News Archive - 12 February 2011

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday welcomed Egypt's new military rulers' commitment to civilian rule and respect for all treaties and stressed U.S. support, including financial support, for Egypt. Obama called foreign leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron, Jordan's King Abdullah and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip...

Television and the internet have brought the turmoil of Egypt, the world’s largest Arab state, into our living rooms over the last 18 days. Defying a government-imposed curfew, hundreds of thousands took over Cairo’s largest public square in a concerted attempt to end the 30-year autocratic rule of intransigent President...

A man caught speeding on Lorne Street between Copper Cliff and Kelly Lake Road had no driver's licence, a Greater Sudbury Police officer discovered when he pulled him over Saturday afternoon.[...]

Egypt’s military vowed a transition to democracy “as soon as possible” and indicated the country will honor its peace treaty with Israel following the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

The Iranian ambassador to the European Union said his country welcomes the departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Paul Kocher, a world-renowned cryptographer, is looking for a few good men. Actually, make that a hundred good men - and women - with expertise in computer security. As the founder, president and chief scientist of...

No sooner had the announcement come than the streets of Cairo exploded in joyful celebration. The hated autocrat was gone. A new era was ushered in with cheers, tears and the cacophony of car horns.

CAIRO -- Two Egyptian leaders have been struck down in 30 years: one by an Islamist assassin's bullets, the other by the demands of hundreds of thousands of protesters in a peaceful uprising. The first event, the death of President Anwar el-Sadat, marked a spectacle of the most militant brand...

Protesters in both cases sought a just government after years of repression.

CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, speaks at the final Tate Lecture for the 2005-2006 school year. Amanpour discussed growing up in Iran before turning to current issues, such as Iraq and the possibility of Iran gaining nuclea

Egyptian protesters have openly thanked social media's role in the revolution against the country's ruling government. One protest leader, Wael Ghonim, said he wanted to meet Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and thank him. "...

Hosni Mubarak is gone and the streets of Cairo look like a million Mardi Gras. But as Egyptians celebrate their revolution, a different kind of transition has taken place in Lebanon. In less than thirty days, the pro-Western March 14 coalition shifted from majority to opposition, leaving Washington scrambling for...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's government's top priorities are restoring security and returning life to normal, the prime minister said Saturday after meeting the head of the military council now running the country.

Egyptian native Mongy El-Quesny had gotten into the habit of sleeping with his laptop nearby and the television on. El-Quesny of Crown Point didn’t want to miss the moment when the Egyptian people triumphed over the country’s long-time leader President Hosni Mubarak. His moment came early Friday. Clutching his laptop...

Activist Lauren Booth talks about her journey towards Islam and why she believes Muslim women will bridge the West-Islam gap.

It's only natural that highly charged words find themselves coupled with the word "nuclear." It's almost as if they're attracted by a magnetic force. Three...

A Vietnamese company is to invest $1.2 billion in the development project of Darkhovin oilfield, says the managing director of Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company.

Every democracy is different, and every one is flawed in some way or the other. Although the United States generally pushes for freedoms across the world, our own founding father-assembled kit is rarely the model adopted elsewhere.

Americans rather like revolutions. We were born in one, so the impulse is natural, rooted in a notion of inalienable rights — to cheer on the human spirit when regular folk send dictators for decades, such as Egypt ’s Hosni Mubarak, packing.

Lauren Booth, who converted to Islam last year said that since becoming a Muslim she was a ‘better worker’ and a ‘better mother’ to her two daughters.

U.S. must help Egyptians help themselves

Mideast envoys say the response by the U.S. to events in Egypt has made them question how much U.S. support they would receive in the face of any anti-government demonstrations in their own countries. The White House says it is pushing friendly but autocratic governments in the Middle...

By dumping Hosni Mubarak, America’s closest and most important Arab ally, President Obama has signaled to Muslims throughout the Middle East that repressive rulers can no longer rely on Washington and are vulnerable to ouster by uprising.

Artists for Kids Gallery: 810 West 21st St., North Vancouver. Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., weekends from noon to 4 p.m. Info: 604-903-3798 or www.artists4kidscom.

No sooner had the announcement come than the streets of Cairo exploded in joyful celebration. The hated autocrat was gone. A new era was ushered in with cheers, tears and the cacophony of car horns.

People stand on a bridge overlooking the river Nile as many Egyptians walk on the streets with Egyptian flags in Cairo Feb 12, 2011. BEIJING - Egyptians woke to a new dawn on Saturday after the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, who resigned on Friday.

The US embassy was 'impressed' by the 'political cover' Durham could generate – but the university's students are less so A weekly look at the Middle East, focusing on some of the issues and debates that you may have missed. University challenges WikiLeaks has worked its magic again, illuminating US...

Another series of leaked State Department cables made public this week by WikiLeaks lend credence to investigative reports on gun trafficking and the drug war published by Narco News as far back as 2009.

TEHRAN : The Iranian Parliament's Human Rights Committee congratulated Egyptian people on their victory and called on the UN to investigate the crimes committed by ousted President Mubarak and his accomplices, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Here's a compilation of stories and analysis from Saturday's events in Egypt:

Washington on Saturday called on Damascus to release Tal Al-Mallouhi, a young female blogger US officials say was prosecuted in a "secret trial" on accusations that she spied for the United States.

Seemingly emboldened by events in Tunisia and Egypt, opposition leaders call for anti- government rallies on Monday.

WASHINGTON - A SENIOR White House official on Saturday criticised Iran's refusal to let opponents of the regime hold a rally in support of Arab uprisings. 'By announcing that they will not allow opposition protests, the Iranian government has declared illegal for Iranians what it claimed was noble for Egyptians,'...

Kabul prepares to announce a takeover from occupation troops, as the Taliban takes over Afghanistan.

Denial of people’s right to participate in a democratic process via fair elections could lead to violent revenge against oppressive regimes. This is what happened in Iran in 1979, when many valuable lives were taken by the new ruling fundamentalists.

Controversial fear-mongering anti-Iran doc floats mushroom cloud over nation’s capital.

The success of the Arab street in Egypt and Tunisia raises the prospect that people elsewhere in the autocratic Middle East will feel emboldened to rise up and seek to overthrow their unelected leaders.

We have our fair share of politicians who should have called it a day some time ago.

I never intended to go to Ol Pejeta, let alone stay. A late night in Nairobi became a slow start the next morning, and the ambition of driving as far as Samburu National Park drifted out of reach. The road north took us as far as Nanyuki, one of the...

After weeks of mostly peaceful but sometimes violent protest, the wishes of the Egyptian people were finally realized Friday as Hosni Mubarak stepped down from the presidency, after 30 years in office. Click through for some of the most significant moments during the over two week movement for revolution. Full...

Why did the protesters prevail?

The events that began in Tunisia on 14 January may well prove to be one of those great turning points in world history. While eyes are glued to events in Egypt, let us not forget that the lead was taken by Tunisia, now advancing steadily towards a new, stable future.

By our calculations, in the last two years Brazil have played 16 friendly internationals with a game against Scotland at the Emirates Stadium in London late next month tipped to become number 17. Of course, we'll lap it up. The hype and hoopla will be something to behold.

Pray that he’s just bitter - and not just speaking from his very long experience: Hosni Mubarak had harsh words for the United States…

By the time Egyptians forced President Mubarak to quit, the enthusiasm for former U.N. nuclear regulator Mohamed ElBaradei had dwindled. He is viewed as a reluctant revolutionary who inspired but didn't lead. He arrived uncorrupted and full of promise.

Towards the end of last year, a reporter on a daily newspaper called to ask questions about my private life. I told him I don't talk to journalists about such things, omitting that I'd answered my mobile in the changing room of my gym and was stark naked at the...

Globalisation can be benign. In the 22 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, 7 per cent of the world's people and 47 nations have moved into the light of democracy, according to Freedom House. With luck, another 1.2 per cent of the globe's population in Egypt will...

WASHINGTON — Today, everyone and his cousin supports the "freedom agenda

Paul's libertarianism is as extreme a form of conservatism as there can be. And in the conclusion of his speech, he proposed an following offer to his youthful supporters, which has the power to both unite and divide.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Interrupted by applause or ovations more than twenty times today in Washington at the 2011 CPAC Conference, Congressman Connie Mack criticized the Obama Administration's cavalier approach to Latin American threats in our hemisphere, pledging to get to the bottom of security failures by the...

Washington (CNN) - Conservative syndicated columnist Ann Coulter came to the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday with her customary soapbox...

While Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney oriented their speeches at the 2011 CPAC meeting toward domestic policy, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty launched an attack on President Barack Obama's foreign policy. Politico's Ben Smith provides the key quote from Pawlenty's speech. "So when the United States of America projects its...

Barack Obama's embrace of Egypt's Facebook revolution was a carefully weighted attempt at preserving a role for the US in what has quickly tilted towards a new era of volatility in the Middle East.

At a minimum, religious-based conflict alone around the world costs the United States more than $200 billion each year, and this figure is growing. The monumental sums the U.S. has spent, and continues to spend, directly or indirectly, as a result of this conflict and its ensuing violence throughout...

Iranian authorities have blocked the word "Bahman" -- the 11th month of the Persian calendar -- from Internet searches within the country, according to an opposition website.

Minute-by-minute coverage of events in Egypt on Saturday 12 February, as the country begins life after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

Barack Obama's embrace of Egypt's 'Facebook revolution' was a carefully weighted attempt at preserving a role for the US in what has quickly tilted towards a new era of volatility.

Wanted: Moderate, Western-leaning Mideast leaders willing to be friends with Israel and cooperate in the fight against Islamic extremism while protecting human rights.

NEW DELHI: Following the exposing of the deal between Antrix Corporation — the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO]'s commercial wing — and the Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia, the debate on whether the Israeli satellite, TecSar, which was launched by ISRO in January 2008 under a commercial contract with Antrix, was for...

Things are working together, giving us a greater sense of the imminence of Christ’s return. And so I see these things being prepared

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Iran and Oman have concluded an air and naval exercise in the Gulf. Copyrights 2008, Middle East Newsline. All rights reserved.

This deal doesn't smell like roses. Online shoppers are angry after buying what they thought was a deal for Valentine's Day flowers from the discount site Groupon. A cost savings was offered Thursday across North America for $20 for $40 worth of flowers or gifts through FTD.[...]

A young city couple is in jail after Greater Sudbury Police broke up a counterfeit operation. In a release, police said officers have taken calls in the past few days about people were passing counterfeit money.[...]

The White House has released a statement from National Security Advisor Tom Donilon on Iran: By announcing that they will not allow opposition protests, the Iranian government has declared illegal for Iranians what it claimed was noble for Egyptians. We call on the government of Iran to allow the Iranian...

The deaths of two infants has led to a recall of 1.7 million baby monitors in the U.S. due to unsafe electrical cords. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission officials issued the voluntary recall of Summer Infant video baby monitors on Friday for strangulation hazards involving the cords.

WASHINGTON – Egypt’s revolution, a secular popular revolt that used nonviolent means to humble an entrenched autocrat, will remake the Middle East – and could mark the end of the era that began on Sept. 11, 2001, according to U.S. officials, former officials and analysts here and in the...

As Canadians reach the point where their earnings so far this year would pay for 365 days of groceries, economists say we can expect moderate increases in food prices over the next 12 months.[...]

OTTAWA — The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has come out swinging against "fearmongering" and "misinformation" about a decision it made to allow Bruce Power to ship radioactive steam boilers through the Great Lakes to Sweden to be recycled.[...]

The United States is holding discussions with India on the issue of Europäisch-Iranische Handelsbank the Hamburg-based bank, which was slapped with sanctions by it last year for its facilitation of Iran's proliferation activities.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A faster, high-tech seafaring tank for U.S. Marines has hit countless setbacks and cost overruns during the past two decades, and now it is one of the pricier items on the Defense Department's budget-cutting list.

>"These people are fully aware of the illegality of their demand and they know they will not receive a permit for staging a riot," Mehdi Alikhani-Sadr, deputy director of the Interior Ministry's political bureau, was quoted by the semi-official Fars news agency as saying. It had always been highly unlikely...

DUBAI — The Middle East and Africa region has excellent potential for the development of wind and solar energies, and the UAE is set to lead it by setting up projects based on renewable energy, a report said on Saturday.

A view of the mosque from afar in Qom (www.flicker.com/matthew winterburn)  "Your bag is making people crazy,” remarked a Press Ministry translator when I was in Shah Reza Pahlavi’s Mellat Palace.  

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in Saudi Arabia on Saturday that president Hosni Mubarak's ouster has opened "a new page" in Egypt that no pundits could have predicted.

The Bibb Couny Sheriff's Office says a woman is in critical condition after being shot by a man she was driving home from a party.

The Turkish president has singled out dialog as the only solution to the West's standoff with Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program.

Egypt’s long-serving dictator President Hosni Mubarak has finally stepped down. This would not have been possible if it were not for the intervention of Egypt’s army, which sided with the protesters, tilting the balance of power towards the dissident protesters. News reports in the earlier weeks of the protests have...

CAIRO (AP) - No sooner had the announcement come than the streets of Cairo exploded in joyful celebration. The hated autocrat was gone. A new era was ushered in with cheers, tears and the cacophony of car horns.

The already-ailing Saudi Arabian King's health condition has reportedly deteriorated seriously due to his efforts to prevent the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

An interior ministry official said on Saturday Iran will not allow the opposition to hold a rally in support of Arab uprisings which regime backers believe to be a ploy for fresh anti-government protests.

Western leaders hailed the toppling of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as a historic victory for people power and democracy, while China, Russia and Saudi Arabia called for stability on Saturday.

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Egypt's military council faces a daunting challenge to stabilize the economy after 18 days of protests which may cut growth this year in half and have left regulators nervous about the reopening of its capital markets. In the short-run, analysts hope that there will be an orderly...

At the recent NATO meeting in Lisbon, Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay made the decision to extend Canada's role in Afghanistan beyond 2011.The withdrawal of our armed forces and NATO's decision to transition to a training mission to train Afghan forces to help them to secure their country does...

Since the end of the Cold War, conservatives have argued that the world should be seen through the lens of a clash between civilizations. The world could be divided, they argued, on the basis of different cultures and their distance from Western values.

There are a lot of unhappy Iranian lovers. Iran not only executes one of its citizens every eight hours, Cupid now has been shot down. St. Valentine s Day, next Monday, has been outlawed with jail time threatened for disobedience.

Rulers attempt to appease public ahead of protests planned for Feb 14, move follows Egypt political crisis

Wanted: Moderate, Western-leaning Mideast leaders willing to be friends with Israel and cooperate in the fight against Islamic extremism while protecting human rights. Commitment to democracy and support from military essential. English, executive management experience and knowledge of social media a plus.

The rally is in support of an Iranian-born Canadian permanent resident who is accused of designing software used by a pornography website.

CAIRO – No sooner had the announcement come than the streets of Cairo exploded in joyful celebration. The hated autocrat was gone. A new era was ushered in with cheers, tears and the cacophony of car horns. And so it was in Tehran — 32 years before to the day.

(7.1.2011) Gegen den zunächst von der Regierung Bush geplanten Raketenschild in Europa leistete Norwegen innerhalb der NATO Widerstand, was bedeutete, Druck seitens der USA ausgesetzt zu sein.

No sooner had the announcement come than the streets of Cairo exploded in joyful celebration. The hated autocrat was gone. A new era was ushered in with cheers, tears and the cacophony of car horns.

TEHRAN, Feb. 12 (MNA) -- An exhibition of posters designed by Iranian artists will be held at the B&K Projects Gallery located in Copenhagen from February 18 to March 5.

A retired businessman from Orpington has vowed to appeal to Britain's highest court after a judge ruled he could be extradited to America on charges of conspiring to sell parts for Iranian missiles.

TEHRAN, Feb. 12 (MNA) -- An Iranian writer is trying to map the psychological aspects of successful children’s stories.

Hosni Mubarak is no longer president and the Egyptians are rejoicing their revolution; the future of Egypt's constitution and the stability of the country, however, still remain in question.

TEHRAN, Feb. 12 (MNA) -- Theater scholars, directors and producers from 16 countries are participating in the theater market, which opened as part of the 29th Fajr International Theater Festival on Saturday.

Hanan Refaat, left, Marylou Perriera, center left, Ahmed Refaat, center, and Hoda Refaat watch Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s speech on Thursday afternoon at their Greeley home. Ahmed Refaat moved to the United States from Egypt about 45 years ago and has returned many times.

MNA- Iran defeated the U.S. in the 2011 Men's Indoor Hockey World Cup in Poznan, Poland. Iran beat the U.S. 6-2 in Pool B. Iran had already defeated Russia and lost to Austria, the Czech Republic and England in the event.

TEHRAN, Feb. 12 (MNA) -- There are different analyses about the process and nature of the Egyptian revolution, but undoubtedly there are undeniable similarities between the Egyptian uprising and Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979.

CAIRO #8212; Egyptian protesters jubilant over their success in ousting President Hosni Mubarak vowed today to stay camped in a central Cairo square until they are confident the military will meet their demands for democracy.