CNN carries the latest complaints from Iran: Foreign media supporting ‘hooligans’

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iran on Wednesday accused international journalists in the country of being the “mouthpiece” of “hooligans” who have created unrest at post-election rallies in Tehran.

“Hundreds” of international reporters were allowed into Iran to cover last week’s election as “a sign of the total transparency in the trends of the elections and the effective performance of the system of religious democracy,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“But certain countries have rushed to judgment and have supported the illegal gatherings and the disturbances that a number of opportunists had created,” the ministry said.

“They have turned themselves into the mouthpiece for these hooligans, and have damaged and targeted the radiant face of the Islamic republic.”

This is what happens when their fearless leader hangs around with KGB officers. “Hooligans”?

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BBC Science reporter Victoria Gill explains the failure of Wall Street – the US financial sector lacks the intelligence of lab rats.

Now, I don’t expect them to be as altruistic as chimpanzees, nor as fair as dogs, but you would think they could calculate the odds well as a rat.

McClatchy reports on the biggest problem the authorities have faced to date: Iran’s senior ayatollah slams election, confirming split

TEHRAN, Iran — Supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his main rival in the disputed presidential election, Mir Hossein Mousavi, massed in competing rallies Tuesday as the country’s most senior Islamic cleric threw his weight behind opposition charges that Ahmadinejad’s re-election was rigged.

“No one in their right mind can believe” the official results from Friday’s contest, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri said of the landslide victory claimed by Ahmadinejad. Montazeri accused the regime of handling Mousavi’s charges of fraud and the massive protests of his backers “in the worst way possible.”

“A government not respecting people’s vote has no religious or political legitimacy,” he declared in comments on his official Web site. “I ask the police and army personals (personnel) not to ‘sell their religion,’ and beware that receiving orders will not excuse them before God.”

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The CBC reports on the current state of the investigation, Hundreds of pieces of Air France plane recovered

More than 400 pieces of an Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil have been recovered, French investigators said Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference near Paris, French air accident investigation agency head Paul-Louis Arslanian said the debris is from all areas of the Airbus A330. He didn’t provide any further details about the recovered wreckage or say how much of the entire plane has been found.
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Arslanian said the search for the aircraft’s voice and data recorders is intensifying.

“We are at the first days of the research under water, research which is focused on the time being on the recorders and more precisely the beacon, the acoustic beacon which is fitted to the recorders,” he said.

Investigators are using manned and unmanned submarines to search the crash site, which is spread over more than 230 kilometres, located about 640 kilometres northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands.

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The ABC reports a call for a Day of mourning amid Iran crackdown

Iran’s opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has called for a national day of mourning as crackdowns on reformists and his supporters intensify, with dozens more detained in Tehran and outside the capital.

Mr Mousavi has urged supporters to stage peaceful protests or gather in mosques to mourn those killed after a disputed presidential poll set off Iran’s worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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“In the course of the past days and as a consequence of illegal and violent encounters with [people protesting] against the outcome of the presidential election, a number of our countrymen were wounded or martyred,” Mr Mousavi said.

“I ask the people to express their solidarity with the families… by coming together in mosques or taking part in peaceful demonstrations.”

Mr Mousavi says he will take part in the day of mourning, planned for Thursday (local time).
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