News Archive - 8 February 2011

In November 1979, while Iranian students took hostages after occupying the American embassy in Tehran, I was raising my four-year-old son and trying to maintain a household budget in my suburban Long Island home. The books I was reading were undoubtedly Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised Egypt's military on Tuesday for its restraint, underscoring Washington's push for an orderly transition as protests swelled anew against President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt's military -- long the backbone of the government in Cairo -- had behaved in "an exemplary fashion" as it...

>Following are the 22 films in the main competition lineup, along with the production countries, the name of the director and the names of major stars. Six are not in the running for awards.- True Grit (United States) by Joel and Ethan Coen. *- The Turin Horse (Hungary/France/Germany/Switzerland/U.S.

>LONDON (Reuters) - With unrest and chaos apparently having taken Egypt's rulers and Western states by surprise, governments and spies are increasingly looking to social media like Twitter to detect political threats in advance. Protesters who overthrew Tunisian President Ben Ali and brought revolution to the streets of Egypt used...

NORRISTOWN – Currently a magisterial district court judge in Lower Merion, Henry J. Schireson believes his 30-year legal career has prepared him well for a move to the Montgomery County bench.

Iran's Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani has departed Tehran for Qatari capital city of Doha for a one-day official visit at the head of a high ranking delegation.

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2011. There are 325 days left in the year.

In December 2003, security forces boarded a bus in Macedonia and snatched a German citizen named Khaled el-Masri. For the next five months, el-Masri was a ghost. Only a select group of CIA officers knew he had been whisked...

BAGHDAD -- Vendors around the Kadhimiya mosque in northern Baghdad sell all manner of women's clothing, from drape-like black abayas to racy evening wear. But on a recent afternoon, Hameed Ibrahim ushered his family toward a different kind of fashion display.

Richard Rhodes' 'Twilight of the Bombs' says nukes are obsolete. So why keep them?

Cable dated:2007-12-10T05:54:00 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RIYADH 002441 SIPDIS SIPDIS DHAHRAN SENDS DEPT OF ENERGY PASS TO MWILLIAMSON, GPERSON, AHEGBURG, AND JHART CIA PASS TO TCOYNE E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2017 TAGS: EPET, ENRG, ECON, SA SUBJECT: FORMER...

I accuse President Obama of being, at least in part, responsible for the deaths of an estimated 300 Egyptians who were killed while peacefully asking their government for a “redress of grievances. But first, I want to clear up some confusion about where Obama stands on the political spectrum.

TEHRAN - Iran’s judiciary said on Sunday the stoning of a woman convicted of adultery has been suspended for the time being, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The Haqqani network is planning to target the United States-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan from its new bases in the Kurram agency.

Two regions that have had great difficulty adjusting to the globalized world of the 21st century are Europe and the Arab world.

FILIPINOS ARE watching the Egyptian revolution with excitement and nostalgia, evoking parallels between it and our own People Power Revolution in February 1986 at EDSA.

Barack Obama did something that no president in my memory has done. He walked away from a dictatorship the United States has supported for 30 years.

Owner Jamie Masada is on a mission to help ease comedians' demons: For four nights a week, a psychologist will be on hand to offer free counseling. In Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada's perfect world, each of his stand-up comics would kill it onstage at the Hollywood comedy club —...

Shaul Mofaz thinks there's a fast track to peace between Israel and the Palestinians and claims to have a plan to embark on it. A retired general, Mofaz is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and has also served as defense minister and deputy prime...

WASHINGTON - In December 2003, security forces boarded a bus in Macedonia and snatched a German citizen named Khaled el-Masri. For the next five months, el-Masri was a ghost. Only a select group of CIA officers knew he had been whisked to a secret prison for interrogation in Afghanistan.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has called for the strengthening of political and economic ties between Iran and Algeria.

China has signed a $13 billion contract to construct a railroad network in the Islamic Republic, Iran's Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company has announced.

Accra, Feb. 8, GNA - The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood has drawn a link between investment and the prevalence of an effective judicial and adjudicatory mechanism and highlighted reforms that have taken place in the judiciary that would promote investment.

The situation in Egypt remains hazy after two weeks of protests while a caretaker vice president is announcing a series of concessions on behalf of President Hosni Mubarak. The cabinet was replaced, t .....

CAIRO, Feb 08, 2011 (AFP) - Egypt's embattled Hosni Mubarak, facing revolt on his own streets, met the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates in Cairo on Tuesday, his first high-level overseas visitor since the crisis began.

Many would agree with those few first words of 'The Boondocks' animated television series, especially in light of former president Ronald Wilson Reagan's 100th birthday on Sunday. While many Republicans and others continue to celebrate his legacy follo...

For the most part, economic markets have shrugged while the turmoil in Egypt has escalated. If President George W. Bush was right about the long-term impact of the Iraq War, that might change. We may all have to share in economic hardship as the price for a freer world. There...

Hyderabad, Feb 8 : After much fanfare the AP delegation that visited Turkey from February 3 to 6, and intense attempts by State Minister P Shankar Rao making a presentation of resources, infrastructure etc, to the Turkish Chamber of Commerce, TCC, did not evoke any immediate response like investing in...

Argus Crude futures and Brent North Sea Crude futures both trade on the Intercontinental Exchange [ICE] – which is London based and not nearly as American biased / influenced as West Texas Intermediate [WTI] which is the underlying commodity of New York Mercantile Exchange ' s oil futures contracts.

Kudos to the Canadian government for ensuring a controversial film about Iran was screened in Ottawa. Iranium was shown Sunday to a sold-out crowd at the Library and Archives Canada theatre.[...]

Nearly half of Glenn Beck's audience has disappeared in the last year. Has Beck gone too far even for Fox News, and will Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes pull the plug before he implodes on the air?

Ingraham regrets Obama is US president, Limbaugh wishes he were Egyptian president and Michael Savage thinks he's Lenin As violence in Egypt escalates and the death toll mounts, conservative radio hosts are growing increasingly concerned about the crisis of leadership here in America. Laura Ingraham Laura Ingraham was nonplussed by...

Many would agree with those few first words of 'The Boondocks' animated television series, especially in light of former president Ronald Wilson Reagan's 100th birthday on Sunday. While many Republicans and others continue to celebrate his legacy follo...

There has been a lot of commentary in the last couple of weeks about how the Egyptian uprising may go the way of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, or Ukraine’s Orange Revolution and Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution in 2005, or the Hamas elections in 2006, all of which began in euphoria...

Algeria's Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci will hold talks on Tuesday with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi to assess bilateral ties four months after holding the maiden round of joint higher committee.

Turkish State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan said on Tuesday that economic sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran would have no binding effect on Turkey's trade deals with its eastern neighbor, the semi- official Anatolia news agency reported.

CHICAGO, Feb. 8 -- Chicago wheat prices further hiked on Tuesday, hitting its 28-month high, as increasing concerns over inflation have prompted investors to stock up grains. Soybeans also joined the rising line while corn edged slightly lower.

The UN Security Council has great responsibility in steering the international community away from conflict and confrontation, and in carrying out these tasks it can count on the full commitment and support of the European Union (EU), a top EU official said here on Tuesday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday that Iran is ready to cooperate with regional countries on nuclear activities.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is scheduled to visit Israel on Wednesday and hold talks with Israeli Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the organization said Tuesday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his French counterpart on Tuesday held security discussions on a broad range of topics, including the situations in Egypt and Tunisia.

Galvanized by the emotional words of a freed Google executive, thousands of Egyptians jammed Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday, some for the first time, dismissing the embattled regime's pledges of constitutional reforms.

MY memory is that what the great statesman Talleyrand said is that "non-intervention is a metaphysical concept that more or less means intervention". Many small and medium sized countries know about this.

Ralph Fiennes makes his debut as a director at this year’s Berlin Film Festival with a modern-day setting for Shakespeare’s tragedy “Coriolanus.”

The Russian national football team will take on the Iranian side in an away friendly match on Wednesday as part of the team's preparations for the 2012 Euro Cup qualifiers.

He had been head brewer for National Brewing Co. and was a World War II veteran Peter J. Marcher Jr., a master brewer who had been the former head brewer for the old National Brewing Co. and developed the formula for Colt 45 malt liquor, died Feb. 2 of...

MY memory is that what the great statesman Talleyrand said is that "non-intervention is a metaphysical concept that more or less means intervention". Many small and medium sized countries know about this.

New Delhi, Feb 8 : Iran today said it would solve the issue of oil payments with India at a bilateral level if a new mechanism to pay for Iranian oil imports did not work.

In the Jan. 30 Times article, "Anti-gay bullying proves tough for schools to tackle," you quoted Danville resident Mike Arata: "The business of schools is knowledge and skills, not intervention or beliefs."

Reuters sports schedule at 0001 GMT on Wednesday (times GMT):

Letters from Daily News readers.

The uprising of the Egyptian populace is eerily reminiscent of the Shaw of Iran’s overthrow in the 1970s [“On streets of Cairo, anti-U.S. feeling arises,” News, Feb. 8.

"Battlefield 3" is picking up speed now. It was only formally confirmed for a 2011 release four days ago! Today brings all sorts of new information about the game. It's a little light on the gameplay details, but the broad overview that you get is pretty expansive all the same.

In the Jan. 30 Times article, "Anti-gay bullying proves tough for schools to tackle," you quoted Danville resident Mike Arata: "The business of schools is knowledge and skills, not intervention or beliefs."

WASHINGTON -- The standoff in Tahrir Square quieted down over the weekend in Cairo, and that was mostly to the good. But anyone who thinks the Egypt story of the last month has come to an end doesn't know Egypt. For one thing, that story has been going on for...

PETALING JAYA: A tactical move to limit the elite men cyclists to two events could result in a change of fortunes for Malaysia as they begin their campaign in the Asian Cycling Championships at the King’s 80th Anniversary Velodrome in Korat from today.

A former code enforcement officer has filed a federal discrimination suit against the village of LaGrange Park claiming he was fired in December 2008, because of his race and age.

Sitting down to lunch with the ayurvedic guru Cameron Alborzian, author of “The Guru in You.”

Americans and people all over the world are becoming increasingly alarmed over Iran's persistent pursuit to acquire nuclear technology.

ARTICLE (February 09, 2011) : Blast at a natural gas pipeline that runs through Egypt's north Sinai disrupting flows to Jordan and Israel last Saturday confirmed Israelis' second major fear.

Here we are, 100 years after Ronald Reagan’s birth (on Feb. 5) and 30 years after his first birthday as president of the United States, and we really haven’t given proper due to the present he gave us. True, the custom normally is for the celebrant to receive the gift,...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Sixty-eight people from all over the world became citizens of the United States this week. U.S. Chief District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin administered the oath of citizenship in a ceremony at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. District Courthouse ...

American firms with contracts overseas may be rethinking how their representatives conduct business after Egyptian authorities released a Google executive credited with launching massive protests in Cairo.

Iran accused the Netherlands yesterday of backing ‘terrorists’ amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries over the execution and hushed burial of a Dutch-Iranian woman in Iran. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast accused the the Netherlands of making “a human rights issue out of an indefensible drug case...

A charismatic rebel from Chechnya claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing last month at an airport in Russia that killed 36 people.

For the first time since anti-Mubarak protests exploded on Egypt’s streets on January 25, she was headed for work this morning, to the labs in Cairo University where she is a cancer researcher. ...

AFP/Beirut Lebanese premier-designate Najib Mikati expects this week to form his cabinet, which will include members of a Hezbollah-led camp but exclude his Western-backed rivals, an official said yesterday.

By Tricia Childress Last week, I wrote about the Turkish simit that is being carried at Yafa Market and Café, 10703 Park Road (near Black Lion). This week, the shop finally received the long-awaited order of Afghan bread. Afghan bread, also known as barbarry bread, is similar to breads found...

AFP/Tehran Iran’s main opposition leaders charged yesterday that the Islamic Republic was being run by “anti-religion ... hooligans,” in a statement on the eve of its 32nd anniversary.

One of Canada's spanking new C-130J Super Hercules transports passes over a herd of camels last week as it flies guns, butter and troops everywhere in the country for NATO.

I received an email asking how someone who served in the Reagan administration could now work at a progressive think tank like the Center for American Progress. The answer is pretty simple.

“We are witnessing a genuine grassroots revolution in Egypt and its outcome will have to reflect the will of the people, not our desires.” So writes a friend from Israel. But “the will of the people,” as awesomely impressive it has been these past days in Tahrir Square and...

U.S. wheat prices hit 2½-year highs Tuesday amid a spike in demand from Mideast and North African countries trying to increase inventories after soaring food prices helped spur unrest in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen.

Samad Ebadi was having drinks Friday night at a local watering hole when he saw Bradley Strott, a regular at his convenience store who had even brought him fresh-caught fish in the past.

A mysterious American Envoy, retired US diplomat Frank G. Wisner II was rushed to Cairo on January 31st at the height of the protest movement for top level meetings with Hosni Mubarak.

In his first public comment on the unfolding drama in Egypt, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, worried aloud last week that the right analogy may be the Iranian revolution of 1979.

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, QC, has been given an award by the New York Bar Association - but used his thank you speech to deliver a broadside to the US, warning it risks its reputation as a ''bastion of free speech'' if it continues to pursue Julian Assange.

Tehran's ambassador to Nigeria said Tuesday that arms seized in October at a port in Lagos were destined for the Gambia and followed an agreement between Iran and the small West African nation.

OTTAWA – Iran's regime has condemned a film that sold out its Ottawa premiere last weekend. A spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry says the documentary Iranium shows Western countries will do anything to hurt its nuclear activities.

TEHRAN, 9 FEBRUARY, 2011 : Mehdi Karroubi, an Iranian opposition leader, said Tuesday that a demonstration planned in Tehran next week, nominally in solidarity with the protest movements in Egypt and Tunisia, was a test both for the Iranian government and its opponents, the New York Times reported and published...

Additional Battlefield 3 details have emerged thanks to a breakdown of Game Informer's exclusive interview with DICE.

May 14, 1968: Armed police face a crowd of student demonstrators during the student riots at Paris. (Reg Lancaster/Express/Getty Images) As analysts and pundits search for historical precedents to sort through the events in Cairo -- Iran in 1979 and Tiananmen Square in 1989 are often cited -- there's one...

Wheat futures rose to a 29-month high on signs that countries are boosting grain inventories after food inflation spurred unrest in North Africa.

By Santosh Perumal Business Reporter Conventional banks, which have Islamic financing arm, may have to sell their Islamic assets to Shariah-principled banks with the Qatar Central Bank asking conventional lenders to close down their Islamic financing operations.

Many American security experts worry that in a dispute over Taiwan, China would disable and exploit U.S. computer networks

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Senior Pentagon official are sounding concern over China's development of counterspace weapons designed to shoot down satellites or jam signals.

Imagine a country where it is not only illegal for some human beings to be friends with each other because of their religions, but where even their cows were once banned from grazing together in the same field. In recent months, in Rafsanjan, Iran, a wave of arson attacks...

Militant groups in the Sinai Peninsula are taking advantage of the political breakdown in Cairo to push the desert peninsula further into lawlessness.

Beyond their immediate impact on the reigning autocracies in Tunisia and Egypt, the protests engulfing the Middle East have challenged a central premise, namely that in exchange for political passivity the leaders would provide stability and economic opportunities.

HIGHTSTOWN — No-nonsense Councilwoman Isabel McGinty was elected the Borough Council president at the annual reorganization meeting Jan. 1, representing yet another major change for the new-look governing body.

Pete Wehner has launched another of his intemperate attacks on the American patriot Glenn Beck.…

by Jerrad Peters - Brazil arrived at the 2006 World Cup as clear favourites to lift a sixth championship. The reasons: Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka and Lucio—the list goes on.

Iran's main opposition leaders have charged that the Islamic republic was being run by 'hooligans'.

TEHRAN, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was appointed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the next foreign minister, the government said.

Although conservatives are split on whether to support Mubarak, many are echoing Kirkpatrick's old mantra about the two kinds of dictatorships: the ones we can tolerate and the ones we can't.

United Against Nuclear Iran today ran ads in Metro New York newspapers that highlight its Taxi of Tomorrow Campaign. The ads have a circulation of over 350,000 in the New York metropolitan area.

TEHRAN – (IranSportsPress.com): Carlos Queiroz has had a busy day in Tehran after landing in the country on Monday evening. The ex Portugal and Real Madrid coach started his day by visiting the training facilities of the national teams, and then spoke to the reporters in a press conference.

Iran test-fired what it calls a supersonic ballistic surface-to-sea missile today in a dramatic ceremony that saw the missile crash into a ship which went up in smoke.

Jane Harman, a Jewish Democrat who made her reputation in Congress as a tough-talking advocate for carrying a big stick, is transitioning to the world of speaking softly.

MNA- Silvano Prandi from Italy is coming to Iran to discuss taking charge of Iran volleyball team. The current Pallavolo Modena coach will arrive on Wednesday to talk to Iran’s volleyball officials. The 64-year-old coach has previously coached the Bulgarian national team.