● IRAN NEWS Ahmadinejad in New York

If the Holocaust-denying, nuclear bomb-building, terrorism-sponsoring president of Iran thinks he?s going to flit into New York next week for the UN General Assembly and escape unchallenged, boy is he going to be in for a surprise. Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel yesterday added his name to a small but high-powered international group of private citizens who are pushing to have Iran thrown out of the United Nations in response to Iran?s violations of the 1948 Convention to Prevent and Punish the Crime of Genocide.

President Ahmadinejad will also be met with a large rally on September 20 outside the UN at noon organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, and the UJA-Federation of New York. The rally, in support of Israel, calls for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for disarming Iran?s proxy army Hezbollah. It also calls for supporting the war against state sponsors of terror, including Iran

● THE TIMES OF INDIA ?93 blasts: CBI demands death for Memons

The CBI yesterday sought death penalty for Yakub Memon, brother of absconding prime accused Tiger Memon, who was found guilty in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, even as the accused pleaded for leniency in punishment. Observing that Memon?s family members have committed «a brutal crime», CBI lawyer C S Sharma pleaded that this was the rarest of the rare case and capital punishment should be awarded to them. Sharma elaborated Yakub?s role in the blasts and sought death penalty for him. Yakub?s lawyer Harshad Ponda pleaded for lenient sentence, saying Yakub was not deeply involved in the conspiracy. Ponda said that Yakub had spent 12 years in prison and it should be treated as «undergone» period of sentence. Ponda cited Nalini vs CBI judgement in which accused, who had been charged with being party to conspiracy, were categorised on the basis of their roles. In this case too, he argued, accused should be categorised and Yakub should be shown leniency. On behalf of Essa Memon, another brother of Tiger?s, Ponda said he was suffering from brain tumour and was in jail for 12 years.

● THE DAILY MIRROR Tony Benn: Labour?s for war? not NHS

Veteran left-winger Tony Benn blasted Tony Blair yesterday for abandoning the NHS to spend millions on the Iraq War. But the PM defended Labour?s health record and insisted his reforms would prove their value. Mr Benn, 81, a former Labour Cabinet minister, said: «There are a lot of hospital closures and service cuts going on. Money that has been spent on the Iraq war should have been spent on the NHS. The Government is more interested in making war than it is on spending money on the NHS.» Reacting to news that Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, Cambs, could close because of a £6million deficit, Mr Benn said Mr Blair supported health service «privatisation and cutbacks». Mr Blair, visiting Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and seeing the site of a new £550million «super hospital», was asked about charges of «creeping privatisation». He replied: «Every time we make changes, people will say it?s the end of the NHS and then you put the changes in and people treat it as the norm. We are living in a different world and these extra investments in bricks and mortar are great but they need new ways of working. I think if you go to A&E or you are a cardiac or cancer patient you can see the change.»

● LE MONDE Les Français pourront bénéficier des baisses d?impôts dès janvier 2007

Le ministre délégué au budget, Jean-François Copé, l?a annoncé, jeudi 14 septembre : les Français pourront choisir le moment où ils profiteront des baisses d?impôts. La baisse d?impôts sera ainsi répercutée directement sur les sommes dues soit par mensualités, soit par tiers, dès le mois de janvier 2007, sans attendre les réajustements de fin d?année. Comment en bénéficier ? «Il y a la possibilité, dès le mois de janvier, par Internet mais aussi en appelant votre inspecteur des impôts, de connaître précisément le montant des impôts que vous allez payer avec la nouvelle baisse d?impôt», a expliqué le ministre. «A ce moment-là, vous pourrez décider sur mesure d?ajuster encore plus finement la baisse d?impôt dont vous bénéficierez», a-t-il dit.