We're continuing our look back at the 2018 season by highlighting the guys who took the biggest leap this past season. From year one to year two is generally accepted as the biggest jump in player development, but as we see from the list below, everyone progresses at their own rate.
To see where your favorite team can improve their roster this offseason, grab a PFF Edge or Elite subscription today to reserve your copy of the 2019 NFL Draft Guide!
Flowers went from a solid run defender and pass rusher to high-quality in both regards this past season. He set career-best marks with 78 pressures and 32 run stops including the playoffs.
Howard has always teased big-time potential in the past, but never quite put it all together. This past season, he racked up career-highs with seven picks and eight pass breakups in only 12 games.
Hughes somewhat quietly put together one of the most dominant seasons of any edge defender in the NFL this season. He racked up 74 pressures – 13 more than his previous career-high – and finished with a 90.4 pass-rushing grade. Not bad for the 30-year-old.
As a rookie, Adams showed the skillset that made him a top-10 pick, but he was asked to do more than he could handle at times. However, this past season, there was no assignment he couldn't handle. Adams led all safeties with44 total stops and 22 pressures as a blitzer.
Ford's rough 2017 season saw him struggle to a 59.4 overall grade, which is about where he's been for the majority of his career. However, Ford had a breakout year of epic proportions in 2018, raising his overall grade to a career-best 87.7 overall grade.
Parks is the model for the modern dime linebacker. It took him a couple of years to get used to the role, but he notched a 74.0 overall grade this past season.
Cook has always been somewhat of an enigma, as his talent never quite matched his production. That finally changed in 2018, as the 31-year-old earned a career-high 75.7 overall grade in Oakland.
After a 2017 season that looked like Mebane might be at the end of his line, the nose tackle rebounded nicely. He was back to his solid, run-defending self and registered a run-defense grade of 67.7 – 12.4 points better than his 2017 mark.
Smith broke out just in time for his impending free agency. His 10 sacks, 17 hits, and 34 hurries all represent career-high marks.
Davis had nowhere to go but up after his 47.3 overall grade in 2017 saw him as the lowest-graded safety in the NFL. He cut down his missed tackles from 19 in 2017 to only 12 in 2018 and improved across the board.
Higgins looked like the Browns' number one receiver at times throughout the 2018 season. It was a far cry from the player who was blanked for multiple games back in 2017.
In Billings' first year of NFL action, it was clear he wasn't ready for the speed of the game. This past season, he looked more like the player we saw at Baylor. He racked up 22 run stops compared to only seven in 2017.
Jackson was moved all over this season in Houston, and the result was a career-best performance. The former first-round pick played full games at safety, outside corner, and slot with ease.
Call this the Andrew Luck bump. Hilton's downfield prowess was wasted with Jacoby Brissett under center, but with Luck, Hilton ranked third, league-wide, in deep receiving yards.
Rookie first-rounder Rashaan Evans was supposed to come in and lead their linebacking corps, but Brown took the reins himself in Year 2. The former fifth-rounder earned an 84.5 grade in coverage.
The Jags didn't' have anything resembling a reliable receiving threat this season, but Westbrook was the closest thing to it. He came on strong down the stretch with three-plus catches in each of the last six games.
The position switch did wonders for Jones, and it made many wonder why he ever moved to safety in the first place. Jones' combination of size and speed led to him being a first-team PFF All-Pro corner.
This one is more a factor of no one else on the Eagles taking much of a step forward. A lot went right for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl and unfortunately this past year a lot went wrong. Jeffery's big deal was not one of those things though, as he hauled in 71.7 percent of his targets compared to 52.7 percent a year ago.
Brown's career has been very much up and down, with 2018 being the pleasant upswing. He missed only four tackles on 95 attempts after missing 14 a season ago.
The raw numbers may not have matched what Engram put up as a rookie, but his efficiency was much better. He only dropped three passes compared to 11 as a rookie, and he had a passer rating 33.2 points higher when targeted.
Havenstein went from quality right tackle to in the conversation for best right tackle in the league. He set career highs in both run-blocking and pass-blocking grade.
Lockett finally looked fully healthy and had one of the most efficient receiving seasons ever. He had a perfect passer rating when targeted and didn't drop a single pass on 61 catchable targets.
Kittle is the poster boy for the second-year jump. While he was a surprise as a rookie, Kittle dominated in Year 2 – even without Jimmy Garoppolo – leading all tight ends in receiving yards.
Starting all 16 games this past season, Peterson set a career-low for receiving yards allowed with only 364.
Jackson came out of seemingly nowhere to win PFF's best coverage defender in the NFL award. His 15 combined picks and pass breakups were far and away the most at the position.
The former second-rounder had a rough go of it his first couple years in Minnesota before finally settling into the slot role this past season. He broke up eight passes and didn't allow a touchdown in his coverage.
McCray was forced into a starting job in 2017 that he truly wasn't ready for after switching between guard and tackle. When he did see the field down the stretch for Green Bay this year, he was much more comfortable in pass protection at guard.
Robinson still isn't quite there as a pass rusher, but his run defense took a big leap forward this past season. He notched the same amount of run stops (25) on 81 fewer snaps against the run.
One of the keys to the Saints' defensive success this season was the improved play of their linebacking corps. Klein had his role expanded and responded with six more defensive stops and four fewer missed tackles than the year before.
Hooper set career highs for receptions (71), yards (660), and touchdowns (four) while only dropping two passes.
The journeyman defensive tackle had a career-year against the run. His 80.4 run-defense grade outpaced his previous career-high by 11.8 points.
Howard's struggles as a rookie came as a run blocker where he was one of the lowest-graded in the NFL. He improved mightily in that regard and also finished third among all tight ends in yards per route run (2.26).


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Telluride Film Festival
Roma Is Alfonso Cuarón's Epic, Personal Masterpiece
Alfonso Cuaron on the Woman Who Inspired Roma, Making Harry Potter, and What He Learned from His Worst Movie
Rebecca Keegan
Awards Season
A Star Is Born Is Already the Oscar Movie to Beat
Oscar Hunt
Netflix Will Put Roma in Theaters Before It Streams. Will Oscar Glory Follow?
The streaming service is positioning its strongest awards contenders in a way that could please Oscar voters.
Nicole Sperling
Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo, Marco Graf as Pepe, and Daniela Demesa as Sofi in Alfonso Cuaron's Roma.Image by Alfonso Cuarón
It may only be slightly more than three weeks, but those 23 days could mark a seismic shift in Hollywood. On Wednesday, Netflix announced it would release its three strongest awards contenders this year—Alfonso Cuarón's Roma; Joel and Ethan Coen's anthology, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; and Susanne Bier's Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock—in theaters weeks before they hit the global streaming service. (Roma will receive the three-week window, debuting on November 21 in New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico, while both Scruggs and Bird Box will bow in theaters one week ahead of their debuts, on November 8 and December 13, respectively, on the streaming service.)
It is hard to overstate how dramatic the move is for Netflix, which has until now resolutely stuck to its day-and-date strategy, which puts new movies on its platform concurrent to their theatrical release—if they have one at all. The move is aimed at appeasing the company's filmmakers, specifically Cuarón, who's been pushing for months for a significant theatrical release in advance of a streaming debut; it's also an effort to connect with the moviegoing consumer interested in seeing a prestige film on the big screen prior to being able to stream it on a smartphone. Perhaps most crucial, it is a signal to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that Netflix is serious about awards consideration and is responding to voters who've insisted that the streaming service needs to offer meaningful theatrical exhibitions if it wants to be considered for Oscar gold. After all, it's some of these same Academy members who have viewed Netflix's eschewal of exclusive theater openings as the demise of their very business.
"These upcoming engagements are following the success of our theatrical and Netflix releases of Private Life and 22 July," Scott Stuber, head of Netflix's film group, said in a statement. "Netflix's priority is our members and our filmmakers, and we are constantly innovating to serve them."
But is this enough?
Netflix has long enjoyed the role of industry disruptor—poaching employees from the more traditional studios; offering rich pay deals to marquee talent to lure them away from TV networks; and declaring that the subscriber comes first. Why, the company's logic goes, display its films anywhere else?
But Netflix also has Oscars in its eyes and ambitious filmmakers to please, both factors in its new strategy. While filmmakers may have gotten the cash they wanted upfront from the company, some have been left wanting for a big marketing spend or detailed information on how their films have performed on the service. One competing executive said the platform has a reputation as a place where "movies go to die." Most crucially, the company hasn't been able to prove to its filmmakers that it can get them to the Dolby stage.
Netflix's first attempt at Oscar recognition was Cary Fukunaga's 2015 harrowing child-soldier drama, Beasts of No Nation, which was shut out completely. (The film was one of the few to receive a traditional theatrical release from Netflix, playing in 31 theaters for two weeks only, earning a paltry $51,003 its opening weekend and a total gross of $90,777.) Its 2017 slate was far more successful when its Sundance acquisition Mudbound, from director Dee Rees, landed four Academy Award nominations, including adapted screenplay, cinematography, and supporting actress for Mary J. Blige. Yet, it couldn't squeak into the best-picture race, a development some chalked up to Academy bias against the company's business model.
Netflix clearly doesn't want that to happen again, especially with Cuarón's Roma, perhaps the best-reviewed film in the company's short history. The black-and-white memory piece from the Gravity director has already made the rounds at the major film festivals, and industry prognosticators have it neck and neck with Warner Bros.'s box-office hit A Star Is Born in this year's best-picture race.
Netflix has been working mightily since the summer to play its hot hand. According to one source with knowledge of its plans, the streamer first began meeting with the big cinema chains in Mexico to shore up theatrical support for the film in Cuarón's home country. Yet, despite meetings with Cinépolis and Cinemex, the efforts fell short because of the streamer's refusal to honor a 90-day exclusivity window. Roma will now play in three indie theaters in the country and could expand further as Netflix continues talks.
The company also hired veteran awards strategist Lisa Taback and her team of Oscar whisperers to promote Netflix's slate to the Oscar-voting community. Warner Bros.'s longtime former distribution chief, Dan Fellman, also came aboard as a consultant to usher in the support of theaters in the U.S. So far only the Landmark and iPic chains, and the IFC Center in New York, have agreed to play Roma ahead of its debut on the service on December 14. All three chains have previously played Netflix films while they were simultaneously available on the service.
"The issue of releasing high-quality movies in cinemas isn't an issue of theatrical versus streaming, it's an issue of business models," said John Fithian, the president of the National Association of Theatre Owners. "The cinema industry would love to play Netflix's best movies in a traditional theatrical-release model. Our exhibitors play Amazon titles that way. There is no reason why they couldn't play Netflix titles that way, too. "
As a workaround to theater chains' resistance, Netflix said it would also rent out theaters across the country, specifically those equipped with the latest Dolby sound and visual technology. By the end of Roma's theatrical run, which will continue after it debuts on the service, it will have been available in more than 20 territories globally and in 200 to 300 theaters, including those in Los Angeles, New York, and Mexico, with some playing it in a 70-millimeter film presentation, the company said. (That theater count is larger than what most art-house movies receive from traditional specialty distributors.)
That may make Cuarón happy. But it remains to be seen whether voters will treat the just-over-three-week theatrical head start as a sign of real commitment to the big screen or merely a naked attempt to curry favor.
"There are the hardliners who will never accept anything other than a traditional theatrical window," said one voter, who declined to be identified. "But there are also the more modern Academy members who are looking for the right combination [between theatrical and streaming], and Netflix has to find something."
And while the Roma release is a radical departure for Netflix, it isn't a traditional theatrical release. The company will be shelling out all the money to rent out some of the theaters for a limited amount of time, and the streamer won't comment about whether it will report weekend box-office numbers.
To many in the Academy, this still isn't enough. "They have a significant contender with Roma and they need to get it right," said another Academy member. "To me, it's an issue. I want to see Roma desperately, but it better have a real theatrical commitment, not a trivial one, or I'm not going to support it. Other movies will get my vote ahead of their movie."
While voters seem destined to spend the coming months engaged in such a debate, we'll all get an answer on Oscar Sunday.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Drivers are required to wear steel toe boots and pants at all times, and are required to wear a hard hat while on company premises or as required by location.
Drivers are responsible for obtaining rain gear, cold weather gear, and any garments necessary to perform the job with the exception of safety gear.
Drivers are required to wear company issued two way radio, and be responsible for keeping it on their person, keeping it charged, and keeping it safe from damage.
Punctuality and reliability of attendance is required.
Prospective driver is required to pass a pre-employment drug screening and a random drug screening thereafter if hired.
Driver is required to have a clean, Class A, or Class B license as required for the vehicle that they are driving.
Drivers are required to be able to pass a D.O.T. physical.
Drivers are required to learn the use of electronic logging device and use as necessary as required by law.
Drivers are required to operate their vehicle in a safe manner, holding life and property in the highest regard. The use of cell phones other than by blue tooth, is prohibited.
Drivers will not be asked to speed or be reckless, however, drivers are not to have unauthorized stops and are expected to stay on task as to avoid the need to rush.
inspection and tire inspection is to be performed prior to starting vehicle, and deficiencies reported to management. Vehicles are to be warmed up for 5 minutes prior to use.
Drivers are responsible for recording the numbers of any roll-off containers that they deliver and pick-up and its location.
Drivers are expected to tarp and secure all loads as necessary for safety and required by law.


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RIP Ian Wooldridge
24/11/57 – 23/10/10
Ian Wooldridge is remembered as an astute and successful businessman, a generous philanthropist and most of all, a husband, father, brother and friend of great warmth.
Ian James Wooldridge was born on 24 November 1957, the middle child of Brian and Betty, brother to Julie and Graham and later to Charlotte. The family background in farming was the launch pad for what was to become a very successful and well-regarded business, with Ian as a very charismatic and dynamic figure at the helm.
The Wooldridge family has always been an incredibly close unit and remained the same right up until Ian was tragically taken from them on 23 October 2010.
The business has developed and evolved not by luck but through the vision, drive and determination of an extraordinary man together with his brother Graham. Ian always worked incredibly hard to ensure success, no matter what he was doing. Ian was a great contributor to and supporter of the polo fraternity and his presence is sorely missed. Ian was an enthusiast with a ready smile and the ability to laugh at jokes as if they were the funniest thing he had ever heard, ensuring the teller believed that too. He was a hugely charismatic individual, with a true love of life and passionate about enjoying it. Unlike some who travel paths similar to his, he was also generous to a fault. You would have to work very hard to buy him a drink or to pay your way if you were ever out with him.
Ian was also a remarkably charitable man and very conscious that his was, a good life. He and his wife were patrons of the Children with Special Needs Foundation, a charity they had supported since its inception. He was also a generous contributor to many other local charities and sponsored events. Above all else, Ian was a family man. His brother and sisters meant the world to him and their closeness and love and support of each other was to be marvelled at over the years. Ian monitored his son Charlie's progress in polo: he hated to miss a match Charlie played and seldom did. Ian showed real love and devotion towards his wife and his two sons and leaves the legacy of the Wooldridge Group to his sons. Charlie is already working within the group and Rhett will hopefully join when he comes of age.
Windlesham Field of Remembrance Hub Opening
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A short clip of our bulldozer helping out on the C
Blue skies here at a Wooldridge HQ today - It's
#BerkeleyGroup #TonyPidgley #RIP
A very rare photo of the blue sky and sun out on s
We were absolutely delighted to attend the opening
Great results for #TeamWooldridgeGroup at #AXUK Be
What a fantastic evening for our staff Christmas d
We popped into @maidenheadaquatics_ascot and could
We had a lovely evening at the Windlesham Village
There's no need to suffer in silence - share how


The Creighton Department of Fine & Performing Arts announced Monday morning their plans to make..
Following Creighton's embarrassing and despair-inducing exit from this year's March Madness tournament, Nebraska sports fans were..
A large gathering of Sodexo's Brandeis workers picketed outside the unfinished dining hall on sunday..
"The doors are only 6 foot 6 inches, but I'm 6 foot 11 inches, you..
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After coming to the stunning realization that Creighton has not won a single National Championship..
It was a hectic scene at the Century Link Center on Sunday afternoon for what..
When BlueCrew President Mario Sanchez realized that The BlueCrew's funding was going to be slashed..
Senior graphic design major Michael Carr is still painfully unaware of breast cancer. This ignorance..


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The Woodstock Mystery Hole
Portland's Backyard Amusement Park
Where can you find a boat sitting on top of a water slide tube, meteor shower survival equipment, Robin Hood's tree fort in the middle of shrubbery, and one big-ass hole filled with random odds and ends?
The Woodstock Mystery Hole.
But what exactly is the Woodstock Mystery Hole? To tell you the truth, after having been there twice, I still don't really know. Then again, maybe that's why it's called the Mystery Hole in the first place. Either way, I will use the powers of observation to explain it the best I can.
Every year The Mystery Hole hosts a meteor shower party. According to the owner, a man known as Barron, meteors are attracted to his person on a yearly basis, so he throws a party. I went once in 2007, and again this year with a couple of friends.
The mystery hole is located in a neighborhood which is veiled behind a plain and unassuming looking warehouse in Southeast Portland.
Turning into the neighborhood, I found that the house with the Mystery Hole was easy to locate in that it is marked by huge letters which spell the word "HOLE."
Upon entering the backyard, I saw several safety warnings relating to meteors and not getting struck or burned by one.
Once there, I had my picture taken by the suggested photo spot, although according to Barron, he's not really sure whether it's intended for you to have your picture taken there or to take a picture of that spot itself.
There's also a boat on a tube... erm... a Tower of Faith, which is intended to transmit fun into the world much like radio waves.
And right next to the Tower of Faith, is the Mystery Hole itself. Upon... um... entering the hole...
So, I went into the hole in the ground. I descended a ladder which got progressively smaller... or that is... I magically grew to enormous size. Inside the tunnel, I passed under an arch made out of a substance identical to concrete. The arch, presumably created by an advanced civilization from the past, contained hieroglyphics telling stories of Portland celebrities and prophesies of Portland's future. The cavern itself was riddled with random odds and ends that visitors have left, including a long distance calling card and a Fred Flinstone figurine.
There was also a giant door which can't be opened. Of course it was minuscule to me since I was magically enormous at the time.
Upon exiting the Mystery Hole, I saw the History Mole.
But that's not all. Passing by a zen-like pond, I found a shrubbery which had grown above the level of the house itself. But there was more to this overgrown shrubbery than meets the eye. Hidden inside was a Robin Hood-esq tree fort, complete with fire pole.
In the center of the park, people played "zombie croquette" on a grassy lawn.
Now, I didn't see any meteors there. But then, I didn't stay late, either, so I can't tell you if Barron does in fact attract meteor showers. But that's the gist of the Woodstock Mystery Hole.
Oh, and there was bamboo. The Woodstock Mystery Hole www.barronmind.com
Posted by J-Dubb at 10:29


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Updated Kia Rio first seen on tests
The updated Kia Rio hatchback may debut before the end of this year. The company is already conducting new tests at the test site
Kia has embarked on road tests of the updated Rio hatchback. The first spy photos of new items were published by Motor1. According to them, the premiere of a restyled car will be held at the end of this or at the beginning of 2021.
In the photographs, the hatchback is hidden under camouflage. Judging by the 17-inch wheels, the pictures show a modification of the GT Line. At the same time, the car does not have a sports exhaust system and LED running lights.
Kia also plans to develop a new compact crossover based on the Rio hatchback. The main competitor of this car is the Volkswagen T-Cross. If this project receives a green light, then the new crossover will take place one step below the Stonic.
In total, the South Korean Kia sold 225,901 cars in Russia over the past year. This is 1% less than in 2018.
There is information about the new generation of Honda Jazz & nbsp
Charged Mini will become electric vehicles
The government will cover the costs of moving cars from gas to methane
Porsche 911 GT3 Touring: without oversized aileron
Now officially: the "premium" Kia minivan was Carnival, and in the old box


From a seated position, bend your right knee and bring it back behind you, with you left leg extended out straight. Square your torso over the extended left leg, and begin bend forward bend over the left leg. Open the heart center as you inhale and as you exhale go a bit deeper in the pose. Eventually, you will bring the heart center and head down toward the extended left leg. On each inhale extend through the spine, and on each exhale deepen the forward bend. Next attempt to reach under the body and grab the foot of the right leg to add the deep twist. Stay in the pose for 10-15 deep breaths and repeat the pose on the opposite side.
For beginners: Use a blanket to sit on if the hips are tight. If you have poor flexibility add a strap to aid in grabbing your extended foot. For more advanced yogis, clasp your hands under the sole of the extended foot and fold in deeper.
Calms the brain and helps relieve fatigue and mild headaches.
Detoxes the body by improving digestion and elimination.
Stretches the side waist, spine, shoulders, hamstrings, hips and groins.


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Durham Jones & Pinegar
Mark L. Astling
Utah, U.S.A.
Mr. Astling advises a wide variety of corporate and pass-through entities and individuals on federal and state tax issues, including business formations, equity compensation, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, tax accounting, tax exempt organizations, and other tax planning matters. He also represents taxpayers in IRS and state audits and administrative appeals, as well as deficiency litigation in the U.S. Tax Court.
Mr. Astling joined DJP in 2009, after practicing in the Salt Lake office of Stoel Rives for three years. Prior to that, he worked for three years with Deloitte & Touche as a tax consultant.
University of Minnesota Law School - J.D., cum laude (2003)
University of Utah - B.S., Accounting (2000)
Business | Corporate & Partnership Taxation | Estate Planning & Probate | Mergers & Acquisitions | Partnership and Limited Liability Company Law | Tax | Trusts & Estate Planning
Significant Accomplishments
Member, Tax Law Sections, American and Utah Bar Associations
Qualified Tax Expert, Centro Hispano Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (2007 - present)
Listed in Mountain States Super Lawyers
Professional Activities and Experience
Tax and Corporate Associate, Stoel Rives, Salt Lake City, Utah
Tax Consultant, Deloitte & Touche, Minneapolis, Minnesota
"A Primer on Equity Compensation," Business Connect Magazine (February 2008)
"Notes and Trends: Tax Law" (coauthor) Bench & Bar Minnesota (May 2003)
© Durham Jones & Pinegar, 2020


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Tag Archives: Tehran
Oil, safe havens surge as U.S. strikes kill Iranian commander
By Herbert Lash and Marc Jones
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices surged as much as $3 a barrel as gold, the yen and safe-haven bonds all rallied on Friday after the U.S. killing of Iran's top military commander in an air strike in Iraq ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Traders were spooked after the death of Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force who was also one of Iran's most influential figures, and by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's vow of revenge.
Mideast-focused oil markets saw the most dramatic moves, with Brent oil futures leaping as much 4.5% to $69.20 a barrel. That was the highest since the attacks on Saudi crude facilities in September, though the impact hit almost every asset class.
Europe's broad STOXX 600 index fell as much as 1% and shares on Wall Street almost the same as New Year optimism, which had pushed equity markets to new records, evaporated.
The yen rose half a percent against the dollar to a two-month high, the Swiss franc hit its highest against the euro since September and gold prices climbed to a four-month peak, racing past the key $1,550 an ounce level.
"Geopolitics has come back to the table, and this is something that could have major cross-asset implications," said Salman Ahmed, Lombard Odier's chief investment strategist.
"What is critical is how it pans out in the next few days," Ahmed said. "Whether it turns into a theme depends on Iran's reaction and then the U.S. response."
Iran promised harsh revenge. Soleimani's Quds Force and its paramilitary proxies, ranging from Lebanon's Hizbollah to the PMF in Iraq, have ample means to mount a response.
In September, U.S. officials blamed Iran for attacking the oil installations of Saudi Aramco, the state energy giant and the world's largest oil exporter. Iran has denied responsibility for the strikes and accused Washington of war-mongering.
The Trump administration then did not respond, beyond heated rhetoric and threats, and markets settled down within a week after Brent surged 14.6%, its biggest one-day percentage gain since at least 1988.
The U.S. government and others on Friday urged their citizens in the region either to return home or to stay away from potential targets and public gatherings.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a round of TV interviews that the United States remained committed to de-escalation with Iran but that it had needed to defend itself.
"He (Soleimani) was actively plotting in the region to take actions – a big action as he described it – that would have put dozens if not hundreds of American lives at risk. We know it was imminent," Pompeo told CNN.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.43%, while its emerging markets index lost 0.32%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 210.81 points, or 0.73%, to 28,657.99. The S&P 500 lost 18.86 points, or 0.58%, to 3,238.99 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 58.26 points, or 0.64%, to 9,033.93.
The global gauge and Wall Street indices set record closing highs on Thursday, extending the year-end rally in equities.
Brent hit a peak of $69.50 a barrel, its highest since mid-September, though it later traded up $2.40 to $68.65.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.20 to $63.38 a barrel, after earlier spiking to $64.09 a barrel, its highest since April 2019.
SCRAMBLE TO SAFETY
Yields on German Bunds and U.S. Treasuries – the world's benchmark government bonds that are typically seen as the safest assets – fell sharply.
The 10-year Bund yield fell 7 basis points to a two-week low of -0.299%, while Bund futures were up 0.51 percent, at 172.13 euros.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose 23/32 in price to yield 1.802%, from 1.882% late on Monday.
The dollar index fell 0.08%, with the euro up 0.06% to $1.1177. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.59% versus the greenback at 107.94 per dollar.
The focus on geopolitics meant markets paid little attention to stronger-than-expected data from France, where inflation rose 1.6% year-on-year in December, beating analysts' expectations for a 1.4% rise.
German inflation figures were also higher, although unemployment in Europe's largest economy rose more than expected.
The U.S. manufacturing sector contracted in December by the most in more than a decade, with order volumes crashing to near an 11-year low and factory employment falling for a fifth straight month, the Institute for Supply Management said.
Investors also were looking forward to the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Dec. 10-11 meeting due at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT).
(Reporting by Herbert Lash, additional reporting by Sujata Rao and Dhara Ranasinghe in London and Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Tagged Baghdad, Economy, Iran, Iraq, Oil Prices, Tehran, Tensions, top military commander killed, U.S. air strike, United States, Wall Street, Washington	| Leave a comment
Rock-throwing Iraqi militias quit U.S. embassy after protests
By Ahmed Aboulenein
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups who stormed the U.S. embassy's perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals against Tehran.
The demonstrators, angry at U.S. air strikes against the Tehran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group that killed at least 25 people, threw stones at the building while U.S. forces stationed on the rooftops fired tear gas to disperse them.
But by mid-afternoon, most appeared to have obeyed a call to withdraw, issued by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) umbrella group of mainly Shi'ite militia, which said the demonstrators' message had been heard.
Young men used palm tree branches to sweep the street in front of the embassy compound, while others packed up equipment and vans arrived to take people away. Some left to set up a protest camp in front of a nearby hotel.
Iraq's military said all protesters had left by the evening.
The protests mark a new turn in the shadow war between Washington and Tehran playing out across the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who faces re-election in 2020, on Tuesday threatened to retaliate against Iran but said later he did not want war.
The unrest followed U.S. air raids on Sunday against Kataib Hezbollah bases in retaliation for missile attacks that killed a U.S. contractor in northern Iraq last week.
On Tuesday, crowds chanted 'Death to America!', lit fires, and smashed surveillance cameras. They breached an outer perimeter of the embassy but did not enter the main compound.
BIGGEST U.S. EMBASSY
The huge embassy, built along the banks of the Tigris River in central Baghdad's fortified "green zone" during American occupation following the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, is the biggest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world.
Washington said its diplomats were safe and was rushing hundreds of extra troops to the region.
The embassy said all public consular operations were suspended and all future appointments canceled.
The anti-American action comes after months of protests in Iraq against the government and the Iran-backed militias which support it. Many Iraqis complain their country has become a battlefield for a proxy war for influence between Washington and Tehran, and their leaders are too beholden to outside powers.
Iraq's government has long faced frictions in its close relations with the two foes. Trump spoke to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Tuesday and demanded Iraq protect the embassy.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday condemned the U.S. attacks. Iran summoned a Swiss envoy, who represents U.S. interests in Tehran, to complain about what it described as "warmongering" words from Washington.
Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the violence.
U.S. officials said 750 extra troops would initially be based out of Kuwait and as many as 4,000 troops could be sent to the region in coming days.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq supporting local forces. The air strikes have galvanized calls inside Iraq to expel them.
Many in the crowd outside the embassy said ending Washington's presence in Iraq was their main goal.
'DEVIL'S DEN'
Despite decades of enmity between Iran and the United States, Iran-backed militias and U.S. forces found themselves on the same side during Iraq's 2014-2017 war against Islamic State fighters, with both powers helping the government recapture territory from militants who had overrun a third of Iraq.
Since then, U.S. troops have yet to leave, while the Iran-backed militias have been incorporated into the security forces.
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who has announced plans to step down in the face of anti-government protests in which more than 450 people were killed, is backed by Iran and its allies.
The militia may have decided to pull back from the embassy to avoid making him look weak or to avert clashes with government forces.
Overnight, demonstrators had pitched tents and camped outside the embassy walls, then brought food, cooking equipment and mattresses during the morning, indicating plans to stay before the withdrawal call.
"Our sit-in is eternal, until this devil's den is closed off forever, but don't give anyone an excuse to make your protest violent. Don't clash with security," one protest leader told the crowd from a stage erected at the embassy before the departure.
Young men, some in fatigues, waved militia flags and chanted "Death to America" as Apache helicopters circled above.
The embassy's outer walls bore scorch marks and graffiti.
"Iraq is not safe for America and its followers," one read.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Peter Graff and Andrew Cawthorne)
Tagged Iraqi militias, Iraqi paramilitary groups, Protests, Tehran, U.S. air strikes, U.S. Embassy	| Leave a comment
Special report: 'Time to take out our swords' – Inside Iran's plot to attack Saudi Arabia
By Reuters staff
(Reuters) – Four months before a swarm of drones and missiles crippled the world's biggest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia, Iranian security officials gathered at a heavily fortified compound in Tehran.
The group included the top echelons of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite branch of the Iranian military whose portfolio includes missile development and covert operations.
The main topic that day in May: How to punish the United States for pulling out of a landmark nuclear treaty and re-imposing economic sanctions on Iran, moves that have hit the Islamic Republic hard.
With Major General Hossein Salami, leader of the Revolutionary Guards, looking on, a senior commander took the floor.
"It is time to take out our swords and teach them a lesson," the commander said, according to four people familiar with the meeting.
Hard-liners in the meeting talked of attacking high-value targets, including American military bases.
Yet, what ultimately emerged was a plan that stopped short of direct confrontation that could trigger a devastating U.S. response. Iran opted instead to target oil installations of America's ally, Saudi Arabia, a proposal discussed by top Iranian military officials in that May meeting and at least four that followed.
This account, described to Reuters by three officials familiar with the meetings and a fourth close to Iran's decision making, is the first to describe the role of Iran's leaders in plotting the Sept. 14 attack on Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-controlled oil company.
These people said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the operation, but with strict conditions: Iranian forces must avoid hitting any civilians or Americans.
Reuters was unable to confirm their version of events with Iran's leadership. A Revolutionary Guards spokesman declined to comment. Tehran has steadfastly denied involvement.
Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York, rejected the version of events the four people described to Reuters. He said Iran played no part in the strikes, that no meetings of senior security officials took place to discuss such an operation, and that Khamenei did not authorize any attack.
"No, no, no, no, no, and no," Miryousefi said to detailed questions from Reuters on the alleged gatherings and Khamenei's purported role.
The Saudi government communications office did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pentagon declined to comment. A senior Trump administration official did not directly comment on Reuters' findings but said Tehran's "behavior and its decades-long history of destructive attacks and support for terrorism are why Iran's economy is in shambles."
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, at the center of a civil war against Saudi-backed forces, claimed responsibility for the assault on Saudi oil facilities. That declaration was rebuffed by U.S. and Saudi officials, who said the sophistication of the offensive pointed to Iran.
Saudi Arabia was a strategic target.
The kingdom is Iran's principal regional rival and a petroleum giant whose production is crucial to the world economy. It is an important U.S. security partner. But its war on Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians, and the brutal murder of Washington-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year, have strained its relations with U.S. lawmakers. There was no groundswell of support in Congress for military intervention to aid the Saudis after the attack.
The 17-minute strike on two Aramco installations by 18 drones and three low-flying missiles revealed the vulnerability of the Saudi oil company, despite billions spent by the kingdom on security. Fires erupted at the company's Khurais oil installation and at the Abqaiq oil processing facility, the world's largest.
The attack temporarily halved Saudi Arabia's oil production and knocked out 5% of the world's oil supply. Global crude prices spiked.
The assault prompted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to accuse Iran of an "act of war." In the aftermath, Tehran was hit with additional U.S. sanctions. The United States also launched cyber attacks against Iran, U.S. officials told Reuters.
SCOURING TARGETS
The plan by Iranian military leaders to strike Saudi oil installations developed over several months, according to the official close to Iran's decision making.
"Details were discussed thoroughly in at least five meetings and the final go ahead was given" by early September, the official said.
All of those meetings took place at a secure location inside the southern Tehran compound, three of the officials told Reuters. They said Khamenei, the supreme leader, attended one of the gatherings at his residence, which is also inside that complex.
Other attendees at some of those meetings included Khamenei's top military advisor, Yahya Rahim-Safavi, and a deputy of Qasem Soleimani, who heads the Revolutionary Guards' foreign military and clandestine operations, the three officials said. Rahim-Safavi could not be reached for comment.
Among the possible targets initially discussed were a seaport in Saudi Arabia, an airport and U.S. military bases, the official close to Iran's decision making said. The person would not provide additional details.
Those ideas were ultimately dismissed over concerns about mass casualties that could provoke fierce retaliation by the United States and embolden Israel, potentially pushing the region into war, the four people said.
The official close to Iran's decision making said the group settled on the plan to attack Saudi Arabia's oil installations because it could grab big headlines, inflict economic pain on an adversary and still deliver a strong message to Washington.
"Agreement on Aramco was almost reached unanimously," the official said. "The idea was to display Iran's deep access and military capabilities."
The attack was the worst on Middle East oil facilities since Saddam Hussein, the late Iraqi strongman, torched Kuwait's oil fields during the 1991 Gulf crisis.
U.S. Senator Martha McSally, an Air Force combat veteran and Republican lawmaker who was briefed by U.S. and Saudi officials, and who visited Aramco's Abqaiq facility days after the attack, said the perpetrators knew precisely where to strike to create as much damage as possible.
"It showed somebody who had a sophisticated understanding of facility operations like theirs, instead of just hitting things off of satellite photos," she told Reuters. The drones and missiles, she added, "came from Iranian soil, from an Iranian base."
A Middle East source, who was briefed by a country investigating the attack, said the launch site was the Ahvaz air base in southwest Iran. That account matched those of three U.S. officials and two other people who spoke to Reuters: a Western intelligence official and a Western source based in the Middle East.
Rather than fly directly from Iran to Saudi Arabia over the Gulf, the missiles and drones took different, circuitous paths to the oil installations, part of Iran's effort to mask its involvement, the people said.
Some of the craft flew over Iraq and Kuwait before landing in Saudi Arabia, according to the Western intelligence source, who said that trajectory provided Iran with plausible deniability.
"That wouldn't have been the case if missiles and drones had been seen or heard flying into Saudi Arabia over the Gulf from a south flight path" from Iran, the person said.
Revolutionary Guards commanders briefed the supreme leader on the successful operation hours after the attack, according to the official close to the country's decision making.
Images of fires raging at the Saudi facilities were broadcast worldwide. The country's stock market swooned. Global oil prices initially surged 20%. Officials at Saudi Aramco gathered in what was referred to internally as the "emergency management room" at the company's headquarters.
One of the officials who spoke with Reuters said Tehran was delighted with the outcome of the operation: Iran had landed a painful blow on Saudi Arabia and thumbed its nose at the United States.
SIZING UP TRUMP
The Revolutionary Guards and other branches of the Iranian military all ultimately report to Khamenei. The supreme leader has been defiant in response to Trump's abandonment last year of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly called the Iran nuclear deal.
That 2015 accord with five permanent members of the U.S. Security Council – the United States, Russia, France, China and the United Kingdom – as well as Germany, removed billions of dollars' worth of sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran's curbing its nuclear program.
Trump's demand for a better deal has seen Iran launch a two-pronged strategy to win relief from sweeping sanctions reimposed by the United States, penalties that have crippled its oil exports and all but shut it out of the international banking system.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has signaled a willingness to meet with American officials on condition that all sanctions be lifted. Simultaneously, Iran is flaunting its military and technical prowess.
In recent months, Iran has shot down a U.S. surveillance drone and seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel through which about a fifth of the world's oil moves. And it has announced it has amassed stockpiles of enriched uranium in violation of the U.N agreement, part of its vow to restart its nuclear weapons program.
The Aramco attacks were an escalation that came as Trump had been pursuing his long-stated goal of extricating American forces from the Middle East. Just days after announcing an abrupt pullout of U.S. troops in northern Syria, the Trump administration on Oct. 11 said it would send fighter jets, missile-defense weaponry and 2,800 more troops to Saudi Arabia to bolster the kingdom's defenses.
"Do not strike another sovereign state, do not threaten American interests, American forces, or we will respond," U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned Tehran during a press briefing.
Still, Iran appears to have calculated that the Trump administration would not risk an all-out assault that could destabilize the region in the service of protecting Saudi oil, said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit working to end global conflict.
In Iran, "hard-liners have come to believe that Trump is a Twitter tiger," Vaez said. "As such there is little diplomatic or military cost associated with pushing back."
The senior Trump administration official disputed the suggestion that Iran's operation has strengthened its hand in working out a deal for sanctions relief from the United States.
"Iran knows exactly what it needs to do to see sanctions lifted," the official said.
The administration has said Iran must end support for terrorist groups in the Middle East and submit to tougher terms that would permanently snuff its nuclear ambitions. Iran has said it has no ties to terrorist groups.
Whether Tehran accedes to U.S. demands remains to be seen.
In one of the final meetings held ahead of the Saudi oil attack, another Revolutionary Guards commander was already looking ahead, according to the official close to Iran's decision making who was briefed on that gathering.
"Rest assured Allah almighty will be with us," the commander told senior security officials. "Start planning for the next one."
(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Marla Dickerson)
Tagged drones missiles, Iran, Iranian military, Islamic Revolutionary Guard, oil processing facility, Saudi Arabia, Tehran	| Leave a comment
Iran distances itself further from nuclear deal, alarming Russia, France
By Parisa Hafezi
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has stepped up activity at its underground Fordow nuclear plant, state TV said on Wednesday, a move France said showed for the first time that Tehran explicitly planned to quit a deal with world powers that curbed its disputed nuclear work.
In another development that could also aggravate tensions between Iran and the West, diplomats said Iran briefly held an inspector for the U.N. nuclear watchdog and seized her travel documents, with some describing this as harassment.
The incident involving an International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) inspector appeared to be the first of its kind since Tehran's landmark deal with major powers was struck in 2015, imposing restraints on its uranium enrichment program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.
Iran's decision to inject uranium gas into centrifuges at Fordow, a move that further distances Iran from the accord, was described by Moscow as extremely alarming. Iran once hid Fordow from the IAEA until its exposure by Western spies in 2009.
"With the presence of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran started injecting (uranium) gas into centrifuges in Fordow," TV reported.
A central aim of the agreement was to extend the time the Islamic Republic would need to assemble a nuclear weapon, if it chose to do so, to a year from about 2-3 months. Iran has repeatedly denied any such intention.
The 2015 deal bans Fordow from producing nuclear material. But, with feedstock gas entering its centrifuges, the facility – built inside a mountain – will move from the permitted status of research plant to being an active nuclear site.
A spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi, told state TV later that the injection of uranium gas would start at midnight (2030 GMT). He said the centrifuges there would enrich uranium up to 4.5% fissile purity. Ninety percent purity is required for bomb-grade fuel.
President Hassan Rouhani, an architect of the 2015 deal, blamed Washington for Iran's rolling back of its commitments, saying Fordow would soon fully resume uranium enrichment work.
"Iran's fourth step in reducing its commitments under the JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal) by injecting gas to 1,044 centrifuges begins today. Thanks to U.S. policy and its allies, Fordow will soon be back to full operation," Rouhani tweeted.
Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump exited the deal, saying it was flawed to Iran's advantage. Washington has since renewed and intensified sanctions on Iran, slashing its economically vital crude oil sales by more than 80%.
"PROFOUND SHIFT"
Speaking in China, French President Emmanuel Macron called Iran's latest move "grave", saying it explicitly signaled Iran's intent for the first time to leave the deal.
"I think that for the first time, Iran has decided in an explicit and blunt manner to leave the JCPOA, which marks a profound shift," said Macron, who has been at the forefront of efforts by European signatories to salvage the deal after the United States withdrew.
When asked whether Paris would support triggering a dispute mechanism enshrined in the deal, Macron said technical and ministerial meetings would be held to discuss the wider implications of Iran's actions.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said events unfolding around the nuclear deal were deeply disturbing and called on Iran to stick to the terms of the deal.
But he added that Moscow understood why Tehran was cutting back on its commitments, and blamed the situation on the U.S. decision to pull out of the pact.
Responding to Washington's "maximum pressure" policy, Iran has bypassed the restrictions of the deal step-by-step – including by breaching both its cap on stockpiled enriched uranium and on the fissile level of enrichment.
"Iran has taken its fourth step to decrease its nuclear commitments to the deal in reaction to the increased U.S. pressure and inactivity of European parties to the deal to save it," Iranian state TV added.
SPEEDING UP ENRICHMENT
In Vienna, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said IAEA inspectors remained on the ground in Iran and would report back on relevant activities.
Iranian authorities said on Tuesday that Tehran will enrich uranium to 5% at Fordow, which will further complicate the chances of saving an accord that European powers, Russia and the European Union have urged Iran to respect.
The agreement capped the level of purity to which Iran can enrich uranium at 3.67% – suitable for civilian power generation and far below the 90% threshold of nuclear weapons grade.
On Monday, Iran said it had accelerated enrichment by doubling the number of advanced IR-6 centrifuges in operation, adding that it was working on "a prototype called the IR-9, which works 50 times faster than IR-1 centrifuges".
The deal, under which international sanctions against Iran were lifted, was tailored to extend the "breakout time" – how long Iran would need to accumulate enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb.
Iran has given another two-month deadline to Britain, France and Germany to salvage the deal. Leaving room for diplomacy, Tehran says talks are possible if Washington lifts all the sanctions and itself returns to the nuclear deal.
The incident involving the IAEA inspector is due to be discussed at a meeting of the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors on Thursday convened at short notice to discuss "two safeguards matters" not specified in the agenda.
"The agency wants to show how seriously they are taking this. It is a potentially damaging precedent," one Western official said. An IAEA spokesman and Iran's ambassador to the U.N. watchdog declined to comment.
(Additional reporting by Marine Pennetier, Maria Kiselyova, Francois Murphy and John Irish; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by William Maclean and Mark Heinrich)
Tagged France, inspector held, international sanctions, Iran, Nuclear Deal, Russia, Tehran, Tensions, U.N. nuclear watchdog, uranium enrichment program	| Leave a comment
Iran develops advanced machines to speed up enrichment: official
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran said on Monday it would take another step away from the 2015 nuclear deal by developing centrifuges to speed up its uranium enrichment, its nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said.
"Today, we are witnessing the launch of the array of 30 IR-6 centrifuges," Salehi, who heads Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told state television. "Iran now is operating 60 IR-6 advanced centrifuges. It shows our capacity and determination."
Under the agreement between Iran and world powers, Tehran is only allowed to enrich uranium with just over 5,000 of its first-generation IR-1 centrifuges. An IR-6 centrifuge can enrich uranium 10 times faster than the IR-1s.
"Our scientists are working on a prototype called the IR-9, that works 50 times faster than the IR-1s," Salehi said.
The deal was aimed at extending the time Iran would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb, if it sought one – something sometimes referred to as "breakout time" to about a year from 2-3 months. Iran denies ever having sought to build a nuclear bomb.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said in September that Iran had informed the agency about making modifications to accommodate cascades – or interconnected clusters – of 164 of the IR-2m and IR-4 centrifuge. Cascades of the same size and type were scrapped under the deal.
Tensions have risen between Tehran and Washington since last year when U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord under which Iran had agreed to rein in its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
The United States has since renewed and intensified its sanctions, slashing Iran's crude oil sales by more than 80%.
Responding to Washington's "maximum pressure", Iran has breached the restrictions of the deal step-by-step and has rejected the United States' demand that a far-reaching deal should be negotiated.
Tehran, however, has left room for diplomacy by saying that talks are possible if Washington lifts all the sanctions and returns to the nuclear deal.
Iran has said it might take further steps in November if European parties to the pact fail to shield its economy from U.S. penalties.
While steps taken by Iran so far do not make a big difference to that breakout time for now, it further complicates the prospects of saving the accord by the European parties to the deal, who have criticized Trump for exiting it.
(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Tagged centrifuges, Iran, Nuclear Deal, Tehran, United States, uranium enrichment, World Powers	| Leave a comment
Iranian president says U.S. offered to remove all sanctions on Iran in exchange for talks
By Babak Dehghanpisheh
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United States offered to remove all sanctions on Iran in exchange for talks but Tehran has not yet accepted the offer due to the current "toxic atmosphere", Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday.
Rouhani, speaking on his return from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said he met there with U.S. officials at the insistence of Germany, Britain and France.
"It was up for debate what sanctions will be lifted and they (the United States) had said clearly that we will lift all sanctions," Rouhani said, according to his official website.
Iran was ready for negotiations but not in an atmosphere of sanctions and pressure, the Iranian president said.
"This action wasn't in a manner that was acceptable, meaning that in the atmosphere of sanctions and the existence of sanctions and the toxic atmosphere of maximum pressure, even if we want to negotiate with the Americans in the 5+1 framework, no one can predict what the end and result of this negotiation will be," he said.
Crude slipped on the report, adding to earlier losses caused by a faster-than-expected recovery in Saudi output, slowing Chinese economic growth, a Wall Street Journal report saying that Saudi Arabia had agreed a partial ceasefire in Yemen. Brent crude was trading below $62 a barrel. [O/R]
Rouhani did not meet U.S. President Donald Trump in New York and European and Gulf officials expect Washington to keep tightening the vice on Iran's economy.
The United States and Iran are at odds over a host of issues, including the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, U.S. accusations – denied by Tehran – that Iran attacked two Saudi oil facilities on Sept. 14, and Iran's detention of U.S. citizens on what the United States regards as spurious grounds.
(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Tagged Iran, Nuclear Program, Oil, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia attack, talks, Tehran, United States	| Leave a comment
Netanyahu: Iran had secret nuclear weapons development site in Abadeh
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Iran had been developing nuclear weapons at a secret site near the city of Abadeh, but that Tehran destroyed the facility after learning it had been exposed.
It was the first time Netanyahu had identified the site, which, he said, was discovered in a trove of Iranian documents Israel previously obtained and disclosed last year.
"In this site, Iran conducted experiments to develop nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks, showing an aerial picture of several small buildings, including their coordinates, that he said were taken at the Abadeh facility late in June 2019.
"When Iran realized that we uncovered the site, here's what they did," he said, showing a picture from a month later in which the buildings no longer appeared. "They destroyed the site. They just wiped it out."
Netanyahu's comments followed a Reuters report revealing that the International Atomic Energy Agency found traces of uranium at a different site in Iran that the Israeli leader had first pointed to during a speech last year at the United Nations.
Iran had yet to explain the traces of uranium at that site, though it denies ever having sought a nuclear weapon.
Netanyahu, who strongly opposed a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, made the remarks in a televised speech about a week before a general election in Israel in which he is in a tight race to win another term.
"I call on the international community to wake up, to realize that Iran is systematically lying," Netanyahu said.
"The only way to stop Iran's march to the bomb, and its aggression in the region, is pressure, pressure and more pressure."
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch,; Editing by Stephen Farrell and Jonathan Oatis)
Tagged Abadeh, Iran, Israel, secret nuclear weapons, Tehran, Uranium	| Leave a comment
U.S. unsure about circumstances of tanker towed to Iran
DUBAI (Reuters) – U.S. officials say they are unsure whether an oil tanker towed into Iranian waters was seized by Iran or rescued after facing mechanical faults as Tehran asserts, creating a mystery at sea at a time of high tension in the Gulf.
The MT Riah disappeared from ship tracking maps when its transponder was switched off in the Strait of Hormuz on July 14. Its last position was off the coast of the Iranian island of Qeshm in the strait.
Iran says it towed a vessel into its waters from the strait after the ship issued a distress call. Although Tehran did not name the vessel, the Riah is the only ship whose recorded movements appear likely to match that description.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it appeared that the tanker was in Iranian territorial waters, but it was not clear whether that was because Iran had seized it or rescued it.
The mystery comes at a time when Washington has called for greater security for ships in the Gulf.
Iran has threatened to retaliate for the British seizure of an Iranian oil tanker accused of violating sanctions on Syria. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has branded the British action "piracy".
The United States has also blamed Iran for attacks on tankers in the Gulf since May, which Tehran denies.
Shipping experts say U.S. sanctions on Iran intended to halt its oil exports have led to a rise in unusual tanker movements away from shipping lanes, with Iran seeking covert ways to export its oil. Increasingly, ships are switching off location transponders, transferring oil at sea and concealing their routes. Iran has also become more dependent on a fleet of aging ships, and some have had to be towed for emergency repairs.
Adding to the riddle of the missing ship was difficulty establishing who owns it, which no country or company has so far publicly claimed. Initial reports described it as Emirati. However, an Emirati official told Reuters the tanker was neither owned nor operated by the UAE.
The tanker's registered manager is Prime Tankers in the UAE. That company told Reuters it had sold the tanker to another UAE-based company, Mouj al-Bahar. An employee at Mouj al-Bahar told Reuters that the firm did not own it but had been managing the vessel up to two months ago, and that it was now under the management of a company called KRB Petrochem. Reuters could not reach KRB Petrochem for comment.
(Reporting by Dubai newsroom, Parisa Hafezi, Ghaida Ghantous and Alex Cornwell; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Peter Graff)
Tagged Britain, Gulf, Iran, MT Riah, oil tanker, Retaliate, Syria, Tehran, Tension, transponder, United States	| Leave a comment
Netanyahu says Trump knew in advance of Israel's Iran archive mission
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he informed U.S. President Donald Trump in advance of what Israel has described as a spy mission in Tehran last year to capture a secret Iranian nuclear archive.
Netanyahu said in April 2018 that Mossad operatives had spirited thousands of hidden documents out of Tehran that proved Iran had previously pursued a nuclear weapons program. Trump cited the Israeli findings in his decision, a month later, to quit a 2015 deal that had scaled down Iran's nuclear project.
Iran denies ever seeking nuclear weapons and has accused Israel of faking the Tehran mission and documents trove.
Awarding an Israeli national security prize on Tuesday to the Mossad team credited with the so-called "Atomic Archive" capture, Netanyahu said he had discussed the planned operation with Trump when they met at the Davos forum in January 2018.
"He asked me if it was dangerous. I told him that there was a danger to it that was not negligible, but that the outcome justified the risk," Netanyahu said at the closed-door ceremony, according to a transcript issued by his office.
Netanyahu said that, when he later presented main findings from an Israeli analysis of the documents to Trump at the White House, the president "voiced his appreciation for the boldness".
"I have no doubt that this helped to validate his decision to withdraw from this dangerous (Iran nuclear) deal," he said.
With the United States having reimposed sanctions on Iran, tensions have been soaring in the Gulf in recent weeks.
Mossad officials have said the Tehran mission took place in February 2018, but have not given details on how the documents were brought out to Israel.
Six Mossad officers – four men and two women – received Tuesday's prize for leading the mission, which also involved "hundreds" of others, the intelligence agency's director, Joseph (Yossi) Cohen, told an international security forum this week.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Tagged Iran, Israel, nuclear weapons program, President Donald Trump, secret Iranian nuclear archive, spy mission, Tehran	| Leave a comment
Trump blames Iran for tanker attacks, stoking fears of confrontation
By Parisa Hafezi and Makini Brice
DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Iran on Friday for attacks on two oil tankers at the entrance to the Gulf despite Tehran's denials, stoking fears of a confrontation in the vital oil shipping route.
Iran has dismissed earlier U.S. charges that it was behind Thursday's attacks that crippled two tankers. It has previously suggested it could block the Strait of Hormuz, the main route out for Middle Eastern oil, if its own exports were halted.
Thursday's blasts followed similar attacks a month earlier on four tankers, which Washington also blamed on Tehran.
They come at a time of escalating confrontation between the United States and Iran. Last month Washington sharply tightened sanctions against Tehran, which in response has threatened to step up its nuclear activity.
Asked how he planned to address Tehran and prevent any further incidents, Trump told Fox News: "We're going to see." He also said that any move to close the Strait of Hormuz would not last long.
Nevertheless, Trump, who last year pulled the United States out of an agreement between world powers and Tehran to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, said that he was open to negotiations with Iran.
"We want to get them back to the table," Trump said. "I'm ready when they are." He added that he was in "no rush".
Iran has repeatedly said it will not re-enter talks with the United States unless it reverses Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal.
The U.S. military released a video on Thursday it said showed Iran's Revolutionary Guards were behind the blasts that struck the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman, at the mouth of the Gulf.
Iran said the video proved nothing and that it was being made into a scapegoat.
"These accusations are alarming," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
Iran has accused the United States and its regional allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of "warmongering" by making accusations against it.
Tehran and Washington have both said they have no interest in starting a war. But this has done little to assuage concerns that the two arch-foes could stumble into a conflict.
Oil prices surged on Thursday, reflecting the jitters, although they have since given up some of those gains.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday the world could not afford "a major confrontation in the Gulf region".
China, the European Union and others have called for restraint from all sides. In a notable signal that close U.S. allies are wary of Washington's position, Germany said the U.S. video was not enough to apportion blame for Thursday's attack.
The U.S. military said black-and-white footage it filmed from a U.S. aircraft showed Iran's Guards on one of their patrol boats drawing up to the Kokuka Courageous and removing an unexploded limpet mine from its hull.
Britain said it took the matter "extremely seriously" and, if Iran was involved, "it is a deeply unwise escalation".
The Japanese-owned tanker, abandoned by its crew, was being towed to a port in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, after a Dutch firm said it had been appointed to salvage the ships.
The second tanker, the Front Altair, which was set ablaze by a blast, was still languishing at sea, although the fire that had charred the hull had been put out.
Last month Washington revoked waivers that had allowed some countries to continue importing Iranian oil, effectively ordering all countries to blacklist Iran or face sanctions themselves.
Iran's crude exports fell to about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May from 2.5 million bpd in April 2018, starving Iran's economy of its main source of revenues.
Iran says it is still abiding by the terms of the nuclear deal, but cannot do so indefinitely unless it receives some of the economic benefits that were promised. Last month it said it would boost enrichment of uranium, a move that could potentially lead to it building up a stockpile prohibited under the deal.
Washington has also blamed Iran or its proxies for attacks on May 12 that crippled four oil tankers in the same area, and has said Tehran was behind May 14 drone strikes on two Saudi oil-pumping stations. Tehran has denied all those charges.
There have been conflicting accounts of the cause of Thursday's blasts. An initial report that Kokuka Courageous was struck by a torpedo was dismissed by a source familiar with the issue. The owner of the tanker, which carried methanol, later said it was hit by two "flying objects".
A source has said a magnetic mine could have caused the explosion on Front Altair, which had a cargo of naphtha.
"UNWISE ESCALATION"
Iranian TV showed 23 crew in Iran believed to be from Front Altair on Friday, and said its experts would assess whether they could return to the ship. The crew from Kokuka Courageous were picked up and handed to a U.S. Navy ship on Thursday.
The Trump administration said in May it would send troops and other forces to the Middle East, citing Iranian threats, a move Tehran has called "psychological warfare".
The administration argues that the nuclear deal, negotiated under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, was too limited, and says re-imposing sanctions will force Tehran back to the table to make more concessions.
Most U.S. allies in Europe and Asia disagree and say pulling out of the deal was a mistake that will empower hardliners in Iran and hurt the pragmatic faction that promised Iranians economic benefits in return for opening up to the world.
Thursday's attack took place while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan – a big buyer of Iranian oil until it was forced by the new U.S. sanctions to stop – was visiting Tehran on a peacemaking mission, bringing a message from Trump.
Iran dismissed Trump's message, details of which were not made public. "I do not see Trump as worthy of any message exchange, and I do not have any reply for him, now or in future," Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafez, Maher Chmaytelli and Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai, Makini Brice, Susan Heavey, Phil Stewart and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Bart Meijer in Amsterdam; Victoria Klesty in Oslo; Writing by Edmund Blair and Peter Graff; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Gareth Jones)
Tagged Attacks, confrontation, Gulf, Nuclear Activity, oil tankers, Sanctions, shipping route, Tehran, United States	| Leave a comment


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As Christians, we are committed to transforming and reconciling the world through relationships with Christ and each other. Join us in God's mission – both in our neighborhoods and around the world.
Matthew 25 Grants
The vision of the Matthew 25 Committee is to see every congregation in the diocese planting ministries of compassion and justice; every ministry seeking God's transformation for the poor and those at risk; and every congregation finding renewal as it reaches out with the love of Christ to the "least" of his family.
Cange, Haiti
The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina has a 40-year relationship with the people of Cange, Haiti, and the surrounding area Haiti's Central Plateau.
Our diocese supports work throughout Ecuador through our partnership with Educations Equals Hope.
Education Equals Hope (E=H) was started by Cameron Graham Vivanco, who previously served as the Youth Pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Advent, in Spartanburg, SC, before being called to full-time mission work in Ecuador.
Voorhees Scholars
The Diocese of Upper South Carolina, the Diocese of South Carolina, and Voorhees College jointly developed the Voorhees Scholars program for rising ninth grade students in Denmark, S.C. The Voorhees Scholars program includes an one-week intensive on-campus summer experience, and extends throughout the year to include tutoring and library access.
"They live on the campus; they have…
The Committee on Environmental Stewardship and Justice is committed to providing information and resources to assist the churches in the Diocese to initiate or continue programs that reflect care for creation.
Race & Reconciliation
Reconciliation is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. When conflict and division surround us we are called to be healers and reconcilers. The work of reconciliation begins as we seek to understand that which divides us. We commit ourselves to this work in our Baptismal Covenant, promising to "seek and serve Christ in all persons "and to "strive for justice and peace among all people."
Episcopal Relief & Development is the international relief and development agency of The Episcopal Church and is guided by the principles of compassion, dignity, and generosity. In working to heal a hurting world ERD takes its mandate from the words of Jesus that call us to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and welcome the stranger.
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More members of the House of Representatives have been making known their views on Impeaching Trump
Rep. Kurt Schrader
D-Oregon
A long list of names of U.S. House of Representatives congressmen have gone on record in favor of impeaching President Trump based on recent developments. Democrat Kurt Schrader said he was not prepared yet to vote on the matter: Here's his statement:
Rep. Kurt Schrader (Yesterday): "Is this the time to call for impeachment? Does the country need to be divided, or should it be united at this point in time? The president is who he is, he has fans and he has detractors."
Since Rep. Schrader's statement to the public worked its way around his district, he has apparently changed his mind on the matter in less than 24-hours. Here is a "change of heart" comment from a position paper he is circulating today among voters in his district…
Rep. Schrader (Today): "Thank you for reaching out to me about possible impeachment proceedings against President Trump. This is a very somber time in our nation's history, and I appreciate you taking the time to voice your concerns on this serious issue.
As your member of Congress, I have decided to support an impeachment inquiry into the President of the United States. I did not come to this decision lightly and have spent significant time weighing the facts in this case. Only two Presidents in our nation's history have ever been impeached by the House of Representatives. It is a serious charge, and one which requires thoughtful deliberation. However, the gravity of the recent revelations where the President of the United States asked the leader of a foreign government to investigate his political opponent is a threat to the foundation of our democracy. This represents a profound abuse of power and a severe violation of the public's trust. Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution so that Congress would be a check on the executive. Our founders intended for Congress to step up in moments like these and I intend to do just that."


According to the UNESCO, there are approximately 6,000 languages and dialects spoken on earth and over half will go extent by the end of the century as the world's population moves to more urban areas and "standardization" becomes more commonplace in the global economy.
The latest to go was Cromarty fisherfolk, an old Scottish dialect spoken by 92-year-old Bobby Hogg from the seaside Scottish town of Cromarty, located about 175 miles north of Edinburgh. Bobby Hogg died recently, taking with him, the language.
At's theer trouble? / What's your trouble?
As the world becomes smaller, driven by the global economy, international regulations, expending travel, and human migration towards urban areas, the world's more unique languages and dialect are fast becoming unheard of, consigned to the history books.
International air travel has been on a steady increase over the last 40 years, but how do pilots from on country talk to air traffic control of another? The answer, in English. English is designated as the only language to be used worldwide for such aviation standards.
This has caused many pilots, aircrews, air traffic controllers, airline employees, logistical expediters and aviation buffs to learn English proficiently. In turn, they pass it onto those close to them in their personal lives.
This is just one of many industries and companies that have international operations and have had to adopt a more standard communication language.
Another language used on a global scale is Spanish, with it being the official language in countries spanning four of six continents in the world.
While Chinese is also the of the most widely spoken language, the complexity of it, and the variations have kept it in use mainly in China only.


Men taking testosterone usually use one of three methods - gels applied to the skin, injections into a muscle, or pellets implanted under the skin. While all of these methods are effective, data on the long-term effects of these formulations have been lacking.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine conducted a three-year study of 178 men on these three formulations to compare the effects on testosterone levels, estradiol, hemoglobin, hematocrit, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol.
Men receiving injections had the biggest increases in testosterone. They also had the highest rates of erythrocytosis based on hemoglobin and hematocrit measurements. Those using gels and those receiving injections had the most significant increases in estradiol. None of the men had significant PSA or cholesterol increases.
The study was published recently in Sexual Medicine, the ISSM's open access journal. Please click here for more details.
The European Society for Sexual Medicine has planned its 18th Congress for February 4 - 6, 2016 in Madrid, Spain.
The scientific program will include lectures, round table discussions, and podium and poster presentations on a variety of sexual health topics. Complete details are available in the meeting e-book and website.
Both examinations will take place on February 3, 2015. Please note that the registration deadline is November 2, 2015.
Exam preparation courses are also available in Madrid from January 31 - February 2, 2016.
The ESSM18th Congress will provide valuable learning and networking opportunities for all. We hope to see there!
What sexual health concerns do your patients have? We cover a variety of them in the Q and A section of our website and add to this feature weekly.
It's time to think ahead to the 20th World Meeting on Sexual Medicine! The conference will be held September 22 - 25, 2016 in Beijing, China.
On the meeting website, you'll find a welcome message and offerings for attendees.
You'll also find an introduction to Beijing, practical information about traveling there, and the names of committee members who make the meeting possible.


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You are here: Home | Billy Graham | RNB Religion Roundup: Ted Haggard, Billy Graham, Scientology, UFOs and a haunted hospital…
RNB Religion Roundup: Ted Haggard, Billy Graham, Scientology, UFOs and a haunted hospital…
RNB Roundup Friday January 30, 2009 Religion News Blog
RNB Religion Shorts: a compendium of blurbs and links to, for the most part, religion-related stories you may have missed.
Ted Haggard
The Ted Haggard Dilemma: Can a fallen pastor ever redeem himself?
Two years have gone by with little more than occasional peeps from Haggard, and now he's back in The Trials of Ted Haggard, an HBO film directed by Alexandra Pelosi, a sort of sequel to her Friends of God, that documents Haggard's dreary life in exile—no job, no home, no friends, no ministry.
AP reports on the Ted Haggard documentary
Earlier this week, when CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed Pelosi, he tried to open with a question about the fallen minister's "spiritual restoration." Pelosi interrupted Cooper before he could finish the question, saying she couldn't speak to Haggard's mental or spiritual condition. Fair enough. But Cooper's question is the right one—for journalists, for Haggard, for his former church, and for countless other congregations that have suffered similar betrayals.
I was Haggard's writer and editor for eight years. When he called me the weekend he was exposed, he sounded like a broken man. He was grateful for a chance to come clean and stop his downward spiral. In those early days, those of us who knew Haggard figured we would come to know the depth of his duplicity—that he'd fess up completely now that he had nothing to lose. In a confession letter, he promised us that he'd be guided "through a program with the goal of healing and restoration for my life, my marriage, and my family."
But Haggard never really came clean.
And now Haggard is back, telling Oprah Winfrey and Larry King that he's confused about his sexuality and accusing his former church of telling him to "go to hell." In his interviews, Haggard has ranged from humility and self-deprecation to wondering aloud how Christians can be so mean and claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, mother of Trials of Ted Haggard director Alexandra, sent him words of encouragement during his time in exile. (Pelosi's office denied that claim.)
Haggard has complained to some of his old friends, including me, that if he had been a CEO instead of the senior pastor of a church, he would have been back at work in one month.
The problem for people like Ted Haggard … is that he was in a position of public trust. Once fully lost, that trust can never be fully restored. Robert Downey Jr. can become an A-list actor, ruin himself with drugs, sober up, and become an A-list actor all over again. A businessman, a scholar, or a parent can do something similar. Why can't Haggard? Because his very public career was based on the antithesis of his failures. Downey wants only to be a damn fine actor, and he can be that no matter the content of his character. Haggard wanted to be a minister, a position that makes claims on his behavior—claims that Haggard professed to be equal to.
– Source: The Ted Haggard Dilemma: Can a fallen pastor ever redeem himself?, Patton Dodd, Slate, Jan. 29, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
• Lessons learned from lying leaders (article)
• When a Leader Falls: What Happens to Everyone Else? (book)
• When a Leader Falls: Work through the process of redemption and restoration. (articles)
Are Christians Stingy? When believers don't believe in giving.
[I]n the recently released Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money, sociologists Christian Smith, Michael O. Emerson, and Patricia Snell argue that too many American Christians—"the most affluent single group of Christians in two thousand years of church history"—are guilty of Scrooge-like stinginess. At least one in five American Christians, they write, gives no money at all to charities. In some churches, the miserliness rate is even higher. More than 28 percent of Catholics, for example, don't donate to charity.
Most of the money gathered in churches on Sunday is spent inside those same churches on operating expenses likes staff salaries and facility maintenance. The authors of Passing the Plate write that "the vast majority of the money that American Christians do give to religion is spent in and for their own local communities of faith—little is spent on missions, development and poverty relief outside of local congregations."
– Source: Are Christians Stingy? When believers don't believe in giving., Andrew Santella, Slate, Dec. 24, 2008 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
The Church Around The Corner
Believers of a different flock altogether…
Haunted hospital calls in exorcist
Spooked staff at Derby's new Royal Hospital claimed a black-clad figure wearing a cloak was stalking wards and corridors.
Now chiefs at the £334million NHS site are to summon a local priest to see off the "spirit".
Experts said the spirit could be the ghost of a Roman soldier killed on the spot where the original hospital was built in the 1920s. Developers ignored protests and covered over part of one of Ancient Britain's main Roman roads.
– Source: Haunted hospital calls in exorcist, The Sun (UK), Jan. 30, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
RAF 'ordered to shoot down UFOs'
A former member of staff at the Ministry of Defence says alien craft have been fired at by the British military.
Pilots have apparently fired upon the unidentified objects without success since the 1980s, according to Nick Pope, who used to run the Ministry of Defence's UFO project.
– Source: RAF 'ordered to shoot down UFOs', Telegraph (UK), Jan. 28, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
The Church of Scientology really belongs in the previous topic. Then again, its insidious nature warrants a separate section.
Scientology: Death by Devotion
It's funny how people will take lies as gospel and give power to people who have the worst of intentions.
I saw this personally, when I worked for a lady named Yvonne Jentzsch, the founder of the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles. Yvonne was a former kindergarten teacher from Australia who reminded me of the fairy godmother in Walt Disney's Cinderella. It was because of her that I came to Los Angeles and ended up working for $5 a week and room and board, touting the supposedly spectacular effects of "the world's fastest-growing religion." I studied "policies" written by L. Ron Hubbard with sentiments like "always attack, never defend." Working as a treasurer, I learned to lie to creditors and to yell at people and accuse them of crimes. I was told that non-Scientologists were stupid "wogs" (a derogatory term Hubbard lifted from the British, like he borrowed most of his "great ideas"). Meanwhile, Scientologists were told that we were the natural aristocracy of the spiritual universe, in so many words. Thus, when Hubbard insisted that the survival of the planet depended on Scientology taking over, we fell for it.
Hubbard sacked her as head of the Celebrity Centre she had founded, even though the organization literally put Scientology on the map with the Hollywood community. She'd gotten people like John Travolta involved, and John adored her. The problem was, Yvonne had lived for years on two to three hours sleep a night and had developed a brain tumor. Hubbard probably didn't want to foot the medical bills. He announced he was "promoting" her to create and run the "Public Relations Organization" which would promote Scientology all over the world. What he didn't announce was that he didn't fund her, and Yvonne was put in the embarrassing position of literally begging for donations to survive.
When she died, Hubbard issued an edict that Yvonne was still a member of the "Sea Organization" (people who signed billion-year contracts in dedication to Hubbard) and that in her next life when she reached age 21 she should report in for duty.
Travolta and other celebrities never knew the real story about Yvonne; it was kept from them, as other horrors of Scientology are kept from its celebrities today. Few knew that when Hubbard died he was screaming at unseen demons and on the psychiatric drug, Vistaril. Ironic, because Hubbard blamed all the world's problems on psychiatry, the profession he wanted Scientology to supplant. Every aspiring despot summons up a boogeyman, if you haven't noticed.
– Source: Scientology: Death by Devotion, Skip Press, Big Hollywood/Breitbart.com, Jan. 28, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
Man who filmed petroleum jelly-covered Scientology protester's rampage arrested as accessory
The man who videotaped a petroleum jelly-covered protester on a rampage inside a Scientology center in Manhattan was arrested Tuesday for helping with the crime, police said.
Jacob Speregen, 21, of Brooklyn, was charged with two hate crimes including aggravated harassment and criminal mischief for helping Mahoud Samed Almahadin, aka Matt Connor, during the Jan. 14 incident.
Speregen's mother questioned whether her son's right to freedom of speech was being violated.
Noble said her son met Almahadin the day of the prank and never broke the law.
"It is ridiculous," she said. "He was behind the barricade."
– Source: Man who filmed petroleum jelly-covered Scientology protester's rampage arrested as accessory, New York Daily News, Jan. 28, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
The good people at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture write:
We continue to feel a deep sense of gratitude for President Obama's swift action to halt the use of torture. NRCAT encourages faith communities across the country (and around the globe) to join us in offering prayers of praise and thanksgiving to mark the President's Executive Order. Click here to access a page with resources for use in worship services and other settings, including a bulletin insert with a prayer of thanksgiving on one side and next steps in our campaign listed on the other side.
We express gratitude to President Obama, key members of his Administration who helped draft the Executive Order, and the diverse and influential groups who joined with us in this campaign – human rights organizations, retired military and intelligence officers, lawyers representing detainees, legal scholars, and medical professionals – and especially to all the people in local congregations who have signed statements, made phone calls, asked religious organizations and individual people of faith to join us, written letters, witnessed publicly, hung banners or met with Members of Congress to encourage them to end U.S.-sponsored torture.
Our work to secure an end to U.S.–sponsored torture is not over. Executive Orders are not permanent, and Congress still needs to pass additional legislation to make the provisions of President Obama's Executive Order on torture permanent law. NRCAT is also asking Congress to provide for an independent commission with subpoena power to investigate our past use of torture.
– Source: Email, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Jan. 29, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
Attack on women at a bar in India raises fears of 'Hindu Taliban'
The attack by Hindu extremists who say they are protecting traditional Indian culture shows a disconnect as some classes rapidly Westernize. But some observers see a political ploy as elections near.
Girls assaulted in Mangalore pub by Sri Ram Sena and Bajrang Dal activists
While the Mangalore attack, captured by TV crews, has been condemned by police, civic groups and the central government, it follows several other recent actions by conservative Hindus who believe women should not dress in Western clothes, drink alcohol or have an independent lifestyle.
It also underscores the growing gap, social observers say, between an India that has rushed headlong into the 21st century — as seen in the shiny world of call centers and slick urban skylines — and a more traditional world that, while also changing, still has a good deal in common with the 19th century world of ox carts, closeted village women and deep-rooted patriarchal values. "You have Muslim Taliban and this Hindu Taliban," said Kuldip Nayar, a New Delhi-based journalist and political analyst. "Tradition has not been jettisoned as quickly as people in the West think. This class of people going to pubs, dancing, is still very small."
The group that took responsibility for the attack on the 20-something women, Shri Ram Sena, is a radical wing of the Hindu nationalist movement whose most mainstream element is the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP.
– Source: Attack on women at a bar in India raises fears of 'Hindu Taliban', Los Angeles Times, Jan. 29, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
Jewish-Muslim Relationships
Israel's Holocaust museum reaches out to Muslims
RAMLE, Israel — An exhibition on Albanian Muslims who sheltered Jews during World War II opened in this mixed Jewish-Arab town on Tuesday to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but the event was overshadowed by tensions from Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.
It was the first time that Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial, has hosted a standing exhibition in Hebrew and Arabic. Holding the event in Ramle, a working-class town where thousands of Arabs live alongside Jews, underscored the organizers' goal of improving relations.
– Source: Israel's Holocaust museum reaches out to Muslims, Diaa Hadid, AP via the Washington Post, Jan. 27, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
The Upper Reaches: The Remarkable 50-Year White House Ministry of Billy Graham
Barack Obama may be the first American president since Franklin Roosevelt whom evangelist Billy Graham never meets or counsels.
Billy Graham, 1949
America's most famous preacher turned 90 last November 7, and although Obama tried to visit him during the campaign, the evangelist's health precluded it.
But in a meeting with Obama earlier last year, son Franklin, who has succeeded to his father's ministry, made known the Grahams' disagreement with Obama over abortion and same-sex unions.
Still mentally alert though frail, Billy Graham is perhaps the most influential clergyman in US history.
He has been a celebrity since 1949, when his surging Los Angeles crusade persuaded the Hearst press to "puff" him nationally, and across seven decades, he has preached in 185 countries to over 200 million people.
– Source: The Upper Reaches: The Remarkable 50-Year White House Ministry of Billy Graham, Mark Tooley, Touchstone, Jan/Feb. 2009 issue — Summarized by Religion News Blog
Preacher Sues Bill Maher over inclusion in 'Religulous'
Rev. Jeremiah Cummings, founder of the Worldwide International Campaign for Christ Television Network in Orlando, Florida, has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Bill Maher and producer Lionsgate for using him in their documentary Religulous.
– Source: Preacher Sues Maher, Radar, Jan. 28, 2009– Summarized by Religion News Blog
God may not care who wins, but players in Super Bowl care a lot about God
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Arizona running back Tim Hightower had just finished a thoughtful explanation of his religious beliefs when one of the media types who found their way into the Super Bowl stadium Tuesday decided he needed more proof.
"Can you pray right now?" he asked.
"I can pray that whatever is going on in your life right now that you find God," Hightower said.
Hightower handled the question with the same ease he handled would-be tacklers to score the winning touchdown that got his team into the Super Bowl, which by itself was somewhat surprising since he is a rookie on the biggest stage of his young life.
Even more surprising at this Super Bowl, though, is how so many players on both teams aren't hesitating to invoke the name of God as they prepare to play a violent game where there will be no mercy shown on either side.
Usually that has writers setting down their pens and cameramen hitting the pause button until talk returns to the game itself.
But the depth of convictions from evangelical Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner to the Steelers who will do their best to plant him face-first into the ground on Sunday has put religion squarely in play this week. All of a sudden the G-word is in vogue.
– Source: God may not care who wins, but players in Super Bowl care a lot about God, AP via the Chicago Tribune, Jan. 28, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
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Topics: Billy Graham, Hinduism, RNB Roundup, Scientology, Ted Haggard, UFO
This post was last updated: Feb. 20, 2009
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