NEW YORK - It is not about the “war on terror”. It is not about weapons of mass destruction. It is not about “freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people”, or to the “Afghan people”. It is not about “Islamofascism”. It is not about a Pentagon-coined “arc of instability” from the Middle East to Central Asia. New evidence shows once again both George W Bush administration wars - in Afghanistan and Iraq - above all are about oil and gas.

Those were the days - up to a few days ago, actually - when the fateful words “war” and “oil” would never have been aligned in the same sentence anywhere in US corporate media; the days when former defense secretary and Pentagon supremo Donald Rumsfeld insisted Iraq had “literally nothing to do with oil”. Read more »

July 4 (Bloomberg) — A villa near Berlin where Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels conducted his love affairs was taken off the market amid concerns that extremist groups might try to buy the property.

The city of Berlin, owner of the Waldhof am Bogensee estate, had tried to get at least 2 million euros ($3 million) for the villa, according to the company that’s handling the sale. The government will now restrict the sale to the 206 hectares (510 acres) of parkland surrounding the building.

“The villa’s attracting interest we don’t want,” Irina Daehne, a spokeswoman for Liegenschaftsfonds Berlin GmbH, said by telephone today. “We’ve left a tiny door open for the right buyer to come along but there’s not much time.” Read more »

ROME - Italian authorities have started fingerprinting tens of thousands of Gypsies living in nomad camps across the country — adults and children alike — brushing aside accusations of racism by human rights advocates and international organizations.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told parliament this week the move was needed to fight crime and identify illegal immigrants for expulsion, but also to improve the lives of those legally living in the makeshift, often unsanitary camps.

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MOSCOW — Russia’s new president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, less swaggering than his predecessor but as touchy about criticism from abroad, said in an interview that an America in “essentially a depression” was in no position to lecture other countries on how to conduct their affairs.

With soaring oil revenues bolstering the Russian economy and Kremlin confidence, Mr. Medvedev brushed aside American criticism of his country’s record on democracy and human rights. He also said that a revived Russia had a right to assume a larger role in a world economic system that he suggested should no longer be dominated by the United States. Read more »

BERLIN (AFP) - A wax figure of Adolf Hitler had its head ripped off soon after the opening of a new branch of Madame Tussauds in Berlin, police said Saturday.

A 41-year-old Berliner had been arrested and faced charges of causing criminal damage and bodily harm, after he pushed away a security guard and a museum official who tried to stop him, spokesman Uwe Kozelnik said.

“He wanted to protest against Hitler’s figure being on show,” Kozelnik said, adding that the model had been withdrawn from display for repairs. Read more »

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Saturday its nuclear stance had not changed and it was ready to hold talks with world major powers over its disputed nuclear program based on international regulations.

“Iran’s stance has not changed (on uranium enrichment) and we are ready to hold talks on the common points of the P5+1 incentives package and Iran’s package,” government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a weekly news conference.

Iran said on Friday it agreed to hold further discussions later this month about the incentives package offered by six world powers aimed at resolving a stand-off over its disputed nuclear ambitions, but has so far rejected their demand to suspend uranium enrichment. Read more »