In this image made from video released by the Democratic Voice of Burma, left to right, Burmese journalists La Wei, from the Irrawaddy, Aye Nai, ... YANGON (Reuters)JULY 31, 2017  - Police in Myanmar said on Monday they had detained one of the country's best known journalists, months after a social media clash with firebrand Buddhist monk Wirathu, as concerns rise over freedom of expression. Swe Win, chief editor of news agency Myanmar Now, was detained at Yangon's airport on Sunday evening at the request of police in the central city of Mandalay, said Lieutenant Colonel Myint Htwe of Yangon regional police. 'The Mandalay police informed us that Swe Win was trying to run away and to detain him at the airport,' said Myint Htwe. Swe Win -- a renowned investigative reporter who has written critically about Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar -- was transferred to Mandalay on Monday, he added. The journalist was expecting to be in court in Mandalay on Wednes...

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier fired a warning shot in an unprofessional confrontation with Iranian vessels TEHRAN , Iran (AP) Jul 29, 2017  - The U.S. Navy has responded to a report by Iran's official news agency that a U.S. aircraft carrier fired a warning shot during an 'unprofessional' confrontation with Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf on Friday. The Navy describes the encounter 'as safe and professional.' The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says one of its helicopters was on a routine patrol in international airspace when it saw several Iranian vessels approaching American ships 'at a high rate of speed.' The Navy says the helicopter tried to establish communications but received no response, so it sent out flares, prompting the Iranian boats to halt their approach. Navy spokesman Lt. Ian M. McConnaughey says that after communications were established, the U.S. saw the Iranians conduct a 'gun exercise' that involved weapons being fired into the...

Time for talk ‘over’ on North Korea, US tells United Nations US anti-missle system in Alaska FRANCE 24   Latest update : 2017-07-31 The United States said Sunday the time for talk over North Korea was 'over,' spurning a UN response to Pyongyang's latest ICBM launch in favour of bomber flights and missile defence system tests . Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the  United Nations  , said there was 'no point' in holding a fruitless emergency Security Council session, warning that a weak additional council resolution would be 'worse than nothing' in light of the North's repeated violations. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un boasted of his country's ability to strike any target in the US after an intercontinental ballistic missile test Friday that weapons experts said could even bring New York into range -- in a major challenge to Trump. US strategic bombers on Saturday flew over the Korean peninsula in a direct response to the launch, and on Sund...

ANALYSIS: Understanding Iran’s missile belligerence Two Iranian clerics stand near a surface-to-surface missile, ready to launch during a war game near the city of Qom on June 28, 2011. By Heshmat Alavi Al Arabiya, 31 July 2017 -  Iran has recently witnessed increasing pressures from both sides of the Atlantic, especially over its ballistic missile ambitions. After weeks of deliberations, the US Congress passed initiatives imposing unprecedented restrictions on Tehran. Just one day after Iran test-launched a satellite-carrying rocket, the Europeans on Friday joined their American allies in sharpening their tone on Iran’s mullahs, demanding an immediate cessation. The US Treasury Department also responded sharply, imposing even further sanctions on six companies owned or supervised by the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, known to play a central role in Tehran’s ballistic drive. All their US assets have been frozen and US citizens barred from dealing with the six fi...

Iranian ex-president Ahmadinejad facing sentencing over misuse of funds Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad Beirut, Reuters ,  Jul 31, 2017  - Iran's former president,  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  , faces sentences on seven verdicts of misusing billions of dollars in government funds while in office, the public prosecutor at Iran’s Supreme Audit Court said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday. In one case, dating back to Ahmadinejad’s second term in office between 2009 and 2013, the misused funds amounted to more than two billion dollars, the prosecutor, Fayaz Shojaie, said in his interview with the newspaper Etemaad. The verdicts have been announced to the parliament, Shojaie said. The Supreme Audit Court operates under the supervision of the Iranian parliament. It is not clear whether Ahmadinejad was formally tried by the court and is facing sentencing, or whether the Iranian parliament must now follow up on the court's verdicts. Shojaie said that he did not ...

Iran Regime's Official: America's Hostility Towards the Regime Has Raised 10 Times Higher Iran Khomeini National Space Center & Simorgh SLV launch IRAN , 30 July 2017  -- Spokesman for Iran regime’s parliament security committee, Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, warned about expansion of U.S.  sanctions  against the regime and said: “If a person, group, or political stream in our country thinks that America's behaviour has been moderated after 38 years or is no longer hostile toward us, he is either neglecting or is really a traitor, because the Americans' hostility towards the regime, the revolution, and the Islamic Republic not only has not diminished but has increased 10 times, and all means are used to confront our nation.”   Spokesman for Iran regime’s parliament security committee, Hossein Naghavi Hosseini “Americans were emboldened after the  JCPOA  and their hostilities increased, such that 98 percent of Congressmen and Senato...

The EU, to urge Iran to amend the bill to abolish the death penalty for all drug-related offences. Amnesty International , 28 July 2017  - Iranian lawmakers must not miss a historic opportunity to reject the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences and save the lives of thousands of people across the country, said Amnesty International and Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation today. In the coming weeks, Iran’s parliament is expected to vote on a bill that amends Iran’s anti-narcotics law, but fails to abolish the death penalty for non-lethal drug-related offences as is required by international law. “Instead of abolishing the death penalty for drug-related offences, the Iranian authorities are preparing to adopt a deeply disappointing piece of legislation, which will continue to fuel Iran’s execution machine and help maintain its position as one of the world’s top executioners,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amne...

by Abdulrahman al-Rashed Al Arbiyia , 30 July 2017  - The brothers in Kuwait always need to discover the truth themselves and they’re very sensitive to any Gulf or regional warning. Relations with Iran are not the first when it comes to this matter. Fortunately, Tehran’s harm which targeted Kuwait was aborted at early stages either when the Hezbollah cell was discovered or when its members fled. The Kuwaiti government acted without being advised or incited, and it expelled Iranian diplomats in the country reducing their number to four. It also shut down the Iranian embassy’s technical offices and missions as it was proven they are dens for espionage and arranging terrorist operations. Terrorism is nothing strange to Iran as its terrorist activities can be seen in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and even Latin America. The surprise is that Iran targeted Kuwait which is one of the most reconciled countries with it. Kuwait’s emir visited Tehran three years ago despite the bad ti...