News Archive - 27 February 2011

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Sunday accused Iran's government of hypocrisy and "blatant" violations of the rights of its citizens. "The United States strongly condemns the Iranian government's organized intimidation campaign and arrests of political figures, human rights defenders, political activists, student leaders, journalists and bloggers," the White...

>DOHA/TEHRAN (Reuters) - OPEC cannot take effective steps to calm volatile markets without more clarity on the implications of regional instability for supply, Iran's OPEC governor said on Sunday, adding the market had enough oil. Fellow OPEC member Qatar also said on Sunday there was plenty of crude available from...

FILE - In this undated file photo released by Reuters, Japanese TV cameraman Hiro Muramoto smiles at his office in Tokyo. Thailand's Department of Special Investigation said Monday, Feb. 28, ...

Crude prices jumped in Asian trade on Monday with New York futures again in sight of $100 a barrel after unrest in the oil-rich Middle East broadened, analysts said.

Los Angeles - The royal drama The King's Speech won the best picture Oscar Sunday, capping a night of success for a film that also saw Oscar victories for director Tom Hooper, actor Colin Firth ...

Thai composite stocks index at midday of Monday stood at 984.20, down 1.71 point, or 0.17 per cent amid Bt10.40 billion turnover. Blue chip SET-50 index was at 687.92, down 1.43 point, or 0.21 per ...

Los Angeles - Natalie Portman won the Oscar for best performance by an actress for her role in the ballet drama The Black Swan."This is insane," said Portman, 29, in accepting her first ...

Even before Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, the U.S. had a long and often disastrous history of dealing with unsavory strongmen. But sometimes it's the only way to achieve real progress

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation says it has determined that a Reuters cameraman killed during political protests in Bangkok last year was not shot by security forces, a reversal ...

customer@nationgroup.com Operation Hours : Monday to Saturday at 8.00 am. to 5.00 pm and Sunday at 8.00 am. to 12.00 am. unitus-smart ...

The United States is pressing its European allies to set tough sanctions on the Libyan government, to turn up the heat on Moammar Gadhafi and convince his remaining loyalists to abandon the regime, U.S. officials said. The...

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai investigators said on Monday they were still trying to establish who killed Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto last year after reversing preliminary findings that a soldier ...

>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose over 1 percent to near $114 a barrel on Monday as protests in Oman fuels concern about security of supply from the Middle East and North Africa even as top exporter Saudi Arabia pumps more. Oman is the latest producer to feel the impact...

> The long-haul budget carrier currently flies to China, Australia, Taiwan, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, France and the U.K. AirAsia X is an affiliate of AirAsia , Asia's biggest budget carrier by fleet size. (Reporting by Bazuki Muhammad; Writing by Julie Goh) Industrials Tweet this Share this...

With a raised right hand and a two-minute pledge, more than 4,000 people at Fairplex on Friday suddenly shared something in common with Albert Einstein, Patrick Ewing and Carlos Santana.

China's "Jasmine incident" suggests new paradigms in the game of cat-and-mouse between China's security organs and dissidents.

Brent crude rose more than $2 a barrel on Monday as concern persisted about security of supply from the Middle East and North Africa even after top exporter Saudi Arabia boosted supply to meet the shortfall caused by a cut in exports from Libya.

From New York Times By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Is the Arab world unready for freedom? A crude stereotype lingers that some people — Arabs, Chinese and Africans — are incompatible with democracy. Many around the world fret that “people power” will likely result in Somalia-style chaos, Iraq-style civil war or...

A top Iranian military commander has said that the Islamic Republic's Armed Forces are fully prepared and that Iran closely monitors threats.

In the 50 years since it gained independence from Britain (or in the 20 years since its liberation from Iraq) one thing has not changed in Kuwait. The country is still getting the same recommendation from financial and monetary institutions: lessen its dependence on oil.

In support of Libyan independence against its current regime, some West Virginia University students protested outside the Mountainlair on Friday. ...

WASHINGTON – The White House is condemning what it calls an "organized intimidation campaign" by the Iranian government against opposition leaders and other activists. read more

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi criticized Western countries for their "negative approach" towards Iran's nuclear program, the English language satellite Press TV reported Sunday.

Six years ago journalist Lauren Booth went to Palestine taking with her, by her own admission, a big bag full of patronizing attitudes. She thought the Arabs a scary lot, and felt really sorry for women in the hijab, niqab and burqa. She thought they were unhappy.

SINGAPORE - Crude prices jumped in Asian trade Monday with New York futures again in sight of $100 a barrel after unrest in the oil-rich Middle East broadened, analysts said.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force has launched a project to design and build the country's most advanced fighter jet, the English language satellite Press TV reported Sunday.

This week law enforcement agencies are cracking down on teen drivers who do not wear their seatbelts. Police and state highway troopers across Kansas will participate in an aggressive campaign to both

RIYADH (Dow Jones)--Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah ordered Sunday permanent state jobs for Saudis on temporary labor contracts amid regional uprisings that have toppled regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and infected neighboring Bahrain.

New research shows that seven different drugs are responsible for almost 600 deaths across Oklahoma. Five of the seven drugs were prescription and legal. Numbers compiled by state drug-abuse fighters say

Japan's stocks edged lower on Monday, as Libya unrest and a stronger yen against U.S. dollar offset steady crude oil prices. The Nikkei index fell 0.5 per cent, while the Topix index was 0.4 ...

Iran has said it is willing to double its credit facility to Kenya.

CIOs and IT managers who block access to social media will lack innovation and affect personal branding, says one creative director.

East Asia will be aiming to maintain a six-year stranglehold on the AFC Champions League when Asia's premier club competition commences this week.

A delegation of Ukraine's energy sector has visited South Pars gas field to examine the upstream and downstream investment opportunities of Iran's oil and gas industry.

By hosting the informal Asean foreign ministerial meeting last week, the Asean chair, Indonesia, gave a historical lead that could gradually and tangibly transform the grouping into a true political ...

Hotel Indigo announced it will open in Phuket, Thailand; this is Hotel Indigo's second development in Thailand and the first boutique in a resort destination globally. The upscale Hotel Indigo ...

Tehran, February 25 (KCNA) -- The Iranian Cyber Army (ICA) Monday hacked into the website of the Voice of America (VOA), replacing its homepage with a message to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

USM will host “Egypt Now,” a symposium on the ongoing revolution in Egypt and its ripple effects on the region and United States foreign policy on Tuesday, March 1 at the amphitheater in the Woodbury Campus ...

Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa could exacerbate uncertainty in the U.S. economy, causing U.S. companies to put off hiring amid the recovery from the worst recession in eight decades.

Thousands of protesters streamed through Bahrain’s diplomatic area and other sites Sunday, chanting against the country’s king and rejecting his appeals for talks to end the tiny Gulf nation’s nearly two-week-old crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed on Sunday a move by Bahrain's government to reshuffle its cabinet and urged it to respect human rights.

President Barack Obama is praising the king of Bahrain for overhauling his cabinet and making a "commitment to reform." After two weeks of anti-government protests, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ousted four cabinet members Saturday, including two members of the royal family.

In reply to Tehran Security Out In Force : America provides the world with a constant stream of anti-Iran propaganda so as to prepare us for an eventual invasion of Iran or, at the least, a bombing raid using nukes. It’s quite likely therefore that the current demonstrations in Tehran...

So as much as it makes us uncomfortable, guys, we all have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves, "What is going on? Why do we love guns and violence so much?"

Casspi, a second-year forward, is enjoying the responsibility that goes with being the first Israeli to play in the league. "I'm just enjoying it," he says of the attention he receives. Casspi, a second-year forward, is enjoying the responsibility that goes with being the first Israeli to play in the...

About 8.382 million tons of goods worth $26.27 billion have been transited via Iran in the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year (which began on March 21).

MNA- The Kyrgyzstan Football Federation has sent a letter to FIFA in which they asked for a postponement of the second leg of the Olympic qualifier against Iran due to bad weather.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday that the issue of the alleged studies mentioned in the latest report of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Yukiya Amano "lacks any real basis," the official IRNA news agency reported.

Two of Iran's main opposition leaders and their wives are said to be in grave danger after security forces apparently abducted them from their homes, where they were under house arrest.

As their friends in high places fight or flee the firestorms of revolution in Arabia and North Africa, our government ministers barely seem compos mentis. They look like lost boys in the desert, mouthing words, some of it babble, looking for a way back to safe and familiar territory. The...

Diplomats form throughout Europe have prepared lists of people who may be sanctioned in Iran.

In early February, the university was ranked number 21 among the Peace Corps’s “Top Peace Corps Volunteer Producing Colleges and Universities.” The rankings represent the university’s strong incline towards volunteerism and interest in public service over traditional post graduation options like graduate school or the work force.

Increasing economic strength at home suggests he should move, but external factors are forcing him to tread with caution

Iran accuses The White House of intimidation tactics.

Protests against the tight grip of Gulf rulers widened yesterday as riot police in Oman battled pro-democracy demonstrators in a deadly clash that sharply raised tensions in t

The love of stories is used to united cultures in the play being performed by Oregon Children's Theatre.

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The United States condemned the Iranian government Sunday for what it said was an organized campaign of intimidation and arrests of political figures, journalists and activists.

A pioneer in the field of hostage negotiation takes us through the emotional land mine that will hopefully secure the release of captives.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has sent an airplane to the Libyan capital Tripoli to repatriate Iranian nationals residing in the North African country.

On Fox News Sunday , each week Chris Wallace highlights a "Power Player of the Week" and this time he featured the stars of the Iranian version of The Daily Show called Parazit . The comedy starts with the name of the show itself, which is Arabic for "static," since the...

Although future increases threaten to derail economic recovery, it’s too soon to panic

New York, Feb. 27: Muammar Gaddafi may be under fire in Tripoli, but in New Delhi it is Manmohan Singh who is discovering that, out of the blue, he has to be on his toes.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's Islamic party, has approached India to help conduct elections in the country when they are ready to go to polls.

The White House on Sunday urged Iran to allow active dialogue among its citizens, accusing the government of "ongoing hypocrisy" after a human-rights group said two opposition figures had been moved from where they were detained under house arrest. The...

The young Arab women and men of Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen have proved that they are willing to die to build a better future. They yearn for freedom, opportunity and democracy. It is doubtful they will accept anything less.

Reuters/Doha/Tehran Opec and non-Opec oil producers have plenty of available oil, Qatar’s Minister of Energy and Industry HE Dr Mohamed Saleh al-Sada said yesterday, adding there was no justification for nervousness in the market.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Sunday urged OPEC, especially Saudi Arabia, to refrain from any unilateral hike in oil output, saying current crude production was enough to meet any shortages arising over the unrest in Libya.

Necmettin Erbakan, the mentor of political Islam in secular Turkey and its first Islamist prime minister, died of a heart failure yesterday, aged 84, doctors and aides said.

by Staff Writers Moscow (AFP) Feb 26, 2011 Russia vowed Saturday to fulfil its contract to supply Syria with cruise missiles despite the turmoil shaking the Arab world and Israel's furious condemnation of the deal.

Iran on Sunday urged OPEC, especially Saudi Arabia, to refrain from any unilateral rise in oil output, saying current crude production was enough to meet any shortages arising over the unrest in Libya.

Bahrainis, especially majority Shiites, came out in an unprecedented peaceful demonstration demanding constitutional reforms, political freedom and justice. However, the autocratic minority Sunni regime responded with a violent crackdown raining death and destruction.

The uncertain situation in the Middle East could send world oil prices to $200 or $300 a barrel even asRead the Rest...

Read the full transcript of Dr Peter Cock's interview in The Zone.

Five surprising lessons from the Middle East upheaval

Protests against the tight grip of Gulf rulers widened Sunday as riot police in Oman battled pro-democracy demonstrators in a deadly clash that sharply raised tensions in the region.

I attend the Church on the Way in Southern California. For years, one of my best friends was Pastor Scott Bauer, the son-in-law of Dr. Jack Hayford. In 2003, Scott died from an aneurysm at the age of 49.

AJMAN — The Baloch expatriate community in the UAE last week remembered its legendry folklore balladeer Mulla Kamalan, who earned the Pride of Performance by the Khatami Government in Iran and citizenship in early 1960s from the Oman Government.

Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan attacked two trucks carrying supplies to Nato troops in Afghanistan and set them on fire on Sunday, officials said.

Iranian scientists have produced a vaccine that prevents the life-threatening infection commonly associated with severe third-degree burns.

The head of the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC) calls on Saudi Arabia to avoid making unilateral decisions in the face of rising crude prices.

Daughters and sons of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have written letters regarding the inhuman and illegal house arrests of their parents and the increasing concerns about their well-beings.

There have been clashes in Oman and calls to oust monarch in Bahrain.

In a warehouse converted into a disaster shelter, hundreds of people are living out of backpacks and duffel bags while they wait for President Hugo Chavez to come through on his promises of new homes.

Switzerland may soon be as famous for its haste at freezing shady money as for its zeal for looking after it.

>"OPEC has not decided on holding an emergency meeting to discuss the production increase ... Saudi Arabia should avoid taking any hasty decision on increasing its production ... and should avoid taking any such decision independently ... There is no need to increase production," Massoud Mirkazemi told IRNA.Oil prices have surged toward...

CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA Associated Press Moammar Gadhafi was many things over many years: a dashing icon of Libyan revolution, a brazen patron of terrorists, the custodian of vast oil wealth, a dictator whose flamboyance masked grit and guile, and a longtime pariah on the road to rehabilitation in the West. From...

DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. military and its European allies stand by as a desperate Arab dictator sends tanks and helicopter gunships to crush popular revolts and wreak revenge.

Iran said Saturday it will have to remove fuel from the controversial nuclear reactor that Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom has been building in the southern port town of Bushehr over some 15 years, signaling that the reactor poses a direct threat of a major accident, press reports and environmentalists...

TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (MNA) – A number of top Syrian naval commanders along with an Iranian military delegation and Tehran’s ambassador to Damascus visited the Iranian warships which have recently passed through the Suez Canal.

A Libyan insurgent soldier displays heavy caliber ammunition in Benghazi. Photo by Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have surrounded the rebel-controlled city of Zawiya, 30 miles from Tripoli, and are expected to launch an armed offensive on anti-government fighters in the city, the Associated Press reports . The...

TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (MNA) -- Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow has said the decision to unload fuel from the reactor of the Bushehr nuclear power plant is based on a request by Russia and has nothing to do with the Stuxnet computer virus.

LONDON (Reuters) - Two Iranian opposition leaders have been moved secretly from their homes where they had been under virtual house arrest for calling on supporters to protest against the government, an advocacy group said on Sunday.

WASHINGTON -- Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) both criticized President Obama's response to the crisis in Libya on Sunday, saying he needs to "get tough" and enforce a no-fly zone over the country. McCain also held out the possibility of a military option Libya.

International law has taken three body blows in the last decade: Serbia, Iraq and now Libya, where foreign interference is patently obvious, where the entire anti-Gathafi campaign is orchestrated from abroad, manipulated by the media and controlled by elements who have been trying to assassinate the Libyan leader for decades.

TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (MNA) – The conference of the Islamic Awakening in Arab World was held on Sunday in the Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Omani security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters demanding political reforms on Sunday, killing at least one person in the strategic Gulf country, police officials said. The clashes mark a significant escalation in two days of protests in Oman, and show that...

Omani security forces have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters demanding political reforms, killing at least one person in the strategic Gulf country, police officials said. Related Stories Specialists to identify quake dead Prayers held for city quake victims Panel urges competitive elections Golf tournament for North Korea...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Omani security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters demanding political reforms on Sunday, killing at least one person in the strategic Gulf country, police officials said.

Necmettin Erbakan, a longtime leader of Turkey's Islamic political movement and briefly the country's prime minister in the first Islamic-led coalition in Turkey's modern history - died on Sunday. He was 85.