Iran plans own response to 'Argo'

(File photo) Argo tells the story of a rescue of U.S. diplomats from revolutionary Iran.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Ben Affleck's "Argo" tells the story of a dramatic rescue of U.S. diplomats from revolutionary Iran


• Iranian state media criticize the movie as "replete with historical inaccuracies and distortions"


• Iran's Art Bureau says it will fund its own film about the handing over of 20 U.S. hostages

(CNN) -- Ben Affleck has more than just a couple of Golden Globes to add to his resume.

His movie "Argo," about the suspenseful rescue of U.S. diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis, has also achieved the unusual honor of prompting Tehran to produce its own cinematic response.

Opinion: Latino should have played lead in 'Argo'

"Argo" was named best drama movie during the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday night in Los Angeles, and Affleck won the award for best director, a category for which he was passed over in the recent Oscar nominations.

But his efforts to recreate on screen the drama of the secret operation by the CIA and Canada to extract six U.S. embassy workers from revolutionary Iran in 1980 haven't been overlooked by Tehran's Art Bureau.

'Argo' recognizes forgotten heroes of Iran hostage saga

It plans to fund a movie entitled "The General Staff," about 20 American hostages who were handed over to the United States by Iranian revolutionaries, according to a report last week by Mehr News, the official Iranian agency.

"This film, which will be a big production, should be an appropriate response to the ahistoric film 'Argo,'" said Ataollah Salmanian, the director of the Iranian film, according to Mehr.

"Argo" claims to be based on a true story rather than to constitute a scrupulous retelling of exactly what took place, and its deviations from reality have been documented.

But Iranian authorities have taken offense at the film's portrayal of the country and its people. "Argo" was officially viewed as "anti-Iranian" following its U.S. release last year, Mehr reported.

Iran's state-run broadcaster Press TV detailed its objections to the film in an online article on Sunday.

"The Iranophobic American movie attempts to describe Iranians as overemotional, irrational, insane, and diabolical while at the same, the CIA agents are represented as heroically patriotic," it complained.

In the movie, in which Affleck plays the lead role, the CIA operation is shown outwitting Iranian authorities through an elaborate plan based on pretending that the U.S. diplomats fleeing the country were part of team scouting locations for an outlandish science-fiction film.

But according to Press TV, the film is "a far cry from a balanced narration" and is "replete with historical inaccuracies and distortions."

On the other hand, "The General Staff," set to begin shooting next year, will be based on eyewitness accounts, Salmanian said.

The Art Bureau, which is to provide the financing, is affiliated with the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization, according to Mehr.

Press TV cited Salmanian as saying that his film would depict "the historical event unlike the American version which lacks a proper view of the story."

CNN's Samira Said contributed to this report.

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Football: Udinese put brakes on Napoli in Serie A

MILAN: Udinese held challengers Napoli to a scoreless draw on Monday to leave leaders Juventus with a six-point cushion at the top of Serie A.

Napoli had hoped to capitalise on the extra day's rest after their Europa League exit at the hands of Czech side Viktoria Plzen last Thursday to close the gap to four points.

However Walter Mazzarri's title challengers were left lamenting several missed chances on their way to dropping two points and boosting both Juve and third-placed AC Milan, who are now only seven points adrift.

The Partenopei underlined their intentions by starting with the attack-minded front trio of striker Edinson Cavani, Lorenzo Insigne and Marek Hamsik.

But the visitors were left frustrated after a first half in which Udinese seemed happy to sit back and defend and wait to counter-attack.

Early on Cavani failed to make contact despite a sly run towards goal when Giandomenico Mesto aimed in a cross.

Udinese did hit Napoli on the counter, but both Antonio Di Natale and Giovanni Pasquale sent their efforts high and wide respectively.

Napoli, however, had the momentum and after Gokhan Inler sent a long range effort over from long-range Hamsik missed the best chance of the half when he headed a long cross from the left straight at 'keeper Daniele Padelli.

Udinese started in more positive fashion after the break and came close just five minutes in although Argentine Roberto Pereyra wasted Antonio Di Natale's cross by firing into the stands from close range.

Napoli regained control but just couldn't finish the job despite a number of promising offensives, with Cavani spurning a late chance with 15 minutes on the clock after a great move down the left with Colombian Pablo Armero.

-AFP/ac

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2nd blizzard in less than a week slams Plains

Last Updated 12:35 p.m. ET

Blizzard conditions slammed parts of the Midwest on Monday, forcing the closure of highways in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and sending public works crews scrambling for salt and sand anew just days after a massive storm blanketed the region with snow.

National Weather Service officials issued blizzard warnings and watches in Kansas and Oklahoma through late Monday as the storm packing snow and high winds tracked eastward across West Texas toward Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Forecasters warned of possible tornadoes in the southeast.

Snow covered Amarillo, Texas, where forecasters said up to 18 inches could fall, accompanied by wind gusts up to 65 mph. Paul Braun, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said whiteout conditions and drifting snow had made all roads in the Texas Panhandle impassable. Authorities closed Interstate 40 from Amarillo to the Oklahoma state line and Interstate 27 from Lubbock to 60 miles beyond Amarillo.

12 Photos

February snowstorms blanket U.S.

"It's just a good day to stay home," Braun said. "This is one of the worst ones we've had for a while."

The weather service issued a blizzard warning for the Oklahoma Panhandle and counties along the Kansas border, warning that travel in the area would be "very dangerous" until Tuesday morning with near zero visibility and drifting snow.

Texas officials called in the National Guard to respond to emergency calls and help stranded motorists after Department of Public Safety troopers found roads impassable.

Billy Brown, a farmer in the town of Panhandle about 30 miles northeast of Amarillo, said the snow was coming down so hard that he could only see for about 100 feet and that it was forming drifts up to 3 feet deep. The whiteout forced all vehicles from the roads — even the snow plows, he said.

Visibility drops to less than 200 yards on north Kansas Avenue early Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 in Liberal, Kan., because of blowing snow, powered by winds around 30 mph.

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AP/Southwest Daily Times, Larry Phillips

But he said he was hopeful the snow would bring some relief to the drought-stricken region.

"We have been super dry," Brown said.

A rancher in the Texas Panhandle, Jay O'Brien, warned that for cattle out grazing in pastures, including some calves born in recent days, the storm could prove deadly. The wind will push animals into in a fenced corner where they could suffocate from the moisture.

"This type of snow is a cattle killer," he said.

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Secret Vatican Dossier for 'Pope's Eyes Only'

Feb 25, 2013 9:05am

ROME – Pope Benedict XVI decided to keep secret the contents of an investigative report on the “Vatileaks” scandal, ruling that the only person who will get to see it will be the next pope.

The top secret dossier details the findings of an internal investigation the pope launched last April into the so-called Vatileaks affair, in which Benedict’s former butler leaked confidential documents stolen from the papal chambers.

Italian newspapers have claimed — without attribution — that the investigation revealed a sex and blackmail scandal inside the curia.

The Vatican spokesman today underscored that the contents of the dossier are known only to the pope and his investigators, three elderly prelates whom the Italian papers have nicknamed “the 007 cardinals.”

Pope Benedict met today with Cardinals Julian Herranz of Spain, Jozef Tomko of Slovakia, and Salvatore De Giorgi of Sicily in a private audience.

According to the Vatican, the pope thanked them for their work and expressed satisfaction with their investigation.

“Their work made it possible to detect, given the limitations and imperfections of the human factor of every institution, the generosity and dedication of those who work with uprightness and generosity in the Holy See,” read a Vatican statement.

The Vatican statement pointedly added: “The Holy Father has decided that the acts of this investigation, known only to himself, remain solely at the disposition of the new pope.”

Many here had expected the investigating cardinals, who are too old to participate in the conclave, would brief the voting cardinals about their findings.

Today Vatican officials clarified the investigating cardinals will be free to discuss their investigation with the other cardinals, as the voting members of the conclave seek to understand the challenges the next pope will face.

But the dossier itself will remain “For the Pope’s Eyes Only.”

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Vatican 'Gay lobby'? Probably not

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Benedict XVI not stepping down under pressure from 'gay lobby,' Allen says


• Allen: Benedict is a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government


• However, he says, much of the pope's time has been spent putting out fires

Editor's note: John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

(CNN) -- Suffice it to say that of all possible storylines to emerge, heading into the election of a new pope, sensational charges of a shadowy "gay lobby" (possibly linked to blackmail), whose occult influence may have been behind the resignation of Benedict XVI, would be right at the bottom of the Vatican's wish list.

Proof of the Vatican's irritation came with a blistering statement Saturday complaining of "unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories," even suggesting the media is trying to influence the papal election.

Two basic questions have to be asked about all this. First, is there really a secret dossier about a network of people inside the Vatican who are linked by their sexual orientation, as Italian newspaper reports have alleged? Second, is this really why Benedict XVI quit?

John L. Allen Jr.

The best answers, respectively, are "maybe" and "probably not."

It's a matter of record that at the peak of last year's massive Vatican leaks crisis, Benedict XVI created a commission of three cardinals to investigate the leaks. They submitted an eyes-only report to the pope in mid-December, which has not been made public.

It's impossible to confirm whether that report looked into the possibility that people protecting secrets about their sex lives were involved with the leaks, but frankly, it would be surprising if it didn't.

There are certainly compelling reasons to consider the hypothesis. In 2007, a Vatican official was caught by an Italian TV network on hidden camera arranging a date through a gay-oriented chat room, and then taking the young man back to his Vatican apartment. In 2010, a papal ceremonial officer was caught on a wiretap arranging liaisons through a Nigerian member of a Vatican choir. Both episodes played out in full public view, and gave the Vatican a black eye.

Pope Benedict XVI

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In that context, it would be a little odd if the cardinals didn't at least consider the possibility that insiders leading a double life might be vulnerable to pressure to betray the pope's confidence. That would apply not just to sex, but also potential conflicts of other sorts too, such as financial interests.

Vatican officials have said Benedict may authorize giving the report to the 116 cardinals who will elect his successor, so they can factor it into their deliberations. The most immediate fallout is that the affair is likely to strengthen the conviction among many cardinals that the next pope has to lead a serious house-cleaning inside the Vatican's bureaucracy.

It seems a stretch, however, to suggest this is the real reason Benedict is leaving. For the most part, one should probably take the pope at his word, that old age and fatigue are the motives for his decision.

That said, it's hard not to suspect that the meltdowns and controversies that have dogged Benedict XVI for the last eight years are in the background of why he's so tired. In 2009, at the height of another frenzy surrounding the lifting of the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop, Benedict dispatched a plaintive letter to the bishops of the world, voicing hurt for the way he'd been attacked and apologizing for the Vatican's mishandling of the situation.

Even if Benedict didn't resign because of any specific crisis, including this latest one, such anguish must have taken its toll. Benedict is a teaching pope, a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government, yet an enormous share of his time and energy has been consumed trying to put out internal fires.

It's hard to know why Benedict XVI is stepping off the stage, but I doubt it is because of a "gay lobby."

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John L. Allen Jr.

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China's Huawei claims world's fastest smartphone

BARCELONA: China's Huawei, the number three smartphone maker behind giants Samsung and Apple, unveiled Sunday a new mobile, the Ascend P2, which it claims is the fastest in the world.

Sharp-cornered and thinner than a pencil at 8.4 mm, the company said it can achieve speeds of 150 Mbps, fast enough to download a two-hour high-definition movie in less than five minutes.

The mobile, which has a 4.7-inch, high definition screen, has a powerful 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and is able to use the fourth-generation high speed mobile networks being rolled out worldwide.

Unveiling the device on the eve of the opening Monday of the four-day Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the company said it was "the world's fastest smartphone," smashing all previous records.

Huawei said its phone surpassed top speeds of 100 Mbps for the fourth-generation network ready versions of Apple's flagship iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy SIII.

The Ascend P2 will launch in France through Orange in June and is also expected to be available worldwide during the second quarter of 2013, it said.

"Ascend P2 downloads HD movies in minutes, and loads online videos, web pages, songs or e-Books in seconds," Huawei said in a company statement issued at the launch.

The phone, which includes a 13 megapixel camera, is the latest shot in Huawei's battle against the fast-growing market's titans Samsung and Apple.

Samsung and Apple accounted for more than half of all smartphone sales in the final quarter of 2012 -- 29.0 per cent for Samsung and 22.1 per cent for Apple -- according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Behind Samsung and Apple, however, Chinese firms held the third, fourth and fifth spots -- with 5.3 per cent for Huawei, 4.7 per cent for ZTE and 4.4 per cent for Lenovo.

- AFP/jc

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Afghanistan links torture, murder to U.S. special forces

By Josh Levs, CNN

updated 2:17 PM EST, Sun February 24, 2013

U.S. toops patrol in Wardak province of Afghanistan in 2010.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• An armed group is torturing and killing innocent people, the Afghan government says


• The group is "named as" U.S. special forces, Afghanistan says


• The U.S. military says it is investigating


• The U.S. rejects the allegations, Afghanistan says

(CNN) -- The Afghan government says a group of armed people who may be U.S. special forces is carrying out acts of torture and murder.

The U.S. military says it is investigating.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force must stop all special force operations out of Wardak province, where such horrors have been taking place, and all U.S. special forces must be gone from the province within two weeks, Afghanistan's National Security Council demanded.

At a meeting of the council, chaired by President Hamid Karzai, "it became clear that armed individuals named as U.S. special force stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people," Karzai's office said in a statement. It did not indicate who "named" the group a U.S. special force.

Nine people "disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force," the statement said. And in another incident, a student was taken from his home at night, and his "tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge," the statement said.

It added that the United States rejects any suggestion that its special forces carried out any such operation.

Afghan forces must protect people in the province "by effectively stopping and bringing to justice any groups that enter peoples' homes in the name of special force and who engage in annoying, harassing and murdering innocent people," the statement said.

"We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them," U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and the International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. Until military officials speak with Afghan officials about the issue, "we are not in a position to comment further," the statement added.

"This is an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts."

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

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Afghans accuse U.S. troops of involvement in torture

KABUL, AfghanistanAfghanistan's president says all U.S. special forces must leave eastern Wardak province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans.

Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi says Sunday's decision was taken during a meeting of the National Security Council because of the alleged actions of Afghans who are linked to the U.S. special forces.

He said the government wants the individuals, whom he did not identify, to be handed over to the government.

Wardak is a restive province next to Kabul and has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts.

Meanwhile, suicide bombers targeted Afghanistan's intelligence agency and other security forces in four coordinated attacks in the heart of Kabul and outlying areas on Sunday in a bloody reminder of the insurgency's reach nearly 12 years into the war.

The brazen assaults, which occurred within a three-hour timespan, were the latest to strike Afghan forces, who have suffered higher casualties this year as U.S. and other foreign troops gradually take a back seat and shift responsibility for security to the government.

The deadliest attack occurred just after sunrise — a suicide car bombing at the gate of the National Directorate of Security compound in Jalalabad, 78 miles east of Kabul.

Guards shot and killed the driver but he managed to detonate the explosives-packed vehicle, killing two intelligence agents and wounding three others, according to a statement by the intelligence agency. Provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai confirmed the casualty toll and said the building was damaged in the attack.

A guard also shot and killed a man in an SUV filled with dynamite that was targeting an NDS building on a busy street in Kabul, not far from NATO headquarters. The explosives in the back of the vehicle were defused. Blood stained the driver's seat and the ground where security forces dragged out the would-be attacker.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the Jalalabad attack and two others in the eastern province of Logar in an email to reporters. He did not address the attempted assault in Kabul.

Shortly before the Jalalabad attack, a suicide attacker detonated a minivan full of explosives at a police checkpoint in Puli Alam, on the main highway between Kabul and Logar province. One policeman was killed and two others were wounded, along with a bystander, according to the NDS.

Also in Logar province, which is due south of Kabul, a man wearing a suicide vest was stopped by police as he tried to force his way into the police headquarters for the Baraki Barak district, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the provincial government spokesman. The attacker detonated his vest while being searched, wounding one policeman, according to Darwesh and the NDS.

"Once again the enemies of peace and stability in Afghanistan ... staged coordinated attacks against the Afghan security forces and the Afghan people," the intelligence agency said.

The attacks were a reminder that insurgents are still on the offensive even as U.S. and other international forces prepare to end their combat mission by the end of 2014.

Afghan soldiers and police are easier targets than their NATO allies because their checkpoints and bases are less fortified.

More than 1,200 Afghan soldiers were killed in 2012 compared to more than 550 the previous year, according to data compiled by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

U.S. troop deaths, meanwhile, declined overall from 404 in 2011 to 295 in 2012.

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Pistorius' Brother Facing Own Homicide Trial

The attorney for Oscar Pistorius' family said today that the Olympian's brother is facing a culpable homicide charge relating to a 2008 road accident in which a motorcyclist was killed.

Carl Pistorius, who sat behind his younger brother, Oscar, every day at his bail hearing, will now face his own homicide trial for the accident five years ago, which his attorney, Kenny Oldwage, said he "deeply regrets."

Carl Pistorius is charged with culpable homicide, which refers to the unlawful negligent killing of another person. The charges were initially dropped, but were later reinstated, Oldwage said in a statement.

Full Coverage: Oscar Pistorius Case

Pistorius quietly appeared in court on Thursday, one day before his Paralympic gold-medalist brother was released on bail, Oldwage said. His next appearance is scheduled for the end of March.

Liza van Deventer/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images

'Blade Runner' Murder Charges: Oscar Pistorius Out on Bail Watch Video

Oscar Pistorius Granted Bail in Murder Case Watch Video

It was the latest twist in a case that has drawn international attention, after 26-year-old Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who ran in both the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, was charged with the premeditated murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

On Saturday, Carl Pistorius' Twitter handle was hacked, according to a family spokeswoman, prompting the Pistorius family to cancel their social media accounts.

Steenkamp's parents speak about the Valentine's Day shooting that ended their daughter's life in a sit-down interview on South African television tonight.

On Saturday, the model's father, Barry Steenkamp, told the Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper that Pistorius will have to "live with his conscience" and will "suffer" if his story that he shot Steenkamp because he believed she was an intruder is false.

RELATED: Oscar Pistorius Case: Key Elements to the Murder Investigation

After a four-day long bail hearing, Pistorius was granted bail Friday by a South African magistrate.

The court set bail at about $113,000 (1 million rand) and June 4 as the date for Pistorius' next court appearance.

Pistoriuis is believed to be staying at his uncle's house as he awaits trial. As part of his bail conditions, Pistorius must give up all his guns, he cannot drink alcohol or return to the home where the shooting occurred, and he must check in with a police department twice a week.

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