DTN News: UN Resolutions Against Iran “Not Worth A Penny” Says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

DTN News: UN Resolutions Against Iran “Not Worth A Penny” Says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Source: DTN News / AP (NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, Iran - May 12, 2010: New resolutions by the UN Security Council against Iran over its nuclear programme would be “not worth a penny,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.

REUTERS PICTURES 3 DAYS AGO

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) walks as he attends the opening ceremony of the Iranian Saipa automaker factory in Kashan, 258 km (161 miles) south of Tehran, May 9, 2010.

“The world powers should further know that we do retreat even one millimetre from our [nuclear] path and legitimate rights,” Ahmadinejad said in the speech given in Yasouj in southern Iran. Western countries, led by the United States, are planning to impose a new resolution and sanctions against Iran if the Islamic state did not cooperate with the international community and suspend its disputed uranium—enrichment programme. Iran rejects Western charges that it has been working on a secret programme to make an atomic bomb and insists it has the right to pursue peaceful nuclear development. “The world powers should know that threats such as new UN resolutions are for Iran not worth a penny,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said in his speech, carried live by the news network Khabar.

DTN News: Somali Pirates Seize Greek-Owned Ship In Gulf Of Aden

DTN News: Somali Pirates Seize Greek-Owned Ship In Gulf Of Aden Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) ATHENS, Greece/Greek - May 12, 2010: Pirates have seized a Greek-owned ship with 23 people on board in the Gulf of Aden, the ship's managers say. The Eleni P, which is managed by Eurobulk, was carrying a cargo of iron ore from the Black Sea to China. Eurobulk's Marcos Vassilikos told the BBC that pirates fired shots when they took the ship, but that the crew were not thought to have been injured. Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships this year, despite the presence of international naval forces. The Eleni P's crew included 19 Filipinos as well as two Greeks, one Ukrainian and one Romanian, Mr Vassilikos said. He said the ship was seized at about 0600 GMT, off the coast of Somalia. War and weak government in Somalia have allowed piracy to flourish along its coast, with frequent attacks on the busy shipping lanes that link Europe and Asia. On Tuesday, Somali pirates released an 11,000-tonne refrigerated cargo ship that had been held for two months, after a ransom was paid. Somali pirates have seized a Liberia-flagged and Greek-owned ship with up to 24 people aboard in the Gulf of Aden, a Greek coast guard official said on Wednesday. "We have been informed that the Greek-owned ship Eleni P was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden," the official said, declining to be named. The ship, managed by Eurobulk Ltd, was carrying iron and sailing from Ukraine to China via Singapore. It had 23 or 24 people on board, two of whom were Greek and the rest Filipinos, the official said. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Writing by Noah Barkin; Editing by Charles Dick)

DTN News: Russian-Turkish Trade May Hit Pre-Crisis Level This Year - Medvedev

DTN News: Russian-Turkish Trade May Hit Pre-Crisis Level This Year - Medvedev Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti (NSI News Source Info) ANKARA, Turkey - May 12, 2010: Trade between Russia and Turkey may recover from last year's 40% decline in 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday after talks with his Turkish counterpart. Russian-Turkish trade stood at $19.6 billion in 2009, down almost 40% from 2008. In January and February however trade grew about 30% year-on-year, and is still on the rise. "Despite last year's crisis, our trade turnover has recovered quite quickly... If the growth continues, then at the end of this year we are likely to get the same figures as in 2008," he said. Medvedev also said he saw $100 billion in trade turnover with Turkey as realistic. "The ambitious goal to triple trade turnover mentioned by my counterpart President [Abdullah] Gul, is quite achievable," the Russian president said.

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DTN News: Israel TODAY May 12, 2010 ~ Israel Celebrates Jerusalem Day For 'Unified' City

DTN News: Israel TODAY May 12, 2010 ~ Israel Celebrates Jerusalem Day For 'Unified' City Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - May 12, 2010: Israel was on Wednesday celebrating the anniversary of the "unification" of Jerusalem, marking 43 years since it captured mainly Arab east Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. The Jerusalem Day festivities kicked off at sundown on Tuesday with an open-air concert by US funk band "Kool and the Gang" and continued through the night with prayers and gatherings to mark the anniversary. Security was tight with thousands of police and security forces deployed across the city to ensure the festivities went off without a hitch. "Several thousands of police and border police have been mobilised, with the deployment of forces particularly high in the Old City," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. Thousands of people, mostly nationalist-religious Jews, were expected to take part in an annual march through Jerusalem later Wednesday that culminates in the Old City at the Wailing Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and other top officials were to attend an evening ceremony at Ammunition Hill where Israeli troops fought a fierce battle with Jordanian forces. Tensions in and around Jerusalem have soared in past months over the deeply-controversial issue of Jewish construction in annexed east Jerusalem in a move which poses a constant threat to peace efforts. Despite US assurances to the Palestinians that Israel would freeze certain settlement activity in the eastern sector for the next two years, top Israeli officials have denied the existence of any such commitment. "There is no agreement about freezing building in east Jerusalem and normal life in Jerusalem will continue as in every other city in Israel," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told journalists during a visit to Tokyo. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also insisted that there would be no halt to construction in the "united and undivided" Holy City. "The municipal borders of Jerusalem are not negotiable and building will continue across all of the city under Israeli sovereignty," Barkat told army radio. Construction in the eastern sector infuriates the Palestinians who want east Jerusalem, which includes the walled Old City and its holy sites, to be the capital of their promised state. Israel marks Jerusalem Day in accordance with the Hebrew calendar. It captured east Jerusalem on June 7, 1967, the third day of the 1967 Six-Day War, and unilaterally annexed the sector in a move not recognised by the international community. In 1980, Israel passed a law declaring Jerusalem its "eternal and indivisible" capital. Israeli human rights groups say the Holy City is sharply divided and that Palestinian residents suffer from discrimination. The status of Jerusalem, along with ongoing Israeli settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land, are among the thorniest issues in Middle East peace efforts.