Iran has never sought revenge on Europeans: Ahmadinejad

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reprimanded the European Union for its hostile policies against the Islamic Republic, saying the country has never sought to avenge Europe’s imposition of hardships.

The Iranian nation has taken the brunt of adversity from European countries as in the case of 'the eight-year [Iraqi] imposed war, but it has never sought revenge,' said President Ahmadinejad in a meeting with the new Portuguese ambassador to Iran, Mario Fernando Damash Nunes, on Wednesday. 

It is not clear what the European countries and EU will benefit from their enmity and opposition to Iran, added Ahmadinejad. 

We believe such a stance is imposed on European countries by leaders of hegemonic powers, the chief Iranian executive pointed out. 

He also stated that the current world order is nearing its end and emphasized the need for a replacement for the degenerating one that has nothing to present to humanity. 

The world needs a new order based on justice and respect that all nations would be able to participate in the global management in a constructive way, Ahmadinejad added.

He further noted that the international relations need to be built on friendship and mutual respect among governments and nations. 

The Portuguese ambassador submitted his credentials to the Iranian president and called for enhanced bilateral relations in areas of politics, culture, sports and academy. 

He expressed hope that the 27-nation EU would revisit its position on Iran, saying his respective country supports the rights of the Iranian people and their peace and security. 

On July 1, the European Union imposed new sanctions mainly against Iran’s oil and banking sectors which were approved by the EU foreign minister on January 23. 

The sanctions by the US and EU are meant to pressure the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program, which Washington, Israel and some of their allies claim includes a military aspect. 

Iran dismisses such allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use the nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. 

Benjamin Netanyahu involved in smuggling nuclear triggers: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was involved in smuggling nuclear triggers out of the United States carried out by a network of front companies, a report says.

According to a Wednesday article posted on antiwar.com, the FBI partially declassified and released additional pages from a 1985-2002 investigation into how a network of front companies connected to the Israeli Ministry for Military Affairs illegally smuggled triggers used for nuclear weapons (krytrons) out of the United States. 

The FBI investigation reveals that Netanyahu worked at Heli Trading Company, the Israeli node of the network during the smuggling operations.

The Israeli premier was in contact with Richard Kelly Smyth, who at the time was president of the MILCO International Inc., a front company for the Israel-based Heli Trading Company, then owned by Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. 

In April 2002, Smyth was sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined 20,000 dollars for trafficking krytrons, tiny electronic devices that are used in high-speed photography, strobe lighting and photocopying machines, but can also be used in nuclear triggers. 

Smyth was also indicted for selling about 800 krytrons to Heli Trading Company (also known as Milchan Limited). 

“Smyth and [Netanyahu] would meet in restaurants in Tel Aviv and in [Netanyahu’s] home and/or business,” the FBI report said. 

In March, the co-authors of the book Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan issued a statement saying, “Hollywood mega-producer and former secret agent Arnon Milchan has been asked directly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres to avoid any public discussion of the book Confidential, asserting that the matter is too sensitive at this time.”

China says will not attend ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in Paris

The government of China has announced that it has no plan to take part in the so-called “Friends of Syria” conference which is scheduled to be held in the French capital, Paris, on Friday.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin, said on Thursday that his country has been invited to the event, but "(China) at present does not consider attending the meeting.” 

"We believe that it's a key phase now for resolving the Syrian issues politically," he added. 

The Paris meeting follows one in Tunisian capital, Tunis, in February and another in April in the Turkish port city of Istanbul. China was not present in any of those meetings. 

Russia, another veto-holding power at the UN Security Council, had already announced that it would not attend the conference, either. Moscow accuses the West of trying to distort a previous deal reached by world powers on Syria in the Geneva meeting. 

The participants of the Geneva meeting agreed that the transitional governing body in Syria “could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent,” the UN-envoy Kofi Annan said at a press conference after the meeting. 

The Geneva meeting on June 30 was attended by foreign ministers of the UN Security Council's five permanent members along with Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, plus representatives of the UN, the Arab League and the European Union. 

The so called "Friends of Syria" group has more than 60 members including the United States, France, Britain, Germany, along with Arab nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar. 

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011, which has so far claimed the lives of many people, including security forces. 

Surgeons remove 23-kg cancerous tumor from US woman

US surgeons have successfully removed a 23-kg cancerous tumor from a woman’s abdomen at the Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, New Jersey.

"She was a skinny lady with a huge belly. I mean it looked like she was literally pregnant with triplets," said Dr. David Dupree, who led the surgery on the 65-year-old woman 

Identified only as Evelyn, the patient was a homemaker from nearby Union Beach, New Jersey, whose treatment was delayed for more than a month because of health insurance issues. 

"The reason she didn't go earlier was because she had no insurance," Dupree said. 

When Evelyn saw a doctor, she already weighed more than 170 pounds, her legs were swollen with trapped blood, she was badly dehydrated, and the malignant tumor was threatening her life. 

According to Dupree and his team, the tumor was caused by the fatty tissue around her large intestine, having engulfed many of her internal organs. 

The team sliced it away "millimeter by millimeter" over the course of the five-hour surgery, Reuters reported. 

Doctors say Evelyn still has to see an oncologist about her cancer, which may not have been completely eradicated and need chemotherapy or radiation therapy.