Somehow we didn't think we had seen the last of Cynthia McKinney.The former controversial congresswoman from Georgia has resurfaced - on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea trying to deliver supplies to Gaza.

Israeli forces arrested McKinney and other passengers on board the ship, according to a group called Free Gaza, which said on its Web site that McKinney and the others "have been illegally incarcerated for their solidarity work with Palestine."

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Saying it had completed an investigation into alleged voter irregularities, Iran's election authority on Monday stood by its findings that gave hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory and sparked more than two weeks of chaos in the streets.There was "no tangible irregularity," Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told government-run Press TV after reporting that a recount of some 10 percent of the votes found no significant differences. "After this, the file will be closed and from today on in the presidential election, the file has been closed."

In an hour-long interview addressing a series of complaints, Kadkhodaei noted that some 40,000 representatives of the various candidates observed the ballot boxes to ensure that rules were followed. Given there were 46,000 ballot boxes, that meant 6,000 were unattended. Even so, allegations of wrongdoing were investigated thoroughly, he said.

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More than six years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraqi troops are assuming control of security in the country's towns and cities.
Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, has declared Tuesday "National Sovereignty Day" and ordered a public holiday.
Over the past few weeks 86 US military bases in Baghdad have closed or handed back to Iraqi command. The BBC's Jim Muir visited one of them.

The foreign ministers of the Central American Integration System (SICA) member nations Sunday "strongly condemned" the military coup in Honduras.

    The coup which ousted and exiled President Manuel Zelaya was a "brutal tread" on democracy and the rule of law, the ministers said in a statement released at an emergency SICA meeting.

    They urged the Honduras' supreme court to restore Zelaya to power immediately, saying that they would not recognize anyone or any government rising from the coup.

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The United States may have been behind the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old Iranian woman whose fatal videotaped shooting Saturday made her a symbol of opposition to the June 12 presidential election results, the country's ambassador to Mexico said Thursday."This death of Neda is very suspicious," Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri said. "My question is, how is it that this Miss Neda is shot from behind, got shot in front of several cameras, and is shot in an area where no significant demonstration was behind held?"He suggested that the CIA or another intelligence service may have been responsible."Well, if the CIA wants to kill some people and attribute that to the government elements, then choosing women is an appropriate choice, because the death of a woman draws more sympathy," Ghadiri said.

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Security was tight around the bare grave of Neda Agha-Soltan on Thursday. Militiamen and police stood nearby, witnesses said, and it was difficult for visitors to hold a conversation within sight and hearing of the glaring officers.

But the visitors come nonetheless to pay their respects to Agha-Soltan, who was shot dead by an unknown assailant during protests Saturday over Iran's disputed presidential election. Her dying moments were captured on video and found their way onto the Internet and the international airwaves.

"I read the news on the Web, and I saw the picture of the grave," said one man, hovering near the burial site. "I figured out the location of the grave and came."

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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has maintained a markedly low profile since Iran’s disputed presidential election erupted into bloody street protests.But analysts said the crackdown now taking place across Iran suggested that Mr. Ahmadinejad had succeeded in creating a pervasive network of important officials in the military, security agencies, and major media outlets, a new elite made especially formidable by support from one important constituent, Iran’s supreme leader himself.

Mr. Ahmadinejad has filled crucial ministries and other top posts with close friends and allies who have spread ideological and operational support for him nationwide. These analysts estimate that he has replaced 10,000 government employees to cement his loyalists through the bureaucracies, so that his allies run the organizations responsible for both the contested election returns and the official organs that have endorsed them.

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In the first days after Iran's disputed election, journalists covered it openly. Then, as government militias cracked down, they were told to stay in their offices. Now, many are being arrested -- so far, a Canadian Iranian reporter for Newsweek, a Greek reporter for the Washington Times and several dozen Iranian reporters, including a group arrested en masse at their office.It is unclear why the journalists were arrested or what, if anything, they will be charged with. The detentions could, some experts say, be a scare tactic. Or, as with so much of what is happening in Iran now, they could be the beginning of a new phase in which old rules don't necessarily apply.

Maziar Bahari, 41, a documentary filmmaker who has covered Iran for Newsweek for nearly a decade, was arrested Sunday morning at his mother's house. The magazine has retained a lawyer for him, but no one has been able to ascertain where he is.

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Iranian police broke up a protest in Tehran and the hardline Revolutionary Guards said they would help crush what they called rioters opposing the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate stop on Monday to use of force against civilians in the Islamic Republic and said Iranian authorities should respect civil rights in dealing with protests.

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Smoking, we all know has a number of bad effects on our health. Ranging from cancer to bronchitis, it can devastate a person’s health. This is why the governments all across the globe have been banning smoking in public places sans mercy. Howver, there are many who just can’t do without a cigarette and the nicotine that gives them a kick.

This is especially felt while at bars and pubs as people enjoy smoking while drinking. United Drinks and Beauty Corporation has unveiled the ‘Liquid Smoking’ which causes an instant high and euphoria among users and causes a similar effect to that of nicotine. The company hopes the drink will be used as a mixer in bars and clubs. However, the drink’s efficacy and safety has not been tested yet.

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