TEHRAN : Iran News, Iran Protests, Iranian opposition leaders Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karroubi were attacked and their supporters clashed with police during marches marking the Islamic revolution on Thursday, an opposition website and Karroubi’s son said.

The cars of the leaders came under attack by police and plainclothes security men but neither was hurt, website Rahesabz and Karroubi’s son Hossein said.

Rahesabz said police had used teargas at crowds of opposition supporters at Sadeghieh square. The reports could not independently be confirmed as the foreign media has been barred from covering the street marches.

Rahesabz also reported that ex-president Khatami’s brother Mohammad Reza and his wife Zahra Eshraghi were briefly arrested by security forces but later released.

Hossein Karroubi told AFP that his father was “not injured but his guards who were accompanying him were.”

“They (police and plainclothes men) fired tear gas and were brandishing knives when they clashed with our supporters” before the cleric reached western Tehran’s Sadeghieh square from where he was supposed to join the marches.

Karroubi’s other son Ali was also arrested, Hossein said.

The clashes at Sadeghieh square took place about a kilometre (mile) from Azadi (Freedom) Square, where hundreds of thousands of Iranians gathered from early morning to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

State television showed footage of men, chador-clad women and children carrying banners reading “Death to America, Death to Israel!” massed at the square in southwest Tehran celebrating the anniversary of the day the US-backed shah was toppled in 1979.

“The 22 of Bahman (February 11) is the symbol of Iranian unity,” said state television as it reported that a million Iranians had gathered at Azadi Square.

Celebrations to mark the anniversary have traditionally been festive, and an opportunity for Iranian leaders to showcase popular support for the establishment.

But this year opposition supporters used the occasion to stage anti-government rallies, with Rahesabz reporting that “very large crowds” had gathered at Sadeghieh square.

Police also fired tear gas and several rounds from air guns at opposition supporters.”

Hitting back at official efforts to stifle news of opposition protests, the opposition launched an impromptu radio station on the Internet late morning.

The scratchy, live broadcast flashed news reports about the attacks on opposition leaders, and clashes between protesters and security forces, including the Basij militia.

The opposition’s ability to mount protests despite a massive security force deployment is seen as highly symbolic given the anniversary’s historic significance.

The elite Revolutionary Guards and police had warned they would crack down heavily on any protests which, since they first erupted last June, have threatened the very pillars of the Islamic regime and split the senior clergy.

“If anyone wants to disrupt this glorious ceremony, they will be confronted by people and we too are fully prepared,” police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam warned on Wednesday.

Several people who had been planning to protest are already in custody, he added, while another opposition website Kaleme.org said “there have been widespread arrests” on Thursday of protesters.

Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election last June plunged the Islamic republic into one of its worst ever political crises, with the opposition refusing to take the fight off the streets despite often deadly crackdowns.

Iran’s all-powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says he wants Thursday’s celebration to be a show of unity and to deliver a stunning “punch” to “arrogant” powers.

The opposition is led by former stalwarts of the Islamic republic, including one-time premier Mir Hossein Mousavi, who says the 1979 revolution failed because the shah-era “roots of tyranny and dictatorship” still exist.

Mousavi and Karroubi had urged a mass turnout by their supporters in what is known as the “Green Movement,” but also urged them to show restraint.

Ahead of the anniversary, Internet connections slowed to a crawl and text messaging services were disrupted, with the government blaming technical glitches.

Lahore, Pakistan News :- The nation is celebrating the 133rd birth anniversary of the founding father of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, today with a pledge to make the country a true democratic and welfare state.

Jinnah, born in Karachi on December 25, 1876, spearheaded the South Asian Muslims’ movement for the creation of a separate homeland, which culminated on August 14, 1947, in the establishment of Pakistan.

The day will start with special prayers at major mosques for the solidarity and prosperity of the country and freedom of the Indian occupied Kashmir. Political, cultural and social organizations will hold meetings and seminars to highlight the life and services of the Quaid.

Declamation contests will be held at various educational institutions. Newspapers will bring out special supplements on Quaid-e-Azam Day while radio and television will air programmes on the life of the great leader. All commercial and business centres, government and private offices, will remain closed as Friday has been declared a public holiday.

Special programs will be arranged in all the cities, towns and villages of the country as well as in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The national flag is to be hoisted at principal government buildings throughout the country. The Mausoleum of the Quaid-e-Azam in Karachi, Quaid-e-Azam Museum (Wazir Mansion, Karachi) and Flag Staff House (Shahrahe-e-Faisal, Karachi) will also be illuminated along with special exhibition of relics of Quaid-e-Azam.

In this connection, Pakistan National Council of the Arts is celebrating Quaid-e-Azam week. On the occasion, Radio Pakistan, PTV and private TV channels will broadcast and telecast programs highlighting the significance of the day as well as present programs on the life and achievements of The Great Quaid.

The newspapers will also publish special articles on the life, ideas and achievements of the Father of the Nation. Provincial governments and private organizations will also arrange charitable and other national activities to mark the day.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Tehran is ready to cooperate with other countries provided that they are “sincere” in their approach toward Tehran.
Addressing crowds in the northwestern city of Tabriz, Ahmadinejad said Iran embraces “constructive” interaction with the world. “Iran is a nation supportive of peace and friendship and backs constructive cooperation on the international arena,” he said. Tehran is therefore ready to cooperate with the international community in different arenas including the revival of economy and the establishment of stable security across the globe, he added.

Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was a Muslim scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement. He was one of the most prominent Muslim leaders to support Hindu-Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on communal lines. Following India’s independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name.

As a young man, Azad composed poetry in Urdu as well as treatises on religion and philosophy. He rose to prominence through his work as a journalist, publishing works critical of the British Raj and espousing the causes of Indian nationalism. Azad became a leader of the Khilafat Movement during which he came into close contact with Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Azad became an enthusiastic supporter of Gandhi’s ideas of non-violent civil disobedience, and worked actively to organise the Non-cooperation movement in protest of the 1919 Rowlatt Acts. Azad committed himself to Gandhi’s ideals, including promoting Swadeshi (Indigenous) products and the cause of Swaraj (Self-rule) for India. He would become the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress in 1923.

Azad was one of the main organisers of the Dharasana Satyagraha in 1931, and emerged as one of the most important national leaders of the time, prominently leading the causes of Hindu-Muslim unity as well as espousing secularism and socialism[dubious – discuss]. He served as Congress President from 1940 to 1945, during which the Quit India rebellion was launched and Azad was imprisoned with the entire Congress leadership for three years. Azad became the most prominent Muslim opponent of the demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan and served in the interim national government. Amidst communal turmoil following the partition of India, he worked for religious harmony. As India’s Education Minister, Azad oversaw the establishment of a national education system with free primary education and modern institutions of higher education. He is also credited with the establishment of the Indian Institutes of Technology and the foundation of the University Grants Commission, an important institution to supervise and advance the higher education in the nation. Source ( wikipedia  )

NASA is bombing the Moon Friday, and you can watch the unprecedented event via live stream online.

The LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) mission launched in June with its main goal to look for frozen water reserves on the moon by literally blowing up an area at the Moon’s south pole.

A source of water on the Moon could provide hydrogen for fuel, and assist in the establishment of a permanent moon base.

If bombing the Moon once wasn’t enough, NASA will actually do it twice. The mission has two stages: the shepherding spacecraft and Centaur heavy impactor will separate, with the Centaur creating a debris plume that will rise above the lunar surface. The shepherding spacecraft will fly through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before impacting the lunar surface and creating a second debris plume.