Bahrainis Decry Merger Plan With Saudis

Tens of thousands of protesters chanting “Bahrain is not for sale” jammed a major highway on Friday to denounce proposals for closer unity between the unrest-torn Persian Gulf kingdom and neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The rally’s large turnout--demonstrators stretched for more than five kilometers (three miles) along a main highway--underscored the strong backlash to efforts by Bahrain’s rulers to integrate key policies such as defense and foreign affairs with their powerful Saudi neighbor.
Riyadh has aided Bahrain’s embattled Sunni monarchy with troops and money during the island nation’s 15-month uprising, AP reported.
Leaders for Bahrain’s majority Shiites call the unity proposal a sellout of the country’s independence and an effort to give Saudi security forces a stronger hand in crackdowns in the strategic island kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
Persian Gulf Arab leaders earlier this week delayed any decisions on seeking greater unity among members of the six-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council. Some members, such as the United Arab Emirates, also have raised questions about whether closer PGCC cooperation would give too much power to Saudi Arabia.

“No Unity”
Crowds streaming along a highway outside Bahrain’s capital Manama on Friday chanted slogans, such as “No unity, no unity,” and “Bahrain is not for sale.”
Protesters also chanted “Down, down Hamad!”, referring to their country’s ruler, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Organ Donations Up in Iran

About 100,000 organ transplants have been performed in Iran so far and Iran ranks 42nd in the world with regard to organ donation.

Pregnant Women Should Not Eat for Two

Pregnant women who eat for two and gain too much weight are at greater risk of having complications than those who stick to a healthy diet...

Thousands Rally Against NATO in Chicago

Thousands of people protested loudly under the watchful eye of police at a downtown Chicago plaza on Friday, chanting mostly about economic issues that have little to do with the summit of the NATO military alliance this weekend.
Police estimated about 2,500 people took part in the largest protest so far in a week of demonstrations before President Barack Obama and representatives from some 60 countries arrived for the two-day summit to discuss the war in Afghanistan and other international security issues.
The only incident was a minor scuffle between police and protesters when a man climbed a bridge tower to rip down a banner advertising the NATO summit.
“Wake up! Wake up! We want freedom, freedom! Tell those dirty-assed bankers we don’t need ‘em, need ‘em!” protesters chanted, stressing a theme of opposition to big banks that has been championed by the Anti-Wall Street Occupy movement.
Some 150 blue-uniformed Chicago police officers ringed the square, named after former Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was in office during bloody clashes between police and anti-Vietnam War protesters at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago.
Political activist Tom Hayden, who was among the leaders of the 1968 anti-war protests, spoke to the rally, reminding the demonstrators of the incident, which has remained a stain on Chicago’s reputation.

G8 Talks More, Acts Less On Food Crisis

Int’l Economy Desk

Following discussions between the G8 and some African leaders at Camp David over the weekend, the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition will constitute the next phase of a groundbreaking program that began during the 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy.
At that time, motivated in particular by the 2007-8 global crisis in food prices, G8 leaders committed more than $22 billion over three years toward food security, IPS wrote.
This was a dramatic turnaround from a decades-long trend of falling agriculture-related aid.
According to ActionAid USA, a rights group based in Washington, by 2000, international contributions to agriculture had dropped by 50 percent from the 1980s. At the end of 2012, however, the timeframe for the L’Aquila commitments will expire.
While several of the G8 countries are currently on track to fulfill those pledges, several others are not. Currently, only around 44 percent of this aid have been disbursed.
In the lead-up to Friday’s announcement, however, many observers warned that the efficacy of the New Alliance would largely depend on these details of the continued assistance, which are still vague.

West Should Lift Sanctions

A senior Iranian official said on Saturday that sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program should be lifted in talks with world powers next week in Baghdad, but maintained the punitive measures would not compel it to abandon its atomic rights.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the Persian daily ‘Iran’ that the lifting of sanctions would display ‘the first signs’ that the West is changing its ‘wrong’ approach towards Iran and its nuclear work.
Mehmanparast reiterated Tehran’s assertion that the sanctions have no legal basis, but admitted ‘no one in Iran is happy about the sanctions’ and that they ‘may cause problems’.
However, he insisted that ‘sanctions do not really have a significant effect’.
Iran on May 23 is to meet representatives of the so-called Group 5+1, comprising the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, in Iraq’s capital for the second round of talks which were revived in April in Istanbul after a 15-month impasse.
Iranian leaders have been increasingly demanding that the sanctions targeting its trade and banking sectors as well its oil exports be lifted, while insisting that they were ineffective.

No Compromise on Rights
Mehmanparast reiterated that Iran would not give up its atomic work. “If the West thinks we will give up our rights due to sanctions, they are definitely mistaken,” he said.

Nonoil Exports to Reach $83b by 2015

Domestic Economy Desk

The plan to earn $83 billion from nonoil exports by the end of Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-15) is tied to establishing stability in the value of foreign exchange as well as regulations and rules, said a senior official of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
Kiumars Fathollah-Kermanshahi told IRNA on Saturday the aforesaid target is planned against $77 billion in imports and in line with the National Strategy for Imports and National Strategy for Promoting Exports.
He said nonoil exports had been targeted at $45 billion for the year to March 2012--the first year of the Fifth Plan. This is while, it the figure actually exceeded the target and reached $48 billion, he added.

French Troops Out of Afghanistan By Yearend

New French President Francois Hollande told President Barack Obama on Friday that he will stick by his pledge to withdraw France’s troops from Afghanistan at year’s end, a note of discord in an otherwise convivial first meeting between the two leaders.
“I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the French people to the effect that our combat troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012,” Hollande said after Oval Office talks with Obama, Reuters reported.
“That being said, we will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way,” he said.
Hollande’s remarks, while not a surprise, underscore the challenge Obama faces in keeping NATO allies on board as he tries to chart a gradual course out of Afghanistan. The alliance agreed two years ago to a 2014 deadline for withdrawing most of its combat troops.
The Afghan war will be the central topic when NATO leaders meet in Chicago, Obama’s home town, on Sunday and Monday.

Italy Oil Imports From Iran Up

Italy raised crude oil imports from Iran by about six percent in March from February despite the planned new sanctions against Tehran, while total crude import fell amid weak demand for refined oil products, according to oil industry body Unione Petrolifera (UP).
Italy, which relies on Iran to cover 10.4 percent of its crude oil import needs, raised oil purchases from the Islamic Republic to 425,200 tons in March from 401,600 tons in February, the UP data showed.
At 1.69 million tons in the first quarter of 2012, Italy’s crude imports from Iran were above the 1.44 million tons imported in the January-March period of 2011, according to UP which represents major Italian and foreign refiners and oil product distributors working in Italy.
The European Union decided in January to stop all Iranian oil imports as of July, part of a range of tough new sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran to curb its atomic work.
Tehran has said sanctions should be eased if the international community wants progress in nuclear talks.
Imports from Libya, which has regained its No.1 supplier status lost during the civil war there last year, jumped nearly 80 percent month-on-month to 1.29 million tons. UP did not provide an explanation for rise in imports.

By Mohammad Reza Erfanian

One Who Sows the Wind, Shall …

Lebanon’s 15-year civil war that started in 1975 left some 150,000 citizens dead and 200,000 more injured. Over 900,000 were also forced to leave their homes.
During these years, the Zionist regime tried to fan the flames of civil war in Lebanon to remove it from the axis of resistance. However, in the end, not only did the Lebanese people manage to maintain the territorial integrity of their country, but Lebanon also became one of the great players in the resistance axis.
Now, northern Lebanon, particularly the city of Tripoli, has recently been the scene of some unrest. Many prominent Lebanese leaders and politicians from various factions caution that these unrests are not normal and that some foes of Lebanon are seeking to lead the country to another civil war by creating a series of incidents.
The An-Nahar daily wrote there is a plan by foreign conspirators to force the army to get involved in clashes in Tripoli.
The As-Safir daily quoted Lebanese security sources as saying that armed groups have entered the country to conduct terrorist operations. According to Al-Diyar newspaper, terrorists have gone to Lebanon to assassinate some of the country’s officials.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel have also issued serious warnings about foreign interference in recent unrests.
Experts believe that all the evidence indicate that armed groups, incited by foreigners intend to play with Lebanon’s stability, security and territorial integrity. This plot aims to create chaos and insecurity concurrently in Lebanon and Syria to weaken the axis of resistance.
It is obvious that the Zionist regime is collaborating with certain countries to undermine regional stability by generating crises, unrest and chaos in a bid to strengthen its positions.
Here two major points can be considered:
First, the people of Lebanon should be aware of the conspiracies that are being hatched and remain steadfast in their efforts to maintain the country’s territorial integrity and security for all groups and factions.

85 Anti-Piracy Missions in 3 Years

Iran Will Become Top Regional Steel Producer

Shadi Hoping to Improve Record

‘Last Days of Winter’ Heading to France

Amano to Discuss IAEA-Iran Cooperation