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[JohnCenaFan28]

The UN Security Council has voted in favour of new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.



Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favour of measures including asset freezes and travel bans for Iranian officials. Indonesia abstained.

Western powers suspect Iran may be developing nuclear weapons, but Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful power generation only.

Tehran has refused to comply with demands that it stop enriching uranium.

This can be undertaken for power generation, but may also be a precursor to building an atomic bomb.

This third sanctions resolution - formally submitted by France and Britain - adds to resolutions adopted in 2006 and 2007.

It calls for the foreign assets of 13 Iranian companies to be frozen, and imposes travel bans on five Iranian officials.

It imposes a ban on the sale to Iran of so-called dual-use items - which can have either a military or civilian purpose.

The measures are in a sense lowest common denominator sanctions that even China and Russia - who maintain closer links with Iran than the Western powers - would support, says the BBC's Laura Trevelyan at the UN in New York.

Both China and Russia are permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council.

Iranian anger

The resolution received the backing of all five permanent members - also including France, Britain, and the US.

The non-permanent members - none of whom holds a veto - all backed it, except Indonesia, which abstained, saying it remained to be convinced of the necessity of the sanctions.

The vote had been planned for Saturday, but was delayed to give the sponsors time to try to win over four members - Indonesia, Libya, South Africa and Vietnam - who had expressed doubts.

In a statement before the vote, Iran's envoy to the UN, Mohammad Khazee, described the resolution as politically motivated, illegal, and illegitimate.

He insisted Iran's nuclear programme "has been, is, and will remain, absolutely peaceful".

He said Iran would ignore the sanctions.

'Forged'

In remarks to reporters, the British envoy to the UN, John Sawers, said the five permanent council members would ask the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana to meet Iran's chief nuclear negotiator to try to resolve the impasse with Tehran.

He restated a offer made in 2006 to assist Tehran with its civilian nuclear programme, in exchange for the suspension of uranium enrichment.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, reported in February that Iran had cleared up most of the outstanding questions regarding its past nuclear activities.

But the IAEA has criticised Iran for refusing to clarify remaining questions about intelligence suggesting Tehran may have been exploring ways to "weaponise" nuclear materials.

Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, has dismissed the intelligence as "forged and fabricated".

He said in Vienna after a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board that "all the outstanding issues have been concluded".

Earlier on Monday, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei called on Iran "to be as active and co-operative as possible in working with the agency" to resolve the issue.

BBC News

[JohnCenaFan28]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the presence of foreign forces in Iraq is a humiliation and an insult to the region.



On the second day of a visit to Iraq, he said major powers should not be interfering in the region's affairs.

Mr Ahmadinejad called for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops.

It is the first-ever visit to Iraq by an Iranian president. The two countries fought an eight-year war when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980.

Mr Ahmadinejad did not mention the US by name, but Washington still has more than 150,000 soldiers based in Iraq, nearly five years after it led the 2003 invasion.

The Iranian president and his Iraqi counterpart, Jalal Talabani, on Monday signed a number of co-operation agreements on trade and transport.

"Without the presence of the foreign troops the region will live in peace and brotherhood," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

"We believe that the forces that came from overseas and travelled thousands of kilometres to reach here must leave the region, and must hand over responsibility to people of the region," he said.

Strategic accord

Mr Ahmadinejad made these comments in response to questions from Iraqi and foreign journalists.

BBC Baghdad correspondent Jim Muir says Mr Ahmadinejad's comments did not amount to a strident call for an immediate American withdrawal.

He knows his Iraqi hosts are about to negotiate a long term strategic accord with the US that would keep troops here long enough to ensure the Baghdad government's survival against both internal and external threats.

Our correspondent says Mr Ahmadinejad's visit could not contrast more strongly with those of Iraq's only other presidential visitor since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, President Bush, whose trips have been unannounced, brief and confined to American military bases.

'New page'

Mr Ahmadinejad arrived in Iraq on Sunday.

He accused the US of bringing terrorism to the region, called on Washington to change its standpoint towards Iran and said it had to understand that the Iraqi people did not like the US.

US officials have often accused Iran of supporting militants operating in Iraq.

The Iranian leader is due to end his visit on Monday.

Iraqi leaders extended a warm welcome to the Iranian president on Sunday.

After talks with Mr Talabani, Mr Ahmadinejad said the visit had opened a "new page" in Iran-Iraq relations.

Prime Minister Maliki said his talks with Mr Ahmadinejad had been "friendly, positive and full of trust".

Despite the reconciliation between Baghdad and Tehran, many analysts believe that in the long term, the two countries are destined to be rivals for regional power.

During the long war between them in the 1980s, many of the prominent Shia now in positions of power in Iraq fled to Iran as Saddam Hussein cracked down on internal dissent.

The US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime allowed them to return from exile.

Trade is now growing between the two countries and tourism, in the form of Iranian pilgrims visiting major Shia shrines in Iraq, is booming.

BBC News

[JohnCenaFan28]

A gunman killed one person and injured several others at a Florida restaurant before turning the gun on himself.



The incident occurred at a Wendy's outlet in West Palm Beach, in the south-east of the state.

The gunman emerged from the toilets dressed in a business suit and opened fire, eyewitnesses told local TV.

Three of the survivors were in critical condition, a Palm Beach County sheriff spokeswoman said. Two others were slightly wounded.

A woman quoted by Associated Press news agency said she had been buying petrol near the restaurant when the shooting happened.

I thought this can't be happening - you see your life flash before your eyes
Witness Ashley Milton

"I just saw a lady with a little boy in her arms come running out screaming, 'Somebody's shooting!"' said Sandra Jackson.

Another woman described opening the door of the restaurant to hear the "pop pop" of gunfire and see people running.

"I really didn't think that's what it was. I thought this can't be happening," said Ashley Milton, 28.

"You see your life flash before your eyes."

BBC News

[Stamkos]

Wow, this is rediculous. People wonder why America is always pointed out for the most violence in the world due to guns, but yet we read these stories everyday that come out of America. The way their gun laws are enforced is just rediculous. It should be more difficult to receive a gun there.

[OMEN]

London - Princess Diana's heart-surgeon lover, Hasnat Khan, feared that marriage to one of the world's most-famous women "would be hell because of who she was", the inquest into her death was told on Monday.

"I knew I would not be able to lead a normal life," said Khan in a highly personal statement to the inquest looking into the deaths of Diana and Dodi al-Fayed in a high-speed Paris car crash in August 1997.

Khan revealed that Diana decided to end their relationship after they had a two-year romance during which they were hounded by the media and he was sent hate mail.

"My main concern about us getting married was that my life would be hell because of who she was," Khan said.

He feared that if they ever had children together "I would never be able to take them anywhere or do normal things with them."

Khan told Diana, who as the world's most-photographed woman was pursued everywhere by paparazzi, that he could not face leading that sort of lifestyle, constantly in a media spotlight.

Khan felt the only way they could lead a normal life together was to move to Pakistan, an option that she considered for a while, but rejected.

Dodi's father, luxury department store Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed, alleges the couple were killed by British security forces on the orders of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband and Diana's former father-in-law.

But, Khan said he thought the couple were victims not of a sinister British Establishment conspiracy but of a tragic accident.

Khan said in his statement that Diana was "concerned about her safety, but was not paranoid about it".

The heart surgeon said media attention was not his only problem in such a high-profile relationship.

Harsh hatehail

"I did receive a lot of anonymous threats through the post.

"I have received envelopes containing cut-out pictures of me together with a noose around my neck. This went on and on and it was very stressful."

After Diana came back from a holiday aboard Mohamed al-Fayed's yacht in the south of France in the summer of 1997, "Diana told me it was all over between us," said Khan.

Khan said he thought Diana realised that Dodi al-Fayed "could give her all the things I could not. He had money and could provide the necessary security for her."

Under British law, an inquest is needed to determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally.

French and British police investigations have both concluded the deaths were tragic accidents caused by their speeding chauffeur who was found to have been drunk.

Both inquiries rejected al-Fayed's conspiracy theories.

Reuters

[OMEN]

Crispian Balmer and Jonathan Lynn

Paris - A rebel commander killed by Colombian forces was France's contact in negotiations aimed at winning the release of hostage Ingrid Betancourt, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Monday.

"It is bad news that the man we were talking to, with whom we had contacts, has been killed," Kouchner told France Inter radio.

"Do you see how ugly the world is?"

Colombia's military said on Saturday its troops had killed Raul Reyes, considered by analysts to be number two in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), dealing a severe blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency.

The killing came days after a former FARC hostage said Betancourt had been mistreated and kept in chains, had a serious liver problem and was mentally exhausted.

Betancourt is a former Colombian presidential candidate who also holds French nationality.

Medical emergency

She has been held hostage in the Colombian jungle for six years and her plight has become a major political issue in France.

"We need to redouble our efforts to talk about Ingrid Betancourt," Kouchner said, adding that she was a "medical emergency".

The killing, carried out beyond Colombia's border in Ecuador, infuriated both Ecuador and its ally Venezuela.

In Geneva, Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos called at the UN Human Rights Council for international help to free the hundreds of people held by FARC guerrillas in what he said were concentration-camp like conditions.

He said all states were committed by UN Security Council resolution to fight terrorism and to thwart anyone using their territory to plan or commit terrorist acts in other countries.

"... let there be no misunderstanding: we shall continue to be firm in our stance against the worldwide drug problem and against terrorism," he said.

Reuters

[OMEN]

German airline Lufthansa says its pilots averted a crash at Hamburg airport after a strong gust of wind caused a plane, with 130 passengers on board, to veer dangerously on landing.
Amateur video footage, played repeatedly on German television, showed the Airbus A320 buffeted by crosswinds and driving rain as it landed on Saturday at Fuhlsbuettel airport near the northern German port city.

Winds were reported to have reached 250km an hour.

The plane approached the asphalt runway at an odd angle, then swerved sharply before touching down, with one of its wings scraping the ground. The pilots averted disaster by quickly taking off again, going into a so-called go-around manoeuvre.

"Just before landing, the plane was hit by a very strong gust of wind that led to the left wing touching the ground very briefly," said Juergen Raps, Lufthansa executive vice president of operations.

"The pilots reacted outstandingly by inducing a go-around."

No passengers or crew were injured and the plane, which had taken off from Munich, circled for about 10 minutes before landing safely on another runway.

Gale force winds caused chaos in Germany and other central European countries over the weekend, killing several people and causing power cuts as well as major travel disruption.

Flights across Germany were cancelled, diverted or delayed.

Reuters

[OMEN]

Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia have all sought international backing in a crisis that raised the specter of war after Venezuela and Ecuador deployed troops to the Colombian border.
The crisis erupted after Colombia bombed and sent troops inside Ecuador in a weekend raid that killed a Colombian rebel leader in his jungle camp in a major blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency.

Governments from France to Brazil sought to defuse the crisis in the Andes, where Washington ally Colombian President Alvaro Uribe faces left-wing leaders fiercely opposed to US free-market proposals for the region.

Traffic was normal in San Antonio at the main border crossing point between Venezuela and Colombia and while Venezuela and Ecuador said they had reinforced their borders, there was no immediate sign of any mobilization.

Venezuela state TV offered blanket coverage of the crisis but it showed no images of tanks, planes or troops moving and no other media reported military movements in the border area.

Colombia said it would not send extra troops to its frontiers with Venezuela and Ecuador.

Bogota justified its operation on Monday by saying international law allows such actions against "terrorists" and accused Ecuador of permitting the Marxist FARC rebels to take refuge in its territory.

"We have never been a country for ventures either in politics or in military matters," Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos told a UN human rights commission in Geneva. "We have always been respectful of the principal of non-interference."

But Ecuador, a close ally of the larger, richer Venezuela, said Colombia deliberately violated its sovereignty and urged Latin American governments to pressure Bogota so that it does not repeat its "aggression."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is struggling to fix chronic food shortages in the OPEC nation, sent tanks to the border and threatened to counterattack with Russian-made jets should Colombia unleash a similar raid in Venezuela.

Chavez, who urged governments to side against Colombia, also closed his embassy in Bogota and fellow leftist Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa expelled Colombia's ambassador from Quito. Chavez and Correa both called conservative Uribe a liar.

With Chavez warning war could break out, there was immediate impact on the economies of the three Andean nations which share active trade ties.

Venezuelan and Ecuadorean debt and Colombia's currency all lost value on Monday, reflecting worries of increased risk in investing in the countries.

"It raises headline risks for all three countries significantly," Gianfranco Bertozzi of Lehman Brothers said.

Brazil, the region's diplomatic heavyweight, said it would seek to resolve the standoff, cautioning that the tensions were destabilizing regional ties.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet demanded Colombia explain to the region why its troops entered Ecuador.

"A situation of this nature without a doubt merits an explanation," she said. "The most important thing today is that we can avoid an escalation of this conflict."

France, which has worked to free rebel-held hostages, called for restraint on all sides and said the rebel's killing was bad news because he had been pivotal in freeing hostages.

Colombia, which apologized for the raid, sought to ease tensions.

Despite the leaders' passions and brinkmanship, as well as the risk of military missteps on the tense border, political analysts said a conflict was unlikely.

Chavez - the leader of Andean leftists - was more interested in firing up his base of support with rhetoric and can ill afford to lose food imports from Colombia, they added.

The opposition criticized Chavez for drawing Venezuela into a crisis over a raid that involved other nations.

"The odds of an escalation to a war-like conflict still seem modest, with so much at stake for all sides," Bertozzi said. "Tension should therefore dissipate in the coming days."

Reuters

[Stamkos]

SAN LUIS OBISPO, California (CNN) -- A respected California transplant doctor faces charges he hastened a comatose man's death to retrieve his organs -- a far-reaching case that could impact the nation's organ donation industry.

1 of 2 Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, 34, is accused of ordering excessive doses of drugs to expedite the death of Ruben Navarro, a 25-year-old man who had suffered from a debilitating nerve disease since he was 9, according to the criminal complaint.

On February 3, 2006, Dr. Roozrokh hurried from San Francisco to the Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center with a transplant team after receiving word Navarro would be a donor.

In a pretrial hearing last week, Dr. Laura Lubarsky, a critical-care specialist, testified she would not have ordered morphine or the sedative Ativan as Roozrokh allegedly did. She said she was called into the operating room to monitor Navarro after he was taken off life support and to pronounce him dead.

Lubarsky told the court she heard Roozrokh order a nurse to give Navarro more "candy," meaning additional drugs.

CNN.com

[Stamkos]

(CNN) -- Six people were killed, including two children, and another three children wounded in a shooting Monday in Memphis, Tennessee, authorities said.

Memphis Fire Department spokeswoman Melanie Young said firefighters responded to a 911 call at a home at 6:11 p.m. Monday when the bodies and wounded children were found.

The wounded children -- a 7-year-old boy, a 10-month-old girl and a 4-year-old whose gender wasn't immediately known -- were transported to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center.