streets of the capital Thursday to denounce the United States on the 31st anniversary of the takeover of the American Embassy compound, even as the nation’s Foreign Ministry praised Washington for placing an Iranian militant group on a list of outlawed terrorist organizations.

In a rare moment of accord between the two nations, ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast praised the announcement Wednesday that the Obama administration had placed the ethnic Baluchi group Jundallah on its terrorism list. Iran executed the group’s leader,Abdulmalak Rigi, in June.

Spending blitz by outside groups helped secure big GOP wins

Hedge fund moguls helped bankroll groups’ attack ads, sources tell NBC News

By Michael Isikoff and Rich Gardella

NBC News

A tightly coordinated effort by outside Republican groups, spearheaded by Karl Rove and fueled by tens of millions of dollars in contributions from Wall Street hedge fund moguls and other wealthy donors, helped secure big GOP midterm victories Tuesday, according to campaign spending figures and Republican fundraising insiders.

Leading the GOP spending pack was a pair of groups – American Crossroads and its affiliate, Crossroads GPS – both of which were co-founded by two former aides in the George W. Bush White House: Rove, and Ed Gillespie.

Finding Clues to the Future in Flood of Midterm Data



By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Published: November 1, 2010

WASHINGTON – Even for a nation that is, by now, used to drinking in political news through a fire hose, election night on Tuesday could be a difficult one to absorb.

More than 500 House, Senate and governor’s races will be decided, if not by the end of the night, then over the course of the nail-biting days ahead as write-in ballots are counted and recounts are requested.

Beyond the individual results, the nation will be looking at the returns for answers to bigger questions: Was this election about President Obama? How powerful a phenomenon is the Tea Party movement? How will the new Congress address the still-weak economy? What will it mean for the crop of likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate?  Did anonymous campaign money sway the outcome?

Stimulus bill plays a larger role in campaigns than in some voters’ lives

Many voters can’t see any direct benefit from the federal money, even when they live near a marquee infrastructure project. They see a static economy but differ on what that means for candidates.

By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times

November 1, 2010

Reporting from Concord, Calif. – The upcoming election was far from cabinetmaker Kevin Rodriguez’ mind as he and his 5-year-old son watched a Halloween parade last week in a downtown plaza of this East Bay community.

Over the last two years as the nation slid into recession, the 46-year-old independent voter lost his business and was forced to sell his house. He has scraped together a living from side jobs, savings and unemployment benefits, which are about to run out. He even contemplated the once-unthinkable: applying for food stamps.

Yemen, the new crucible of global terrorism

Al-Qa’ida has taken firm root in the poverty-stricken nation

By David Randall and Andrew Johnson Sunday, 31 October 2010

The axis of terror got bigger yesterday. After the presence of explosives in two packages bound for the US was confirmed – and a suspected 24 more discovered – their place of origin entered the big league as a crucible of deadly and disruptive terrorism. As Magnus Ranstorp, one of the world’s leading experts on the issue, told The Independent on Sunday: “Yemen has become the new Afghanistan.”

And, to go with this status, there comes to prominence one Yemeni who – in the eyes of America and some leading security specialists – is on a par with Osama bin Laden: Anwar al-Awlaki.

WHACK JOBS

Tokyo’s former chief medical examiner claimed that there are approximately 200 cases of people masturbating themselves to death in Japan each year, with 20 to 30 in Tokyo’s 23 central wards alone.

In other matters of the heart and hands, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology organized a tennis date for singles looking for a love match. Apparently it’s all “part of a project… to improve the nation through sports.”

A 33-year-old therapist from Kyoto was crowned champion of the Z-1 Grand Prix floor-wiping competition in Ehime Prefecture. Koichi Fujiwara set a new record of 18.23 seconds pushing a wet rag through a 109-meter-long hallway at the Uwa Rice Museum.

A computer armed with the “Akara 2010” system beat the top women’s shogi player, Ichiyo Shimizu, in 86 moves in a match staged at the University of Tokyo.

UK and US probe terror risk after Yemen cargo finds

The US and UK are investigating the extent of a terror threat after explosives were found in two packages bound for the US from Yemen.

The BBC 30 October 2010  

The packages were found in the UK and Dubai on two overnight cargo planes in transit from Yemen on Friday.

President Barack Obama said the devices were a “credible terrorist threat”.

UK Home Secretary Theresa May said experts were trying to establish whether the package found in Britain was “a viable explosive device”.

Mr Obama’s top counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said: “The United States is not assuming that the attacks were disrupted and isremaining vigilant.”

Bill Clinton Urged Florida Democrat to Quit Senate Bid



By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JEFF ZELENY

Published: October 28, 2010

WASHINGTON – Former President Bill Clinton last week almost succeeded in persuading Kendrick B. Meek, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Florida, to drop out of the three-way race – but Mr. Meek changed his mind at the last minute, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton said Thursday evening.  

Matt McKenna, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman, said the former president had concluded that Mr. Meek’s candidacy was struggling and was urging him to drop out and endorse Charlie Crist, the state’s Republican governor, who is running for the Senate as an independent.

Images reveal Indonesian tsunami destruction

Aerial images from the tsunami-hit Mentawai Islands in Indonesia have revealed the extent of destruction, as officials raised the death toll to 311.

The BBC 28 October 2010  

Flattened villages are plainly visible on the images, taken from helicopters circling the islands.

Rescuers have finally reached the area where 13 villages were washed away by the 3m (10ft) wave, but 11 more settlements have not yet been reached.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has arrived in the region.

He cut short a trip to Vietnam to oversee the rescue effort, and has been briefed by officials in the port city of Padang on Sumatra.

A 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake triggered the tsunami two days ago.

But the BBC’s Karishma Vaswani, in Jakarta, says rescue teams have still not arrived at the worst-affected communities, where the scale of the damage is still unclear.

EPA rules target truck emissions, fuel efficiency

The proposed standards would cut pollutants from heavy vehicles 20% by 2018.

By Neela Banerjee, Tribune Washington Bureau

October 26, 2010  

Reporting from Washington –

The Obama administration announced new rules Monday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants by requiring greater fuel efficiency for big trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles starting with 2014 models.

The regulations, the first of their kind, call for a 20% reduction in heavy-vehicle emissions by 2018, which would require boosting fuel efficiency to an average of 8 miles per gallon, compared with 6 mpg now, experts estimate.