The American middle class is on the verge of disappearing, while the United States, itself, is in danger of becoming a third world country, a leading German newspaper says. Read the full story

Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant on Saturday, a major milestone as Teheran forges ahead with its atomic program despite UN sanctions. Read the full story

The US must dissolve its private security firms in Afghanistan and end the war lobby which controls Washington, a former US Congresswoman says. Read the full story

A former US envoy to the UN has hinted that as of next week any Israeli attack on a nuclear power plant in southern Iran could trigger a humanitarian disaster. Read the full story

As the US and its European allies are trying to increase unilateral sanctions against Iran, other major states show bold resistance to the punitive measures. Read the full story

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang told the visiting Iranian oil minister on Friday that Beijing would maintain cooperation with Tehran on existing projects, after the United States called on Beijing to observe sanctions.

“Iran is an important trade partner of China’s in western Asia and North Africa and one of the country’s main oil suppliers. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has achieved fruitful results,” state television paraphrased Li as telling minister Massoud Mirkazemi.

“China is willing to work hard with Iran, continue to push mutual political trust, and maintain communication, dialogue and coordination on important international issues, to maintain regional and global peace, stability and prosperity,” Li added.

“The key point is to solidly push forward existing cooperative projects, to ensure they are put into effect smoothly, to deepen bilateral pragmatic cooperation and promote the continued development of bilateral ties,” he added.

State television showed pictures of the meeting, in the Communist Party’s headquarters in central Beijing, on its main evening news.

Mirkazemi said he hoped that “both sides would create conditions to push forward existing projects,” the brief report added, without elaborating.

The minister is in Beijing for talks with Chinese energy executives. He has not made any public comments.

China has already pushed back at U.S. pressure on its business and oil trade with Iran in comments published earlier this week, saying Chinese trade dealings with Iran should not be criticized.

The government was responding to comments by Robert Einhorn, special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the U.S. State Department, who said on Monday that China should observe sanctions against Iran aimed at forcing it to curtail its nuclear ambitions.

Western governments have pressed China to loosen its energy and economic ties with Iran, which they see as shielding Iran from international pressure.

Iran is a major supplier of crude oil to China, the world’s second-biggest consumer of oil after the United States.

The United States has urged China to tap other suppliers, but China has condemned unilateral U.S. and E.U. sanctions aimed at Iran’s energy sector.

China has backed U.N. Security Council resolutions pressing Iran to abandon disputed nuclear activities, which Western governments say are aimed at giving Iran the means to make nuclear weapons. Iran disputes that.

In the first half of 2010, Iran held its place as China’s third biggest supplier of crude with shipments of 9 million tonnes of oil, putting it behind Saudi Arabia and Angola, according to Chinese customs data.

China is reportedly developing a game-changing new naval missile that can pave the way for ending the US dominance at sea, experts say. Read the full story

Washington is worried that Iran continues to attract investment from China despite a new round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran, a US official says. Read the full story

The Arab League foreign ministers on Thursday authorized the Palestinian Authority to enter direct negotiations with Israel and left it up to PA President Mahmoud Abbas to decide on the timing. Read the full story

A federal judge has blocked key parts of Arizona’s strict immigration law, hours before it takes effect. The judge issued a temporary injunction against a requirement that police check the immigration status of criminal suspects they had stopped while enforcing other laws. Read the full story

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the United States and Israel plan to attack two countries in the Middle East as part of a conspiracy to apply pressure on Iran. Read the full story

African Union leaders at a summit in Uganda have agreed to reinforce the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia to counter al-Shabab militants. Read the full story

The shadow of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, hangs heavily over the US-led coalition’s campaign in Afghanistan. Again and again, the secret watchers of American military intelligence, Read the full story

The European Union formally adopted new energy sanctions against Iran Monday which target the country’s energy, banking, and foreign trade sectors. Read the full story

An American war veteran in the US warfare in Iraq says the United States initiated the hostilities as a pretext to establish its dominion over the country. Read the full story

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he has met the Russian agents recently deported from the US – and claimed they were living “tough lives” and had been “betrayed”. Read the full story

Gordon Brown has used his first major speech since leaving office to say the future growth of the world economy is reliant upon the development of Africa. Read the full story

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of turning against Teheran and joining US efforts to spread lies about its nuclear program on Friday, in the latest sign that Iran is drifting apart from a one-time key backer. Read the full story

The head of Hezbollah has said that some of its members will be among those charged with the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Read the full story

Venezuela has broken off diplomatic relations with Colombia and ordered Colombian diplomats to leave the country by Sunday. President Hugo Chavez said he had “no choice” after Colombia accused Venezuela of being a haven for guerrillas – a charge he denies. Read the full story

An Arab man convicted in Israel of rape because he pretended he was a Jew when he had consensual sex with a Jewish woman has called the verdict racist. Read the full story

Omar al-Bashir was greeted warmly by his Chadian counterpart in Ndjamena. Chad’s government has said there can be no question of the Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, being arrested during his current visit to the country. Read the full story

A BLACK couple coo over their new baby yesterday – a white, blue-eyed BLONDE. British Nmachi Ihegboro has amazed genetics experts who say the little girl is NOT an albino. Read the full story

Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who disappeared while in Saudi Arabia in June 2009 and reappeared in the US last month where he asked to return to Teheran is now suspected by US intelligence officials of being a double agent, British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph reported Sunday. Read the full story

Israel must go beyond easing its blockade of Gaza and throw open its long-closed border, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has said. Lady Ashton urged the international community to pressure Israel to end the blockade. Read the full story

Fidel Castro warned of the threat of global nuclear war involving the US, Israel, and Iran Friday, in his fifth public appearance this week following a four-year hiatus from political life. Read the full story