IBLOG SPACE

Tehran: A council of 12 clerics has declared Iran's disputed presidential vote valid and free of major fraud, paving the way for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be sworn in next month despite claims of vote manipulation that sparked weeks of massive protest. The Guardian Council, an electoral authority the opposition accuses of favoring Ahmadinejad, it had found only "slight irregularities" after randomly selecting and recounting 10 percent of nearly 40 million ballots. Opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has said Ahmadinejad stole re-election through fraud and demanded a new election. Conservative Ayatollah Ahmed Jannati, who heads the Guardian Council, said Monday that "meticulous and comprehensive examination" revealed only "slight irregularities that are common to any election."

Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Sa'ad Hariri began parliamentary consultations on Monday aiming to form a unity government with rivals including the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. The main potential stumbling block facing US-backed Hariri is a demand by pro-Syrian Shiite Hezbollah and its allies for veto power in cabinet, a senior political source close to the opposition said. Hariri has rejected the idea. The Hariri-led 'March 14' coalition rode to a surprise victory in the June 7 parliamentary election, winning 71 of 128 seats in the chamber, dealing a blow to an opposition which was hoping to gain the upper hand in Lebanon's political landscape. "The opposition interprets real participation as a third plus one [veto power] and this is the main obstacle against forming a government quickly and what may delay the formation," the senior source said. Hezbollah and its allies have 11 of 30 seats in the outgoing cabinet, securing them effective veto power ov

Manama: The first two cases of H1N1 influenza in Tunisia were discovered after the local health authorities decided to test 22 students who had spent some time in Washington with the Bahraini students who tested positive, a Tunisian health official has said. "When we heard about the cases of the Bahraini students who tested positive in Manama, we moved to check the Tunisian students who were with them in the US on an exchange programme and spent the last week together in the US capital. We checked all the students and their families and discovered the two cases," Mongi Hamrouni, head of basic health, told a Tunisian television station. "Although the other students and all the families did not carry the virus, we asked them to stay indoors and to avoid contact with the outside world for a couple of days. They appreciated the precautionary measures we needed to take and complied. We are grateful for their cooperation," he said. The North African country reported the c

Occupied Jerusalem: Israel has approved construction of 50 new housing units in a West Bank colony to absorb colonists who are to be evicted from a nearby unauthorised outpost, according to a court document obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. Israel's construction of colonies has been an irritant in its relations with the Obama administration, which wants building to stop completely as part of efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians. Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, is visiting Washington to try to ease the growing tension with the US and attempt to work out a compromise. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas however reiterated yesterday that negotiations wouldn't resume while the expansion of colonies continues. According to a Defence Ministry document submitted to the Israeli supreme court, the government has approved construction of 50 new apartments in the colony of Adam to house squatters living in the nearby Migron outpost. The construction is

Ramallah: Discontent with Hamas over slow-moving Palestinian unity talks and Israel's ban on Gaza reconstruction aid have led to a sharp decline in the Islamist group's popularity, an opinion poll showed on Monday. The survey by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) put public support for Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip at 18.8 per cent compared with 27.7 per cent in its previous poll in January. President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction is now more popular than Hamas with a 34.9 per cent rating, up from 26 per cent in January, according to the poll. Khader Khader, head of the media unit at the JMCC, said Hamas's popularity was hit by discontent in the Gaza Strip, where the group rules, over a lack of movement in Egyptian-sponsored unity talks with Fatah and in reopening the territory's borders. According to the poll, 26.5 per cent of those surveyed blamed Israel for the deadlock in the Hamas-Fatah dialogue wh

Baghdad: Salah Al Jbory is in no mood to celebrate. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki called on his countrymen to revel on Monday to mark the ostensible departure of US troops from Iraqi cities by the end of the month - a turning point he calls a "major victory." But across Iraq, the first major deadline in the American military's phased withdrawal from the country is being viewed with a mix of apprehension, pride and incredulity. "I will celebrate when I see my country living in peace," said Al Jbory, a tribal leader in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Dora, where no US outposts remain. "I will celebrate when there is electricity and clean water, when people go to the park and feel safe. I'll celebrate when children on the street look clean and are wearing new clothes. I will celebrate when people can earn a living." American troops have been thinning out across Baghdad and other restive cities in recent months. Since January 1, the US mili

Baghdad: As Baghdad security improves and US troops draw back, workers in cranes are removing mile after mile of giant concrete slabs put up to prevent the slaughter of innocents in sectarian fighting. For Baghdad bookseller Abu Ali, it's too soon. Sitting in an alley surrounded by Shiite Muslim religious tracts, he recalls how his son was blown up by a massive bomb. "Our security forces aren't experienced enough to maintain security by themselves," the 56-year-old told Reuters. "I wish these walls would be lifted, but the suffering we went through was horrible. No one wants to go through that again." Once-towering blast walls put up at the height of Iraq's sectarian bloodshed are coming down and letting light into dusty city streets, or connecting divided neighbourhoods, for the first time in three or more years. Violence has dropped sharply and the removal of the walls is prompting dreams of a boom in business as restaurants and shops once again emerge

Tehran: The young men and women enter Haft Tir Square tentatively. Their pace slows as they discretely glance around. They spot the club-wielding uniformed security officials and plainclothes Basiji militiamen, scan the square for other would-be demonstrators. "Their legitimacy has been damaged," said Hamad, a 26-year-old business student among those navigating the square, cautiously examining eyes and dress. "The atrocity and cheating will linger in the collective memory. And someday an eruption will occur." Perhaps the anger will reignite on July 9, the 10th anniversary of a 1999 student uprising that heralded a campaign to crush reformist aspirations. Or the match may be lit the next time authorities roll out the Guidance Patrol, which stops women on the street for allowing too much hair to peep out from under their head scarves. People caught up in the so-called 'green wave' built on the presidential campaign of Mir Hussain Mousavi are trying to understa

Beirut: Relatives angry over the fatal shooting of a Lebanese woman in a sectarian clash in a Beirut neighbourhood burned tyres and briefly blocked a road on Monday, in a sign of the country's lingering tensions as it struggles to form a unity government. The brief protest came despite heavy deployment of troops in mixed Sunni-Shiite districts of the Lebanese capital to prevent any renewal of Sunday's outburst - the first sectarian violent occurrence since this month's divisive parliament elections. The outburst underlined Lebanon's tensions despite pledges by rival political leaders to turn a new page and work together to set up a unity government after the pro-western coalition beat the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies in the June 7 vote. A Sunni woman was killed and three men were wounded in a gun battle on Sunday evening between Sunni supporters of Lebanon's prime minister-designate and parliamentary majority leader Sa'ad Hariri, and rival followers o

Paris Hilton's suite at the Monarch hotel costs Dh49,000 (US$13,400) a night. Dubai: The suite in which socialite Paris Hilton stayed in Monarch, a five-star hotel located on Shaikh Zayed Road in Dubai, will be one of several rooms that will go on offer in an online auction. Paris spent one night in the suite at the cost of Dh49,000 (US$13,400) a night. Click here to see our Paris special section Arshad Hussain, the hotel’s director of business development, said that the Monarch is opting to go for online auctions instead of lowering its prices. He said that someone can try to get a lower rate and it might be accepted. "If you keep dropping your rates, when are you going to increase them?" he said. Next month, the hotel plans to launch a 'name your price for luxury' auction with rooms, meals and spa treatments on offer. Hotel occupancy figures suggest the revenue-per-room has gone down this year in Dubai. Other hotels in the emirate are in search of innovative

Tustin: Chance Mitchell, aged six, uses his Lego blocks and cardboard to construct his own super-structures. He also has to wear a pacemaker for the rest of his life. He keeps a scale model of the Eiffel Tower at his Temecula home, but there's just one building model he's got to have – the 160-storey Burj Dubai tower, the world's tallest building which is nearing completion. Chance became interested in the Dubai tower about a year ago, during an internet search for the world's tallest building. The Californian reported that Mitchell is the latest recipient of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County and the Inland Empire. At the organisation's Wish House in Tustin, he received a four-foot scale model of the Dubai tower, built especially for him by Minnesota-based Red Eye ARC, as well as autographed original drawing of the structure, and a full-colour photo book by architect Adrian Smith. But the day's highest point was the half-hour video web chat with Smith

Anoud with her mother after the surgery. Anoud says she looks forward to seeing her friends at school. Abu Dhabi: Despite undergoing rare heart surgery, 13-year-old Anoud Mohammad Faraj, makes things seem trivial as she confidently speaks to a roomful of journalists about her experience. The Emirati grade eight pupil, who studies at Shaima Public School, Sharjah, was diagnosed with a rare tumour in the right atrium of her heart, with only seven similar cases reported worldwide. Anoud had no medical problems prior to suffering from sudden abdominal pain, swollen legs and a mildly distended abdomen, approximately a month before her three-and-a-half hour surgery, which was performed on May 7 at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC). "It was unclear how the six to seven centimetre tumour originated but we needed to operate on Anoud immediately as her condition was deteriorating quite rapidly. Not to mention the rarity of the surgery that consists of an 80 per cent mortality risk," s

Sharjah: The long-established Sharjah Indian School is to be closed by the Ministry of Education for offending the ministry's rules and regulations, Gulf News has learnt. A letter issued by the Ministry of Education addressed to Sharjah Educational Zone instructed all related departments and authorities in the emirate to stop all school transactions because the school had not adhered to the ministry's rules and regulations. The ministry said that the school, which accommodates more than 8,500 students, was warned several times not to start evening shifts for pupils without the ministry's permission but the school insisted on offending the rules. The ministry said that the school had started an evening shift for pupils between 1pm until 5pm without informing any of the concerned authorities. A spokesman from the school said that it was a community school which received students of low-income parents. "The school premises are too small to accommodate such a large number

Abu Dhabi: "She was too afraid to call out or cry even. The whole incident has left her tormented ... we are trying to bring her back to normal. But it is going to be tough to help her forget the whole episode," R. S., the mother of a 10-year-old who was allegedly molested at a shopping mall, said. The incident allegedly happened last Thursday at the Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre at 9.30pm. R. S. had gone shopping at the mall with her daughter Z. S. and her 2-year-old son, and while she was selecting garments, Z. S. took her crying brother to see the store's toys a few steps away. "My daughter said that when she was looking at the toys a man approached her. He then started touching her inappropriately and touched her private parts. She tried to move away and run. The man blocked her way and repeated his acts. She finally managed to push him away and came back to me. "I sensed that something was wrong the moment I saw her and kept asking what had happened. But sh

London: Oil prices fell to $71 a barrel on Tuesday, ahead of US inventory data expected to show a rise in oil product stocks. Earlier, prices leapt more than $1.50 in under half an hour around 0200 GMT as volumes traded on Brent and then US crude oil surged to more than 10 times the norm. The jump was thought to have been led by a sudden spike in Brent buying pinned on fund positioning. Both prices and volumes cooled in European trade. US crude for August delivery fell 22 cents at $71.27 a barrel by 1325 GMT, off its earlier eight-month high of $73.38. Brent was down 30 cents to $70.69 a barrel. Christopher Bellew, broker at Bache Commodities said of oil's turnaround: "Speculative buying may be drying up and maybe the prospect of product stock builds in the stats later." Crude and oil products inventory numbers from the United States will be carefully watched on Tuesday and Wednesday for the latest indication of demand from the world's biggest fuel consumer.

Abu Dhabi: Three young Emirati sisters were killed and their housemaid sustained serious injuries after a car hit them in Abu Dhabi. The accident took place on the Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Road, after the Al Jawiya Bridge in Abu Dhabi, last Monday. The sisters (7, 6, and 4) and their Indonesian housemaid (24-year old) were hit by a speeding vehicle while crossing the road from a non-designated pedestrian area, said the police. The Emirati sisters died on the spot and their maid was seriously injured, the police said.

Baghdad: Pipelines shattered by bombs. Oil terminals crippled by suicide attacks. Officials blown up in roadside blasts or kidnapped from their office at gunpoint. Calamities like those are not just the worst fear of an oil executive in a hostile environment; they are the reality of the past six years of chaos, bloodshed and war in Iraq. The world's biggest oil firms are hoping the past will be no guide to the future in their bidding yesterday and today for six of Iraq's biggest oilfields and two gas fields in the war-shattered country's first major tender since 2003. Thirty-two foreign firms are competing, including ExxonMobil, Total and Royal Dutch Shell. The winners will get a foothold in a country with some of the world's largest remaining untapped reserves, but they will also have to take precautions to protect their investment. Iraq is one of the world's most challenging places for energy firms, one Western security consultant said, "because the commercia

Dubai: Today, everything sold in Dubai's malls seems to be described as "luxury." As the summer shopping festival continues, in a city which defines itself through luxury, the real meaning of the word can seem murky. When it comes to extravagant clothing brands around the world, in the midst of economic turmoil, the boundaries between high street, luxury high street and the high end are shifting, with more and more shoppers and retailers pushing the boundaries further apart. Within the elite of luxury brands, whilst the super wealthy continue to snap up the most expensive items available, the lower-spending end of their customer base is shrinking. "We've seen a clear change in buying patterns," Michael Burke, CEO of Fendi, said. Whereas tourist shopping is down within the Gulf Cooperation Council, he explained, sales to high net worth residents continue to show solid growth. "We've seen a shift away from what we like to call instant gratification to

Just as Europeans are packing their bags for the beaches, another Russia-Ukraine gas row is flaring up. The European Union (EU) should use it as a stimulus to speed up connecting its energy networks to reduce eastern Europe's vulnerability to gas cut-offs. Mid-summer may seem a counter-intuitive time for the latest standoff between Moscow and Kiev. Consumers are not shivering in the cold, industrial demand for energy has plummeted because of the recession, and Russia, Europe's biggest gas supplier, is choking on its own unsold gas. The dispute arises out of an unrealistic deal that Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers, Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko (pictured) respectively, signed in January to end the previous round of gas wars between Russia and its former Soviet republic. That committed Ukraine's Naftogaz to fill up its storage tanks this summer with gas bought from Russian monopoly Gazprom, and sell it back in the winter for supply to the west. The problem is that

Dubai: Does it matter? Does it truly, really matter? Apparently yes - weekly shopping habits are serious business for Gulf News readers. Global surveys have shown that consumers are becoming more careful in the way they spend money. A report in The Economist, April, says that "consumers in rich countries have responded with an emphatic 'No'", when asked if they wanted "more stuff". Consumer behaviour has been impacted by the global recession with many retailers scrambling to keep their customers. Gulf News did three spot online polls in an attempt to understand how people are shopping these days? Do they opt for the big hypermarkets, medium-sized chain stores or neighbourhood groceries? The focus was on weekly household buys as it is a habit with most people. A survey done by Gulf News in 2008 had shown that people preferred the bigger chains. The spot polls have shown that consumer behaviour has relatively stayed the same. Seven out of ten polled or 70 per

Madrid: The European economy will return to very low growth and high unemployment in 2010 and needs reforms, rigorous bank testing and political coordination to recover, EU economic chief Joaquin Almunia said obn Monday. The weak outlook means governments must continue fiscal stimulus spending, or even expand it, as the European Central Bank maintains expansionary monetary policy, Almunia said. "You can see that Europe will not have the growth potential it had before the crisis, and it is going to be very low, and if we don't have capacity to grow, we can't reabsorb the unemployed and we'll have a long situation of low growth and a bad job market situation," Almunia told Spain's Cinco Dias newspaper financial forum. The United States should return to economic growth later this year but the Eur-opean Union will not exit recession until early 2010, Almunia said. Holding Eur-ope back is Germany's dependence on global trade as well as the housing crisis in Spa

San Francisco: Nike may be viewed as the best positioned sports shoemaker to weather the global downturn, but for now, the company is sitting on the bench along with the other players. A disappointing outlook that foresees no uptick in sales until at least early next year came as a shock last week to investors - who have considered Nike's brand cache at least a partial buffer to the recession - and sent shares of Nike and rivals Adidas AG and Puma south. A triple-whammy of less inventory purchased by retailers, currency fluctuations and spending-averse customers around the world has hit all major sports footwear brands, which are responding by cutting costs across their organisations. Those belt-tightening efforts were not enough to keep Nike investors from being spooked by data showing that orders scheduled for delivery through November fell 5 per cent on a constant currency basis - a metric some consider a proxy for demand - below the expected 2 per cent decline. "Basically

These are distressing times for the retail industry in the Middle East, but perhaps not for the reasons that you might think. As consumers we are more cost conscious and price aware, a combination which has led to a general curbing of expenditure and reduction in sales for retailers, but this has been going on for a while now. Assuming that most, if not all, retailers have caught on to this by now, there are some more pressing issues that may lead to widespread trouble. Firstly, there appears to be increasing inefficiencies being witnessed in the sector, where mismanagement in the supply chain means that new or replenishment stock is not getting to the shop floor quickly. However, many stores have a great deal of stock to manage through the business and so with shelves creaking under the weight of some of it, I suspect this is more a localised issue. Moreover, there also appears to be a general "woe-is-me" attitude prevailing in the retail sector, where retailers are struggli

Michael Vaughan, England's most successful Test captain, will this week announce his retirement from Test and first-class cricket. Vaughan, 34, is understood to have made his decision because his right knee makes it impossible for him to field all day and because he does not want to block the progress of some promising young batsmen in Yorkshire's side. When Vaughan resigned as England's captain last August, he had led them to more Test victories than any other captain, beating the previous record of 20 wins by Peter May. He had hoped to regain his England place this summer to have another go at regaining the Ashes, as he did when leading England in 2005. In a pre-season tournament in Abu Dhabi, Vaughan scored a century against Surrey, but the runs have refused to flow in sufficient quantity since. He has made starts in 20-over, 50-over and first-class cricket, but not another hundred. His right knee, moreover, has prevented him from spending a complete day in the field thi

Dubai: Colin Montgomerie got a glimpse of the future as a group of young apprentices were treated to master class from the Ryder Cup captain. The Scot took a break from the BMW International Open in Germany to host the Emirates Airline Golf Clinic for some starlets dreaming of one day lining up in the European team to face the United States in the sport's greatest team event. The youngsters from Golf Club Munich-Eichenried got a close look at the skills which Montgomerie later used to notch a hole in one with a 156-yard eight iron at the eighth hole of the Nord-Eichenried course. The 46-year-old, who holds the record for aces in European events with nine, shared technical tips and fielded questions from the youngsters who quizzed him on how to make the grade before showcasing their skills to the Ryder Cup great. Dubai-based golfer Henrik Stenson was also on hand at the Emirates Airline Golf Clinic to offer advice to youngsters earlier in the day. As a leading supporter of golf tour

Abu Dhabi: The GCC Clubs Championship will commence on September 29, 2009 with the teams competing in three groups according to the decision of the GCC Football Organising Committee (GCCFOC) following their meeting on Friday in Bahrain. Rashid Al Za'abi, the member of the UAEFA and the Chairman of the GCCFOC who presided over the meeting, told Gulf News, "The teams will compete in a home and away league in the first round and the leader of each group, in addition to the best second-placed team, will reach the semi finals. "The tournament will come to an end on January 19 next year with the matches being held on Tuesdays." Al Shabab, Al Nasr and Al Wasl have all applied to play in the regional tournament with only two teams eligible for the competition. Al Shabab, Al Ain and Al Jazira are the only UAE teams that won the GCC Clubs Championship titles before. "Al Ain will host the GCC Juniors Championship in August this year while the GCC Under 23 Olympic Teams Cha

Sydney: Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds says he is not an alcoholic but has blamed binge drinking for poor behaviour that caused him to run afoul of cricket authorities. "I'm not proud of the times that I've drunk too much and been rude to someone or broken team rules," Symonds said in an interview with the Nine Network's 60 Minutes television programme on Sunday. "Now I'm out of that environment, that won't happen anymore for those people in that team and for me." Cricket Australia this month withdrew its one-year contract offer to Symonds, a week after the 34-year-old veteran was sent home from England and the Twenty20 World Cup following another alcohol-related indiscretion. Media reports said Symonds had gone to a bar, without telling team management, after Queensland's win in the rugby league State-of-Origin series opener. Symonds helped Deccan Chargers win the second edition of the IPL last month in South Africa. With an IPL annual

London: If the joy and emotion that lit up one of Wimbledon's outside courts late on Friday was stored in a battery, it would probably have had enough power to run the much-talked about Centre Court roof. Courtesy of another epic five-set encounter, Indo-Pak duo Prakash Amritraj and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi set up a third-round tie against fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas, to be played on Court 14 today. Cue scenes of delirium among the spectators on the outside court as drinks went flying and strangers hugged. "Nobody cared about who was Pakistani and who was Indian," Qureshi, Pakistan's leading player, said. "They were all just supporting one team. It felt so good. This is the first time there were so many people from Pakistan watching me live. Even my 18-month-old nephew was there. Though by the time it was finishing he was sleeping," he grinned. British youngsters, with barely any of their compatriots left to cheer, were

London: Kevin Pietersen insists England would have had no chance of beating Australia had he not engineered the removal of Peter Moores as coach. But, 10 days before the first Test at Cardiff, Andrew Flintoff believes Moores may already have played a significant part in helping him rediscover his batting form. Flintoff, recovered from knee surgery that caused him to miss all of England's games so far this summer, is ready to take his place in a five-man bowling attack in Cardiff a week on Wednesday. Yet England team director Andy Flower will have been as encouraged by Flintoff's batting when making 54 against Hamsphire at Liverpool, then, on Thursday, in Lancashire's Twenty20 crushing of Derbyshire, when he came within seven runs of his first century since his 102 helped win the decisive fourth Ashes Test in August 2005. Flintoff said: "As usual after injuries I felt a bit rusty when I first came back, but recently I've felt in my best form for ages. "I've

Wimbledon: Andy Murray on Saturday night emphatically claimed his place in the last 16 at Wimbledon. Murray's odyssey shows no sign of being slowed as he encourages the nation to believe that he can end Britain's 73-year search to find a man of sufficient talent, skill and mercurial gifts to lift the Wimbledon trophy next Sunday. On Saturday night, the 22-year-old British No1 destructively ended the challenge of Victor Troicki in three, one-sided sets of tennis 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. It took him one hour 36 minutes to cruise with minimum effort into the fourth round. The omens are good for his next match against Stanislas Wawrinka. Last September, Murray played Wawrinka at the same stage at the US Open - and travelled all the way to the final after defeating the Swiss for the loss of a mere seven games. For a while it looked as though Murray might become part of Wimbledon history even earlier on Saturday. As rain fell lightly over south west London, Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of

Wimbledon: Venus Williams triumphed in the battle of the wounded knees although just how long she can progress in this state is open to question. Her heavily strapped left leg was mirrored by Carla Suarez Navarro's right, yet it was Williams who coped better with her problems. "I did notice her tape, but it didn't seem to hamper either of us," said Venus, although her father, Richard, tells a different story of the trouble she is having behind the scenes. "She is playing with a very sore knee and she needs to put big downward pressure on that knee when she is playing, but she can't," said her concerned dad. "It's hampering her movement." Asked if the injury was a danger to her title hopes, he said: "It could be. Her knee needs to get a lot better but it's still very sore and it was difficult when she was warming up. She may have to pull out of the doubles and focus on the singles. "I think she may have to come into the net mor

Abu Dhabi: The new football season 2009-10 will kick off on August 27 with the matches of the preliminary round of the President's Cup between the clubs of the Premier and First divisions. The UAE FA has renamed the first division as the Premier division. The second division is now the first, starting this season, in which the divisions will compete in the domestic competitions with the professional clubs taking part in the UFL. The FA has permitted the Premier clubs to register three foreign players with only two for the First Division clubs and thus in a match that pairs together a club from the Premier division against First division clubs in the President's Cup competition, the Premier clubs will field only two of their three foreign players. The professional clubs of the UFL will not take part in the first round of the President's Cup, which will kick-off during Ramadan. The UFL will commence in September.

AP Published: June 28, 2009, 23:14 Tehran: A sharp clampdown by Iranian authorities may have quelled street protests, but the fight goes on in cyberspace. Groups of 'hacktivists' - web hackers demanding internet freedom - say they are targetting web pages of Iran's leadership in response to the regime's muzzling of blogs, news outlets and other sites. It's unclear how much the wired warriors have disrupted official Iranian sites. Attempts to access sites for state news organisations, including the Islamic Republic News Agency and Fars, were unsuccessful - with a message saying the links were 'broken.' Other Iranian websites, including the official site for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could be viewed. It's the latest in a widening front of attempts at cyber attacks by activists and others. Earlier this week, Defence Secretary Robert Gates ordered the creation of a new military cyber command that will coordinate the Pentagon's efforts to def

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