I am posting this just because it is an example of the sort of news, without simple answers and not fitting the media agenda, but nonetheless, important enough for us to know, that our media don't mention:

An immense explosion has been heard throughout the northern Iranian city of Qazvin, semi-official Fars news agency reported, and many casualties are expected from the blast. 

Around 1.1 million people live in the city, which is located about 100 miles north of Tehran. 

The blast may be related to nuclear development in Iran, according to the Los Angeles Times. Iranian officials in the past have strongly denied claims by Mujahedin Khalq Organization, or MKO, a cult-like Iranian exile group, that it has a secret nuclear enrichment facility in Abyek, near the major city, according to the daily. 

The source of the blast remains undetermined. Several mystery explosions have been reported in the past several years in the region, none of which were ever verified.

In 2010, Bloomberg reported that Iran was developing a secret nuclear site in Qazvin.

Ukraine - Metro Letter

     This letter of mine was in the Metro on Monday. The bit in italics was edited out but it remained well above the average length of a Metro letter so that is fair. The letter went out to all our major papers and this is not the first time I have found the Metro more willing to publish unapproved opinions than the "quality" press are.:

The Crimeans are holding a referendum to quit Ukraine and join Russia.

 

        The western powers are not so much opposed to this on democratic grounds, after all it will be done by referendum and Ukraine is currently without an elected government, but because it offends against international law and guarantees such as the Helsinki Treaty where all signatories agreed international borders in Europe were sacrosanct. This is a reasonable point even though it is weakened by the US admission that they have been interfering in Ukraine to the extent of spending $5 bn subverting Ukraine's elected government by funding "awareness raising" activities by, often Fascist, rioters.

 

      Perhaps therefore the NATO countries, who signed a temporary occupation agreement of Kosovo with the sovereign power, Yugoslavia, guaranteeing that sovereignty, as previously confirmed in that Helsinki Treaty and elsewhere should consider returning it.

 

      Perhaps they could make suitable recompense to the 350,000 people ethnically cleansed fromm Kosovo by NATO police (formerly NATO armed KLA & formerly to that Albanian gangsters, drug lords, sex slavers, organleggers and a few left over Nazis).

 

      Or for the 10s of thousands of girls (& boys) kidnapped by our police.

 

     Or for the 1,800 people arrested, on racial grounds, and dissected, while still alive, by NATO police, to provide organs for western hospitals.

 

     Then they will be in a position to complain whether Mr Putin has acted improperly and whether any of them have any right to moralise.