Results tagged “iran”

After previously filing forfeiture action on 650 Fifth Avenue, claiming it was owned by a company laundering money for Iranian terrorists, federal prosecutors have move to seize the 36-floor skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan as well as properties in Queens—including a mosque— owned by the Alavi Foundation. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, "The Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran." said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who sued to grab more than $500 million in assets.

Shocking claim from British newspaper the Daily Telegraph: Iranian leader (and Holocaust denier) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is Jewish!

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu produced evidence for the Holocaust on the floor of the UN General Assembly yesterday, in an attempt to put down once and for all the Iranian election-stealer's declaration that the whole thing is based on "a lie and a mythical claim." The Post's front page today shows Netanyahu holding the actual minutes from the German government meeting that planned out the "final solution." He also showed the Assembly plans from Auschwitz, and said of Ahmadinejad, "Have you no shame? Have you no decency?"

       

Yesterday, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the United Nations General Assembly stage—and got the U.S., French, British, Canadian and other delegations to walk out when he referred to Israel in his speech: "It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions."

Supporters of Iran's seemingly sputtered Green Revolution apparently attempted to get the ESB to show green lights this week while Ahmadinejad was in town for the UN meetings — and were refused. But the WSJ notes the building will be lit in green on Thursday anyway for something much more important: the "Wizard Of Oz's 70th Anniversary Emerald Gala."

Synonymous with folk music ever since her earliest days singing on college campuses in the 1960s, Joan Baez has never been one for silence. She's released dozens of albums featuring her distinctive voice over the course of her 50-year career and she's still an active performer, touring cross-country this summer before heading to Europe later this fall.

Hundreds of demonstrators, alerted through Facebook and Twitter, gathered for a rally in Union Square last night in solidarity with Iranian opposition groups who have been protesting the results of last week's presidential election. According to this video, the peaceful rally seems to have gone off without incident, unlike in Iran, where some demonstrators have been beaten and killed after taking to the streets. Today in south Tehran, an estimated one million Iranians are marching to protest the election, which handed victory to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's authoritative Guardian Council has now offered to meet with reformist candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi, as well as the two other main opposition candidates, but it's unclear whether that overture will placate the increasingly enraged protesters. Here in New York, rally organizer Amid Amidi told Voice of America, "They are out there now fighting for democracy and reform, and I just want to say that people here in New York hear you. We hear your struggle and we are 100 percent behind you."

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared his re-election "real and free" and compared the violent protests that broke out after his victory to "passions after a football match." While his opponent, Mir Hossein Moussavi, claimed ballot irregularities, noting how polls showed he was leading over incumbent Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad said of the unhappy reactions, "It doesn't matter. Some people are sentimental and become excited...Their team has not won in the match." He also blocked access to web sites and text messaging. In Europe, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Hague in the Netherlands to dispute the results (the EU said it was "concerned about alleged irregularities") and NY1 reports that dozens of Iranians in the city, who were allowed to vote in the election at polling centers in Manhattan and Queens, protested outside the consulate yesterday. One said, "Many people went and voted in Iran for a change, and the results of our votes are not being respected in an unprecedented way in Iran."

A Chinese man is charged with setting up four bogus companies to sell nuclear bomb-making materials to the Iranian military, and using several unnamed NYC banks to conduct the illegal transactions (supposedly without their knowledge). Manhattan DA Robert M. Morgenthau held a press conference today announcing a 118-count indictment of Li Fang Wei, who is not believed to be in the U.S. While acknowledging the charges could result in a relatively light prison sentence for Li, Morgenthau explained that "what we are doing is to make every effort to prosecute the company which is perhaps the largest supplier of weapons of mass destruction to the Iranian government, and also to let people know that the Iranians are deadly serious about acquiring materials for long-range missiles and for atom bombs." The indictment has certainly alarmed Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control; he tells the Times, "If exports of this magnitude are routinely going from China to Iran, then it’s clear that the United States has failed in its efforts to curb this kind of proliferation."

export license from the United States Department of Treasury.") The NY Times reports, "The seizure was the latest step in the government’s broader effort to financially suffocate Iran’s biggest banks, several of which have been accused of funneling money to groups like Hamas and financing Iran’s nuclear missile program." Tenants in the building include Citibank and the Juicy flagship store.

Today's anti-Iran rally, which was to have included politicians but then didn't, attracted thousands of protesters, according to the Jerusalem Post. They gathered across from the United Nations, where the United Nations General Assembly is kicking off; Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is speaking there tomorrow.

After Hillary Clinton bowed out of an anti-Iran rally, which prompted organizers to disinvite Sarah Palin, some people are upset. WCBS 2 reports that the disinvitation was "the result of intense pressure from Democrats"--and it meant all politicians were disinvited, including City Councilman Dov Hikind who said, "This is insulting. This is embarrassing, especially to Gov. Palin, to me and I think it should be to every single New Yorker." Last night, at the State of Israel Bonds dinner where Clinton said, "We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," the Observer found Iranian Jews split over her decision to skip the rally. And Representative Anthony Weiner weighed in, too, "I don’t believe this was a grand conspiracy. It was a complete mess by the organizers. It got too political. The casualty here? Me."

It would have been the first time Senator Hillary Clinton and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared together (for real, not for funny). But once Clinton learned that Palin would be attending the same rally at the U.N., organized by a number of Jewish groups to, per Newsday, "show U.S. opposition to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," Clinton decided she rather not go.

Last week's Republican National Convention sparked passionate debate over the qualifications and treatment of Sarah Palin as well as John McCain's poaching the message of "change" from the Democrats the week prior. Possibly lost in the shuffle was the relatively small amount of airplay given to the 9/11 attacks, especially when compared to how central a theme they were throughout the previous RNC held here in New York. Even Rudy Giuliani didn't spend a great deal of his speaking time hearkening back to 9/11 in comparison with his usual rhetoric.

The Enough Fear campaign has come to New York, and earlier today New Yorkers and Iranians were speaking to each other at City Hall on red vintage phones the organization set up.

...for being totally rude! It's actually not the kind of #1 ranking Bollinger would prefer, as it's for Time's Top 10 Awkward Moments of 2007 list. As Bwog points out, Bollinger deftly bypasses "David Hasselhoff, David Vitter, Rosie, Paris, Miss Teen South Carolina, Caroline Giuliani, and (wait for it) BRITNEY SPEARS" for his introduction of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last September, calling him a "petty and cruel dictator." Ahmadinejad earns the #2 spot on Time's...

Irene Boland, the co-author of Wind the World Over, works in the sustainability office of the EPA. Her office covers Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) helps people pursue green living through their built environment. You can find out more about her office at the EPA on their website. Irene resides in Brooklyn, "under the BQE." How did you and your co-author, Vanessa Kellogg come up with the...

Democrats Senator Charles Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein joined nine Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and approved the nomination of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey to go to the full Senate. The vote was 11-8, the eight opposing votes from the remaining Democrats on the committee. His confirmation is expected next week. Mukasey - and his supporters - has faced criticism after not declaring waterboarding illegal. Schumer has an op-ed in today's NY Times...

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television:

With a heavy heart, we say farewell to another wonderful film festival at Lincoln Center.

We're sure to take a bunch of flack about this, but bear with us for a sec. Maroon 5? Not so bad. In fact, at least judging by the first two singles off their latest album, they've moved past the tasteless soccer-mom rock into a legitimately perverted cocaine-sex territory (Exhibit 1: Their amazingly over the top video for 'Wake Up Call'). And that's a good thing. Combine that with a clever SNL/Samberg cameo on Iran So Far and an arena debut at MSG this week with Kanye West coming out as a surprise guest, we're officially impressed. Watch out. (pic via Jen DeRosa's Flickr)

Volatile Dutch actor Youssef Sjoerd Idilbi did two things that are almost unheard of during a Sunday performance of the play Is.Man at St. Ann’s Warehouse. The first warms our heart: He stopped his performance to confront an audience member about a ringing cell phone. His second move brazenly defied the theatrical tradition of ‘the show must go on’. Technical problems with the sound board had caused the cancellation of the previous night's performance; when those glitches resurfaced 20 minutes into the Sunday show, Idilbi tore off his microphone and stormed out of the theater. Awkward!

Are disputes between dry cleaners and their customers a new source of income for lawyers? The owner of an Upper East Side drycleaning business is suing a man for papering the neighborhood around his store with fliers that impeach the quality of his service. Todd Ofsink owns Todd Layne Cleaners on East 77th St. and is suing Evan Maloney for $100,000 for defamation. Maloney had some negative customer experiences at the store, so he set up a site called ToddLayneCleanersSucks.com and began posting fliers.

EVENTS: Both Open House NY and The New Yorker Festival are upon us. You can check out more of OHNY's event here, and The New Yorker Festival here. Some picks:

SNL is back! Not sure if the exclamation point is necessary, but their 33rd season kicked off this past weekend with some good stuff. LeBron James was host and Kanye West was the musical guest -- West actually showed up in a good sketch, though oddly enough not this musical one. The below is a ballad to the President of Iran called "Iran So Far" delivered by Andy Samberg and Maroon 5's Adam Levine. "You can't deny there's something between us. I know you say there's no gays in Iran, but you're in New York now, baby!"

The NYPD's Hate Crime Unit is investigating numerous instances of anti-Semitic vandalism in Brooklyn Heights. Monday evening, swastikas were found painted on two synagogues, three buildings, and two cars, but by yesterday afternoon, over a dozen other markings were discovered (one brownstone also had an SS logo painted on it), as well as flyers with swastikas and slurs on cars' windshields.

Columbia University has weathered storm of criticism for inviting Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at its World Leader Forum yesterday. Columbia president Lee Bollinger had said that critical questions would be posed, and he wasn't kidding: Before Ahmadinejad spoke, Bollinger gave a lengthy speech that attacked the leader's positions and intelligence, said he exhibited "all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," and called him ridiculous. You can read Bollinger's speech here, but here are his final words:

Let me close with this comment. Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately, I am told by experts on your country, that this only further undermines your position in Iran with all the many good-hearted, intelligent citizens there. A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country (as in your meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations) so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party’s defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more.

Continue reading "Columbia President Praised For Smacking Down Ahmadinejad"

This morning, President Bush is addressing the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. He is expected to discuss "global fight against terrorism, tyranny and poverty," as well as sanctions against Myanmar in support of the protest organized by Buddhist monks. However, he will only mention Iran briefly, and will opt to cover "broad themes." A White House spokesman said, "The president wanted this speech to focus on many other issues that are facing the world -- issues that people in Sudan and Zimbabwe and Burma and countless other countries are dealing with," referring to the United Nations' mission to ensuring freedom.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke today, giving a speech and sort of answers some of questions posed by Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and School of International and Public Affairs Dean John Coatsworth. We're sure video and transcripts will come shortly, but in the meant time, The Bwog, New York, and City Room have been liveblogging the speech. Here's a sample of questions posed, via the City Room:

In response to a question about the treatment of homosexuals in Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad was initially evasive, instead talking about the death penalty, which, he pointed out, exists in the United States: “People who violate the laws by using guns, creating insecurity selling guns, distributing guns at a high level are sentenced to execution in Iran. Very few of these punishments are carried out in the public eye.”

Continue reading "Ahmadinejad Speaks, People Listen, Applaud, Boo, Hiss"