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Saturday, June 20, 2009 TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday demanded an end to street protests over last week's disputed presidential election, siding with declared winner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Making his first public appearance after daily demonstrations against the results, he ruled out any major fraud in the election and warned that defeated candidates would be held to account over any renewed violence on the streets. "The people have chosen whom they wanted," Khamenei said in a sermon at the main weekly prayers in Tehran.

Friday, June 19, 2009 WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama’s honeymoon period has probably finished, since two new surveys suggested that the Americans are gravely concern over his policy. A poll jointly conducted by news two publications here showed that the US President’s popularity went down from 61% in April to 56%. Furthermore, the majority of the respondents (58%) want more changes capable of trimming the deficit, even if it may take longer for the recovery of the US economy.Seven in Ten Wary of His Interventions in EconomyAlmost 70% of those surveyed said they were concerned over the federal government’s intervention in economy, healthcare and social security and Obama’s rescue of General Motors.The poll found that just 37%t of Americans thought Obama had taken on too many issues, while 60% said he was fighting on many fronts because the country faced many pressing problems.In the meantime, the Republicans’ popularity has received a heavy blow, since only 28% of the people gav...

Friday, June 19, 2009 TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the June 12 presidential election showed the people's trust in the country's Islamic system and people picked who they wanted.

Friday, June 19, 2009 DEOBAND: Grandson of Maulana Mohammad Qasim Nanotawi and rector of the Darul Uloom Waqf (Deoband) Maulana Salim Qasimi said Taliban have less knowledge and more ignorance; hence, they should not be deemed as having any affiliation with Jama’at Deoband.Talking to a British radio, Maulana Qasmi said Taliban government in Afghanistan was not Islamic at all.Commenting on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he said Maulana is more political than a scholar.While reacting to Taliban terming Supreme Court and democracy as Kufr, Sadrul Mudrasssin and Nazim-e-Ta’leemat of Darul Uloom Deoband (Wakf) Maulana Aslam Qasmi said it is sheer ignorance, adding the concept of democracy is present in Islam; however, its has many various manifestations.He said it un-Islamic to blow up the barber shops, education organizations and tombs, adding Maulana Nanotawi wanted to learn English language; but, time did not allow him do so.Sheikhul Hadith of Darul Uloom Deoba...

Friday, June 19, 2009 MADRID: Police in Spain's Basque region say a car bomb blast has killed one person. News reports say the victim was a police officer killed Friday when a bomb attached to the underside of his car detonated as he started the engine. A Basque police official could not confirm those details, saying only that the person inside the car died.

It will be an all-Asia final at the ICC World Twenty20 after Sri Lanka maintained their unbeaten record by crushing West Indies by 57 runs at The Oval. Tillakaratne Dilshan added another installment to his breathtaking tournament with an unbeaten 96, the highest score of the event, as his team-mates struggled for momentum. Angelo Mathews then stunned West Indies with three wickets in the opening over before the spinners strangled the middle order, leaving Chris Gayle forlornly unbeaten on 63, carrying his bat as no one else reached double figures. After everything the two countries have been through, it is fitting that Sri Lanka will meet Pakistan in the final. However, unlike Pakistan's campaign which has burst into life after a slow start, there has been a sense of destiny about Kumar Sangakkara's team reaching the Lord's showdown. Sri Lanka's run has been a triumph of mental strength and character and they now have the chance to mark their return to the internationa...

Friday, June 19, 2009 CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is standing by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.The Venezuelan government, "in the name of the people," hailed the "extraordinary democratic development" that resulted in Ahmadinejad's victory, according to a statement. "The Bolivarian government of Venezuela expresses its firm rejection of the ferocious and unfounded campaign to discredit, from abroad, that has been unleashed against Iran, with the objective of muddying the political climate of this brother country," said the statement. "We demand the immediate end to maneuvers to intimidate and destabilize the Islamic Revolution."

Friday, June 19, 2009 WASHINGTON: The US Senate passed a 106-billion-dollar stopgap bill Thursday to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, shore up efforts to fight swine flu, aid Pakistan, and boost IMF loans to poor nations. Lawmakers voted 91-5 for the measure, which would fund those initiatives until fiscal year 2010 begins on October 1, sending the spending package to US President Barack Obama for his signature. Obama has vowed to end the practice of using emergency spending bills to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and instead fund US efforts there in the regular yearly appropriations process. The House of Representatives had approved the measure late Tuesday.

Friday, June 19, 2009 WASHINGTON: A top Republican in Congress is slamming the White House response to the ongoing protests and violence in Iran over that country's controversial election results."The Administration's position that what's going on in Iran is a 'vigorous debate' is absurd," House Republican Whip Eric Cantor said in a statement released Thursday. "People are being brutalized and murdered by the regime in Tehran. We have no idea exactly how many have died or have been seriously injured, since the regime has restricted journalists. In no way do these actions constitute a 'vigorous debate.'"The congressman from Virginia, the number two Republican in the House, added that "America has a moral responsibility to stand up for these brave people, to defend human rights, and to condemn the violence and abuses by the regime in Tehran."Sen. John McCain told media Wednesday President Barack Obama's statement that he does...

Friday, June 19, 2009 WASHINGTON: NASA Thursday launched two probes in the first step of a long journey to return mankind to the moon in 2020.The dual LRO and LCROSS missions were launched on an Atlas V rocket from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a landmark lunar exploration mission to scout for water sources and landing sites on Earth's satellite. Bad weather delayed the launch by about 20 minutes, before officials from the US space agency gave the go-ahead for the mission to blastoff.

Friday, June 19, 2009 LORDS: The second semi-final of Twenty20 World Cup will be played between West Indies and Sri Lanka today at Kennington Oval.The winner of today’s team will meet Pakistan in the final on June 21. It would be a no-holds-barred battle between Sri Lanka's amazing consistency and West Indies' characteristic effervescence when the two fierce title aspirants collide head-on in the second semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20.