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The US has dismissed an accusation by Iran that it was behind the murder of an Iranian nuclear physics professor, who was killed in a bomb blast. Mark Toner, a US state department spokesman, on Tuesday called the allegation "absurd", hours after Massoud Mohammadi, a professor at Tehran University, was killed in the north of Tehran, the capital. Iranian media reported that a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside Mohammadi's home, killing him. Iran's foreign ministry had said that US and Israeli "mercenaries" were behind the attack. Earlier, the Iranian state-run Press TV reported: "The explosion took place near the professor's home in Qeytariyeh neighbourhood, in northern Tehran". 'Terrorist act' It said Mohammadi was a "staunch supporter" of Iran's 1979 revolution and that he was "assassinated in a terrorist act by counter-revolutionary elements".
The broadcaster said police and security officials have launched an investigation. Iranian media reports described Mohammadi as a nuclear energy professor, citing Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor. "Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was a professor in the nuclear field and there has so far been no arrests of those behind this incident," the Fars News Agency reported. Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Mohammadi might have had links to Iran's disputed nuclear programme. "Authorities who decided to remain unnamed tell me that Mohammadi had some connections with Iran's nuclear programme and this [the murder] could be related," he said. He said it was unclear who might have been behind the bombing. "Anyone who is connected to Iran's nuclear programme could be an easy target for [foreign] intelligence services. "Iran tries to protect its nuclear scientists very well but sometimes things get out of hand, and incidents like this happen." 'Zionist agents' Baqer Moin, an Iranian author and journalist in London, said Iranian media have accused "Zionist agents" as being behind the blast. "They are looking towards people who are interested in delaying the Iranian nuclear programme. Websites close to the [Iranian] authorities are making these statements," he told Al Jazeera. "There have been in the past reports that many nuclear scientists or people who wanted to join the Iranian nuclear organisation have been intimidated. "There also were claims of other assassinations. But this is the first time in recent months that in Tehran such an occurrence has happened." Western powers, including the US, accuse Iran of covertly seeking to develop atomic weapons. They demand that Iran accept a UN brokered offer that would delay Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon as well as engage in broader talks with the ultimate goal of persuading it to stop its enrichment programme. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. Source: Al Jazeera Sarah Palin
News that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is to be a contributor to the Fox News Channel is widely discussed in the US media, largely for what it might say about the beaten Republican vice-presidential candidate's hopes for a shot at the presidency in 2012. For ABC News' Rick Klein the move "appears to be a step away from elected office". "While the Fox job will leave room for other pursuits, it's also the latest sign that Palin... is looking for ways to build upon her political brand in ways that don't necessarily include a run for the presidency in 2012. "Though terms of the Fox deal have not been made public, this plus her quick authorship of a bestselling memoir suggest that Palin's attention has turned to her own finances since leaving public life."
CNN's Ed Hornick agrees , suggesting Ms Palin is sending a "clear message" that she is "unlikely to run" in 2012. Hornick quotes Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Paul Begala saying the same, while adding a couple of barbs: "I do think maybe it suggests, sadly for Democrats, that she might not be running... Let's first hope for [Fox News President] Roger Ailes' sake that she doesn't quit that job the way she quit her job as governor of Alaska." But Howard Kurtz, in the Washington Post, notes that Ms Palin, "who has been broadcasting her political views on her Facebook page, has just acquired a far more potent media megaphone". "Out-of-work politicians are increasingly using television and radio to stay on the political radar and keep their options open, which is one reason that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, an also-ran in the 2008 White House race and possible 2012 contender, is now hosting a weekend show, also on Fox," Kurtz adds. The "megaphone" metaphor is also used by Matea Gold and Mark Barabak in the LA Times , who note that "Fox News gets a high-profile figure whose pronouncements on issues such as healthcare reform have helped drive contentious partisan debate".
Political analyst Darrell West tells the Times that it will be hard for Ms Palin to use the job with Fox News - a channel which claims neutrality but is widely seen as having a conservative bias - to broaden her political base. But Republican strategist David Carney sees her limited role at the channel as a sensible move, adding that it is "probably safer for keeping her presidential possibilities open than a daily show where she'd have to come up with something innovative and entertaining and provocative for 42 minutes, five days a week". 'Ashamed and sickened'
Steve Steckler, a contributor to Politico.com's Arena section, hopes to sees Ms Palin placed "in regular on-air debates with well-armed adversaries rather than just serving up [Glenn] Beck-like monologues". "If it is the latter, then write her off as a serious future political contender, since she won't have demonstrated that she has overcome her most relevant weaknesses as a candidate," Steckler adds. In the US edition of FT.com, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Edward Luce suggest that the deal has "revved up" Ms Palin's presidential hopes. But they also note that her appointment came a day after Matthew Freud, son-in-law of News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, denounced Roger Ailes, the chairman and chief executive of Fox News. Freud told the New York Times he was "ashamed and sickened by Roger Ailes's horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News Corporation, its founder and every other global media business aspires to". Media U-turn?
In an article titled "Fox's Newest Star, Sarah Palin, May Be a Bit Dim", The Nation's John Nichols focuses on a new book of the 2008 presidential election, Game Change, by reporters John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. In the book, and in a CBS "60 Minutes" interview , 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain's senior adviser, Steve Schmidt, describes Palin as a stunningly inept and ill-prepared contender for the vice presidency. Meanwhile, Time.com provides a photo gallery detailing Ms Palin's life since the 2008 US presidential election. And on the Atlantic's website, Max Fisher has compiled a selection of previous Palin appearances on Fox News. "Whether you're a Palin fan warming up the DVR or a Palin skeptic discovering another reason to tune out Fox News, here's what you may have to look forward to when Palin graces your set," Fisher writes. Finally, Erika Bolstad in Alaska's Anchorage Daily News notes: "Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will join Fox News as a contributor, a job that establishes her as an official member of the mainstream media she lambasted in her own bestselling memoir as 'worthless as a source of factual information anymore'." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Todays' news!US denies role in Iran murder....
[The job] establishes her as an official member of the mainstream media she lambasted in her own bestselling memoir as 'worthless as a source of factual information anymore' 
