Rescue teams recover black boxes at site of Iran plane crash 3/5/2018 8:10:40 AM A twin-engined turboprop ATR-72 Aseman Airlines plane that crashed in central Iran. Tehran, AFP, 4  March 20  18  - Rescue teams have recovered the black boxes of a plane that crashed last month in the mountains of southwestern Iran leaving 66 people dead, official media reported on Sunday. “The box that recorded flight parameters and the one with conversations in the cockpit have been handed over to judicial authorities,” Reza Jafarzadeh, the public relations director of Iran’s civil aviation organization, told official news agency IRNA. Jafarzadeh said the two black boxes of the Aseman Airlines ATR-72 were found on Saturday by rescue teams, who had resumed search operations in the Zagros mountains on Friday after bad weather forced them to halt efforts for nearly a week. They were to be handed over to investigators seeking to determine the cause of the accident. T...

Iran 'tested by its own citizens': Haley 12/31/2017 10:23:44 PM US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley singles out Iran in New Years message UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES, AFP, 31 December 2017   - Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the  United Nations  , said Sunday Iran's government is 'being tested by its own citizens' after three days of protests against the clerical regime. 'We pray that freedom and human rights will carry the day,' she said in a statement. Haley's comments echoed those of US President Donald Trump, who earlier Sunday said the United States was watching closely for human rights violations. 'Big protests in Iran. The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer,' Trump tweeted. Over the past year, Trump has held out Iran as Washington's top adversary in the Middle East, disavowing a ...

Syria talks focusing on planned 'congress' in Russia 12/22/2017 9:13:46 AM Since the start of Syrias war in 2011, numerous diplomatic attempts to halt the conflict have stumble AFP, DEC. 20, 2017 --The main powerbrokers in Syria's nearly seven-year conflict were heading towards a second day of negotiations in Astana as uncertainly loomed Thursday over a Moscow-driven plan to quickly reach a political settlement. Chief Russian negotiator Aleksandr Lavrentyev told journalists that Russia was forging ahead with plans to host a 'National Dialogue Congress' in the Black Sea resort of Sochi to accelerate discussions over a political deal that have sputtered in Geneva. The  United Nations  ' special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has refused to say if the UN will back a plan promoted by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but viewed warily by opponents of his government. Speaking after the first day of talks Thursday, Lavrentyev said...

Mattis emphasizes diplomacy in dealing with Iran US Secretary of Defense James Mattis Statement comes after US ambassador to the UN presented missile fragments and other military gear that she said came from Tehran and had been used against Saudi Arabia.   WASHINGTON, AFP, Dec. 16, 2017  - US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday he does not see the need for a stepped-up military posture against Iran, the day after a top diplomat said evidence shows Tehran is supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen. US ambassador to the  United Nations  Nikki Haley on Thursday presented missile fragments and other military gear that she said came from Iran and had been used against US ally Saudi Arabia. When asked if he thought such evidence warranted an emboldened or expanded military response from the US, Mattis said: “Not militarily, no.” “It’s the reason Ambassador Haley was there and not one of our generals,” he told Pentagon reporters. “This is a dip...

Six killed in shootout in Indian Kashmir 11/18/2017 2:35:42 PM   facebook Google+ ► Print Indian security personnel stand around the body of a gunman killed by Indian forces during an Srinagar, India, AFP, 18 November 2017  - Five suspected rebels and an air force commando were killed during a fierce gunbattle Saturday in Indian-administered Kashmir which also left another soldier injured, the Indian army said. The shootout began when soldiers cordoned off a neighbourhood in the northern area of Hajin after a tip-off that armed militants were hiding there, said army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia. “Five militants have been killed in the operation,” Kalia told AFP. “One IAF (India Air Force) soldier was martyred and another army soldier was injured.” On Friday a militant and a police officer were killed in the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar during a brief shootout. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since ...

. MALCOLM: Sen. Frum stands tall against Iran's apologists A handout photo provided by the office of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani shows him (C) during visit to the earthquake-hit area of Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran's western province of Kermanshah, where he promised on November 14, 2017 that the government would move swiftly to help those left homeless by the disaster. Tens of thousands of Iranians spent a second night in the open after a 7.3-magnitude quake struck near the border with Iraq, killing more than 400 people. (Handout photo/AFP/Getty Images) Handout photo/AFP/Getty Images The Islamic Republic of Iran is, without a doubt, a malign  regime. If you think that’s a controversial statement, consider the following facts. Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world, directly funding jihadist organizations, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Taliban.  Iran has had its hand in deadly terrorist attacks against civ...

Air raids on market kill 53 in north Syria town: monitor 11/13/2017 10:53:40 PM Syrians dig through the debris of a building as they search for survivors following a reported air strike on the rebel-held town of Atareb in northern Aleppo province on November 13, 2017 AFP, 13 November 2017  - Air strikes on a market killed at least 53 people, including children, in a town in northern Syria on Monday despite a 'de-escalation zone' in place there, a monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not immediately clear whether the strikes on rebel-held Atareb had been carried out by Syrian warplanes, or those of Damascus's ally Russia. The monitor said three strikes hit the town's market, adding that five children were among the dead, as well as three policemen. A photographer contributing to AFP saw massive destruction at the scene, with rubble from damaged buildings covering the street and panicked civilians...