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MEAN STREETS MEDIA

Friday, April 3, 2015

GOP rips Iran nuclear deal

The Hill - 04/02/15 - Republicans on Thursday ripped the emerging nuclear deal with Iran, and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) demanded that lawmakers be able to review details of the framework before any international sanctions are lifted.

House Speaker John Boehner weighting on the nuclear accord with Iran


“After visiting with our partners on the ground in the Middle East this week, my concerns about Iran’s efforts to foment unrest, brutal violence and terror have only grown,” Boehner said in a statement after leading a GOP delegation through Israel, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. 

“It would be naïve to suggest the Iranian regime will not continue to use its nuclear program, and any economic relief, to further destabilize the region,” the Speaker said.

Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) vowed to press forward with legislation allowing Congress to put its fingerprints on the Iran deal, saying “the administration first should seek the input of the American people.” 

Defense hawks on Capitol Hill blasted the deal as too weak and warned that it would essentially put nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iranian regime.

“Iran remains the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism. Iranian aggression is destabilizing the Middle East. And Iran continues to hold multiple Americans hostage,” said freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who earlier had penned a controversial letter to Iranian leaders in a bid to derail the nuclear talks. 

“I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to protect America from this very dangerous proposal,' he said, 'and to stop a nuclear arms race in the world’s most volatile region.”

Under the emerging deal between Iran, the U.S. and five other world powers, international sanctions on Tehran would be lifted in exchange for new restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. Negotiators hope to reach a final deal by a June 30 deadline.


“I believe this is a deal worth supporting, but we must wait to ensure there is no backsliding on any parameters before a final agreement is signed,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who was on hand for Obama’s White House announcement.

One likely GOP presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), used the nuclear deal to highlight what he sees as Obama’s broader foreign policy failures. The senator called the initial details of the deal “very troubling” because it would allow Tehran to retain thousands of centrifuges and wouldn’t rein in Iran’s ballistic missile program. 

“This attempt to spin diplomatic failure as a success is just the latest example of this administration’s farcical approach to Iran. Under this President’s watch, Iran has expanded its influence in the Middle East, sowing instability throughout the region,” said Rubio, a member of the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees.

“Iran’s support for terrorism has continued unabated without a serious response from the United States.”.

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Good Friday Protests Against Dancing Ban in Germany



BERLIN – Several German cities hosted symbolic protests against the ban on dancing that is prevalent in most of the country’s states on Good Friday, the Friday preceding Easter Sunday.

The “ban on dancing,” which generally also includes the suspension of public entertainment or sporting events on the holy day, is regulated by regional or municipal ordinances and local authorities who are responsible for ensuring compliance.

Just as years past, various associations, including the Pirate Party, have called on supporters to gather in squares of cities like Stuttgart, Cologne, Frankfurt, Bochum and Mainz to dance in public as a form of protest against the legislation.

The president of the German Evangelical Church, Bedford Strohm, told the regional broadcaster SWR that he could not understand why an order to stop partying for one of the year’s 365 days was too much to ask.

The goal is merely to devote one day to contemplating and reflecting on the suffering in the world, said Strohm, noting that this ban is “a very important cultural value” that transcends belief and religion.

The Pirate Party said on its Facebook page that everyone should be able to decide how to celebrate different holidays, stressing that religious or governmental regulations that unnecessarily restrict freedom are unacceptable.

Recalling that 40 percent of the German population does not practice Christianity, the party has called on citizens to gather in central squares, listen to music on their headphones, and dance in silence.

One Body Found, 9 Cubans Detained off Puerto Rico’s West Coast



SAN JUAN – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to Customs and Border Protection on Thursday found a body floating offshore and detained nine Cubans near Mona Island, located in the channel separating Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

CBP announced in a communique that a Dominican citizen was also detained in the operation.

The group of undocumented immigrants consisted of six men, two women and a 3-year-old boy, all of them Cubans, along with the Dominican citizen, all of whom arrived in the vicinity of Mona Island from the Dominican Republic on board a homemade boat.

The body, whose identity was not made public, was taken to the port of Mayagüez, on Puerto Rico’s northwest coast, where the Homicide Division of the island’s police took charge of the investigation.

The migrants will be handed over to the Border Patrol for interviews and other immigration procedures

Iran hardliner condemns the nuclear deal

Tehran - April 3, 2015: Iran’s hard-liners are criticizing a tentative nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, saying the deal was a bargain for the West and a disaster for Iran.

Iran hardliner condemns the nuclear deal

Hossein Shariatmadari, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and editor of the hard-line Kayhan daily told the semi-official Fars news agency today that Iran exchanged its 'ready-to-race horse with a broken bridle.'
Another conservative analyst, Mahdi Mohammad, referred to the Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility and told the news outlet that under the deal, 'A disaster happened in Fordo.'
Iran agreed to stop enrichment at Fordo, changing the facility to a nuclear research centre. The proposed deal limits Iran’s nuclear program in return for an end to crippling economic sanctions.

31,000 YOUNG GIRLS UNDER THE AGE OF 15 MARRIED IN IRAN IN JUST 9 MONTHS

NIU- According to the latest statistics provided by the Civil Registry Organization of Iran, the first 9 of months of Iranian calendar year 1392 (March – November, 2013) saw the registration of 31,000 marriages of young girls under the age of 15. One third of the total marriages during this time involve girls under the age of 19, Deuche welle website reported on July 7, 2014. 

The organization "Justice for Iran", citing official statistics from the Civil Registry Organization of Iran, reported that during this period nearly 178,000 marriages involving young girls between the age of 15 and 19 occurred. This means that during the first 9 months of the year, over 36% of marriages involve women under the age of 19. 
A comparison between these statistics and the previous year's figures shows that the rate of marriages of girls under the age of 15 has increased. The number of 10 to 14 year old girls who got married in 2012 was 29,827, whereas in 2013, in just the first 9 months of the Iranian calendar year 1392 (2013), this number has reached 30,956. 
In addition, it was reported that in 2012, 235 girls under the age of 15 married men over the age of 35. Nearly 100 girls under the age of 15 married men over the age of 40, and 602 girls between the age of 15 and 19 married men over the age of 40.  
According to the International Covenant on Child Rights, to which Iran is a signatory, all individuals under the age of 18 are considered children. The International Covenant also prohibits child marriage. This is while, according the Iranian law, the legal age for marriage for girls is 13 and boys 15, but the law also permits the father or grandfather to allow their child to marry before the age of 13.