Al Qaeda No. 2 slams Obama's first months in office

03 August 2009

Al Qaeda's second-in-command has accused President Obama of supporting a Palestinian state that would do the bidding of Israel.
Ayman al-Zawahiri says on a recent tape, "Israel is a crime that needs to be wiped out."
"Obama wants a Palestinian state that works as a branch for the Israeli government," Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a nearly 90-minute video called, "The Realities of Jihad and the Fallacies of Hypocrisy."
The latest in a series of such videos was posted Monday on radical Islamist Web sites by al Qaeda's production company, As-Sahab Media.
"Israel is a crime that needs to be wiped out," said al-Zawahiri, who likened Obama's policies to those of President Bush.
"The promises of the two states and ending the settlements were made by Bush, so what's new? This is the continuation of the same Zionist crusader crime against Muslims since the end of World War II," he said.
"Obama can come with all the eloquent words he has, but it is nothing but illusions."
Al-Zawahiri referred to a conditional truce offer he said had been made by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. source: cnn.com

Posted by News Point at 10:22 PM 0 comments  

England sense Ashes victory in third Test

England gave themselves a fighting chance of victory in the rain-hit third Ashes Test after claiming the prize wicket of Australian captain Ricky Ponting late on the penultimate day at Edgbaston.
Batting hero Flintoff shakes the hand of Swann after he dismissed Ponting.
Ponting came to the wicket after Graham Onions removed Simon Katich and did not last long as he was bowled for five by a sharply spinning off-break from Graeme Swann.
Makeshift opener Shane Watson and Michael Hussey battled to the close on 88 for two wickets, still trailing by 25 runs.
Earlier, retiring England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff found his best form with the bat with a near run a ball 74 to boost the home side to 376, a first innings lead of 113.
Stuart Broad also chipped in with a quickfire half century as England's high scoring rate saw them move into a winning position despite most of the first and and the whole of the third day being lost to the weather.
Don't Miss
England hopeful Flintoff will be fit
Bell back in England Ashes line-up
Flintoff guides England to Test victory
Watson boosts Australia on shortened first day
Onions, who took four wickets in the first innings, got Katich to edge a full length ball to Matt Prior, but Swann's dismissal of Ponting at the end of a superb over capped a fine day for the home side.
Australia had enjoyed the better of a truncated morning session with the wickets of Andrew Srauss and Paul Collingwood and when Ian Bell went to an improved Mitchell Johnson for 53, England were 168 for five wickets. source: cnn.cm

Posted by News Point at 10:17 PM 0 comments  

Australia detains terror suspects

Australian police have arrested four people in the city of Melbourne after uncovering what they say was a plot to launch a terrorist attack.
The group was preparing a suicide attack on an army base, police said.
More than 400 officers were involved in searching 19 properties across the city before dawn on Tuesday.
The suspects are Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent; one man, aged 25, has so far been charged with terrorism offences.
The man from the Glenroy district of Melbourne is due in court later.
Two other men are expected to be charged, while a court has granted police another eight hours to question the fourth man.
A fifth man, who had been detained earlier, is also being questioned about the alleged plot.
'Sobering'
"Police believe members of a Melbourne-based group have been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia and allegedly involved in hostilities in Somalia," a police statement said.
Police carried out raids on 19 locations
"The men's intention was to actually go into the army barracks and to kill as many soldiers as they could before they themselves were killed," said Tony Negus, acting chief commissioner of the Australian Federal Police. source:bbc.com

Posted by News Point at 10:11 PM 0 comments  

Bring on the £4bn bonuses: Fat cat bankers rack up massive profits despite bringing economy to its knees

Bankers at Barclays are set to pocket huge bonuses after the firm reported bumper profits of almost £3billion today.
The banking giant's pre-tax profits were up 8 per cent to £2.98billion in the six months to the end of June, buoyed by a fantastic six months for its investment arm.
That division - Barclays Capital - produced an incredible 100 per cent rise in takings to rake in £1.05billion.
Executives in the investment side of the bank are now in line for pay and bonuses worth up to £250,000 for just six months' work.
It is a huge turnaround from last summer when the recession was taking hold of Britain and the banking industry was on the verge of the worst crisis in decades.
Unlike Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays was not part of the £37bn Government bailout. Neither was HSBC which also unveils its profits today.
Barclays turned to Middle East investors for funding and also agreed the £8.2billion sale of its Barclays Global Investors fund management division.
However, its bonus and pay plans will still face criticism after the clamour for an end to the old days of high risk and big rewards in banking.

Bankers in the City are set to pocket a record £4billion in bonuses this year because of surprise profits despite the sector bringing the economy to the brink of meltdown.
It is a major embarrassment to Alistair Darling and City minister Lord Myners who had promised to slam the brakes on corporate excess.
The news will also enrage millions of credit-starved businesses and families after taxpayers were forced to pick up a £37billion bill to bail out the banks.
Barclays chief executive John Varley stressed today that bonuses would be paid at the end of the year and that the bank would consider recent guidance.
'The subject of compensation is a hot topic and I understand that, and it is very important that we are sensitive to the views of citizens and indeed central bankers like Mervyn King on this subject,' he said.
'We will make our decisions about variable compensation at the end of the year... We are sensitised to this issue and we will behave responsibly.'source: dailymail.com

Posted by News Point at 1:23 AM 0 comments  

Nazi concentration camp survivor, 90, found strangled

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A 90-year-old Holocaust survivor was found strangled Thursday in his Upper East Side apartment, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner said Friday.
Felix Brinkmann dances at a 2008 party marking his 90th birthday.
1 of 2 Felix Brinkmann, a native of Latvia, escaped death for a year while he was in the Nazis' Mauthausen, Ebensee and Auschwitz concentration camps. Five times he had been slated for the gas chambers, but each time he used his fluency in German to talk his way out.
After the war ended, he was stunned to discover that his wife, who had also been shipped to Auschwitz, was alive and well in Poland.
The Brinkmanns immigrated to America, where Felix spent years in the bar and nightclub business, co-founding in 1971 Adam's Apple disco in Manhattan.
In recent years, he had served as the real estate manager of a mixed-use building in the Bronx, working "seven days a week, without fail," said his son Rick Brinkman, who spells his last name differently than his father.
On Thursday, the building's superintendent grew concerned when Brinkmann did not show up to work. He notified Brinkmann's son and received permission to enter the father's apartment, where he had lived alone since his wife died last year.
Brinkmann's body was found lying face down in his bedroom, his hands bound, his body showing blunt-force trauma wounds, police said. Brinkmann's blue 2009 Honda Civic may have been stolen and a safe in his apartment tampered with, police said. source: cnn.com

Posted by News Point at 1:17 AM 0 comments  

Followers