News Archive - 2 March 2011

> * Tech and auto shares lead gains; builders regain ground * Kia Motors firm after strong sales, Goldman target upgrade SEOUL, March 3 (Reuters) - Seoul shares bounced back on Thursday after the latest U.S. data signaled the economy could absorb higher energy costs, with heavyweights such autos...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose to settle at its highest level since August 2008 on Wednesday after an airstrike near Libya's oil infrastructure raised more fears the OPEC nation's oil sector could become a target in embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi's efforts to hold power. News of the strike in...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Lost Libyan oil gives Iran a chance to sell off its shunned crude stored on tankers, but only in a brief time window before promised Saudi supplies sail to the rescue of anxious European refiners. Lighter Saudi grades also make a better substitute for Libyan crude than...

KHORAMABAD, Lorestan Province (Iran): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the United States is preparing for military intervention in Libya, reports Iran's Mehr News Agency (MNA).

Do you think PAS is able to perform better in Merlimau and Kerdau? KOTA KINABALU, 3 MARCH, 2011: More than 100 scientists from universities and institutions in this region will converge in Sabah for the three-day Universiti Malaysia Sabah's (UMS) 8th Annual Seminar on Marine Science and Aquaculture, here beginning...

Oil traded near the highest in 29 months as fighting in Libya renewed concern that supply disruptions may spread to the Middle East while an unexpected drop in U.S. crude supplies signaled a recovery in demand.

On loan Brazilian midfielder Rodrigo Pimpao scored twice for Cerezo Osaka in their 2-1 Asian Champions League win over Arema Indonesia but the Japanes...

Afghanistan also likely to feature in agenda. 3 Mar 2011 5:22 PM

Text messages from press row ... The NFL and its players, on the brink of a lockout, will engender little sympathy from fans over their inability to figure out how to divvy up $9 billion in yearly revenue. …

New York, Mar 3 : United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and award-winning Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie on Wednesday called for greater focus to be put on the reintegration of former Afghan refugees as she wrapped up her second visit to the country.

>Following are key dates in gold's trading history since the early 1970s:* August 1971 - U.S. president Richard Nixon takes the dollar off the gold standard, which had been in place with minor modifications since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 fixed the conversion rate for one Troy ounce...

>This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.The owner of this announcement warrants that:(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of theinformation contained therein.Source: Thomson Reuters...

Tehran, Mar 2 (AFP) Iran was urged to take "firm legal action" against opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi in a parliamentary report today, as prosecutors denied they have been jailed.

Washington (AFP) March 1, 2011 The US military will send a warship to the Mediterranean next week as a first step in a defense shield to protect Europe from a potential strike from Iran's missile arsenal, a defense official said Tuesday. The USS Monterey, a guided missile cruiser equipped with...

McKinney TX (SPX) Mar 03, 2011 Raytheon has been awarded a $50 million contract to deliver 50 AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems for use on the U.S. Navy's MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters. This airborne forward looking infrared targeting system provides video imagery that helps soldiers, intelligence analysts and commanders in...

Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Mar 03, 2011 Rockwell Collins and DRS Defense Solutions have been added to the growing list of companies with C4ISR products integrated into Lockheed Martin's Airborne Multi-Intelligence Laboratory, or AML. The AML is an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance test bed developed to help customers experiment with and...

Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Mar 03, 2011 Lockheed Martin has introduced several innovative aircraft and ground station configurations that can be tailored to specific customer intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirements. Branded the "Dragon" series, these platforms can be customized to support individual military, homeland defense, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance ...

US film star Angelina Jolie has made a surprise two-day visit to Afghanistan to meet refugees in the war-torn country, the UN's refugee agency said Wednesday.

A widening probe into corruption in China's powerful Railways Ministry is raising questions over the scale and pace of its multibillion-dollar drive to build costly high-speed railways, though it is unlikely to derail the program.

Forget "democracy"; Libya, unlike Egypt and Tunisia, is an oil power. Many a plush office of United States and European elites will be salivating at the prospect of taking advantage of a small window of opportunity afforded by the anti-Muammar Gaddafi revolution to establish or expand a beachhead.

Japanese stocks rose as signs of a strengthening U.S. job market overshadowed concern political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa will drive energy costs higher.

Tokyo (AFP) March 2, 2011 Japan is reviewing whether to cut its financial aid to China after the population giant overtook the island-nation as the world's number two economy last year, officials said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara has asked his staff to report by June on whether to reduce...

Asian stocks and currencies rose, led by South Korea, while oil gained as reports showing improving economic growth offset concerns about disruptions to energy supplies from the Middle East and North Africa.

TALLADEGA COUNTY — The emergency rule banning so-called “bath salts” in Alabama will be enforced in Talladega County, according to a statement from the District Attorney’s Office.

KOTA KINABALU, 3 Mac (Bernama) -- Lebih 100 saintis daripada pelbagai universiti dan institusi di rantau ini akan berhimpun di Sabah bagi menghadiri seminar tahunan kali kelapan, Sains Marin dan Akualtur (BMRI) di Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) selama tiga hari bermula 8 Mac.

Tensions over Saudi Arabia’s handling of a visiting Iranian soccer team and the arrest in the kingdom of a prominent Shiite cleric have sparked a Saudi-Iranian war of words. Iran has warned against a crackdown on Saud Arabia’s Shiite majority in the oil-rich Eastern Province. The warning constituted the first...

High-profile human rights solicitor Sir Geoffrey Bindman spoke in support of democracy at a protest against the Iranian government last week, organised by the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran. Bindman said: ‘Change is coming in the Middle East, and that would include the liberation of Iran. 'Great courage is required.

In a park in the middle of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, sits Hosni Mubarak. The bronze statue, erected in 2007, stands against a hokey-looking backdrop of diminutive pyramids, but the subject’s face still bears “the wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command” that Shelley once ascribed to another fallen pharaoh. “Look...

KUALA LUMPUR, Wednesday 2 March 2011 (Bernama) -- Ninety-one flights into and out of the KL International Airport in Sepang were rescheduled today to facilitate the detonation of a World War II relic bomb unearthed at the nearby construction site of the new low-cost carrier terminal or KLIA 2.

Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce says four Iranian private and government banks have applied to get permission to set up their branches in Iraqi cities.

Oil rose on Thursday as investors eyed growing instability in key Middle East oil producing countries which could signal another threat to global supplies after Libya's Muammar Gaddafi ordered airstrikes near Libyan oil facilities.

The annual series of films by and about women and gender from around the world. Shorts will precede each week's feature narrative or documentary film.

PIERRE, S.D. — The South Dakota Senate has approved a bill that would require women to wait 72 hours before they could have an abortion and to submit to counseling about why they shouldn't go through with the procedure.

Bradley Manning , the U.S. Army private who allegedly passed classified documents to the whistle-blowing site Wikileaks , has just been charged with 22 additional counts, according to his attorney , Lieutenant Colonel David Coombs. Among these are "aiding the enemy," a capital offense. Before we go on, you...

2250 GMT: This live report on events in Libya concludes for Wednesday after a day in which Moamer Kadhafi delivers a rousing speech to loyalists, rebel forces survive an attack on the town of Brega, and refugees continue to flood towards the country's borders fleeing the violence.

KOTA KINABALU, March 3 (Bernama) -- More than 100 scientists from universities and institutions in this region will converge in Sabah for the three-day Universiti Malaysia Sabah's (UMS) 8th Annual Seminar on Marine Science and Aquaculture, here beginning Tuesday.

Gold traded near a record as concern that turbulence in the Middle East will fuel inflation and hamper the global recovery bolstered demand for the metal as a store of value.

A disorderly conduct charge against former CIA analyst Ray McGovern – for standing silently with his back to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – was dropped on Wednesday in what McGovern called a victory for the constitutional right to dissent against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is "generally supportive" of increasing American oil imports from Canada, but sidestepped questions Wednesday about whether she backs a controversial new oilsands pipeline from Alberta to Texas.

Japanese stocks rose as signs of a strengthening U.S. job market overshadowed concern political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa will drive energy costs higher.

Ottawa is expected to table a particularly timely bill that would allow Canada to take "restrictive measures" with respect to property belonging to foreign government officials.

Mamoon Alabbasi views the hypocrisy and double standards displayed by Western politicians and media towards the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain.

A special envoy of the United Nations agency tasked with preserving the world’s cultural heritage has concluded meetings with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia to discuss the safeguarding of Preah Vihear, a Hindu temple inscribed on the World ...

It’s time to break the silence and stand with those who fight for freedom and justice.

Since my last report the world has witnessed a sea of change in Africa and the Middle East. Financial data out of the US, China and Europe is almost meaningless as traders focus on energy prices.

Kevin Roderick: Upon the 20th anniversary of the Rodney King beating by LAPD officers in 1991, media analyst Dan Gilmoor looks at how photojournalism has changed since the video by George Holliday went viral.

The Iranian football team Persepolis has lost 3-1 to its Saudi Arabian host Al-Ittihad in their first match of the AFC Champions League 2011.

KUALA Lumpur’s sister city Esfahan emerged champions in the inaugural Kuala Lumpur World Intercity Invitational football tournament.

Japanese stock futures rose as signs of a strengthening U.S. job market overshadowed concern that political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa will drive energy costs higher. Australian shares fell.

An Australian newspaper publisher accused of providing a mouthpiece for Burma's military junta goes on trial today after a dramatic fall from grace.

by COHA Research Fellow Alex Sanchez. Contributions by COHA Research Associates Karen Schwindt & Julissa Delgado. Russian military sales have become so frequent in recent years that they no longer make for major headlines.

PETALING JAYA: Asian markets retreated yesterday following gains in crude oil price as unrest in the Arab world triggered fresh protests in Iran.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Iran is communicating with opposition groups in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen in a bid to shape events there.

By Pham-Duy Nguyen and Nicholas LarkinBloomberg NewsGold rose to a record for the second straight day on mounting demand for an investment haven amid surging commodity prices and turmoil in Libya.

It may take time and it may get messy, but in the words of one of the Tahrir Square organizers, "The new great awakening is unfolding across the Arab world."

Iran's non-oil exports have increased by 25 percent to reach 29 billion dollars in the first 11 months of the Iranian calendar year ending on March 21.

2246 GMT: US pop singer Beyonce Knowles, who performed at a New Years party in St.

As democratic revolts roar across West Asia in a cascading fashion, the word 'jasmine' has entered the blacklist of forbidden terms enforced by China's Internet censorship and policing machinery.

Beirut - Two Iranian warships that docked in a Syrian port last month will pass through the Suez Canal on their way to Iran on Thursday, a Lebanese security source said.

Wandering the halls of J Street’s second national conference, you couldn’t fail to be impressed at the strides the dovish Jewish lobbying organization has made in its first three years of existence. It’s grown from a germ of an idea into a national organization with chapters in nearly every city...

As Republicans and Democrats propose cuts in programs that actually benefit their constituents, they agree there's one area of the budget that's not to be touched: the annual $3 billion subsidy taxpayers provide to the Israeli military.

The Brooklyn theater company the Brick presents a four-week festival of contemporary Iranian plays.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Iran is directly or indirectly communicating with opposition groups in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen in a bid to shape events there.

There's almost too much to the career of legendary comedian and political activist Dick Gregory . From performing at Hugh Hefner's Playboy club in the '60s to marching with Dr Martin Luther King Jr., to devising a detox diet for John Lennon.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says Iran is communicating with opposition groups in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen in a bid to shape events in the strife-torn Middle East.

The victory of the Egyptians and Tunisians in getting rid of Mubarak and Ben Ali has revitalised activists everywhere. More recently, though, the news has been dominated by the brutality of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

Continued violence and unrest in Libya and other oil producing countries are being cited as reasons for record high prices in gold and multi-decade highs for silver.  Experts say geo-political and economic factors favor even higher prices ahead for the precious metals.

An Iranian fact-finding committee on Wednesday revealed that Israel has played a direct role in stirring unrests in Tehran, the Fars news agency reported. The committee was set up by the Iranian parliament to study the recent unrests in the capital. The report presented by the committee also indicated that...

Oil prices rose to their highest levels since September 2008 Wednesday as traders continue to worry that Libyan unrest could spread across the Middle East.

The Citizens’ Constitutional Forum is concerned that the ongoing imposition of the Public Emergency Regulation (PER) is not allowing the Media Industry Development Decree to be tested, resulting in the muzzling of free speech and expression of opinion ...

Fears of sectarian uprisings in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have set off the first serious wave of investor flight from the Gulf, compounding market turmoil as civil war in Libya pushes Brent crude over $116 ...

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (TheStreet ) -- Gold prices closed at a record high Wednesday as silver trumped a 31-year high. Gold for April delivery settled up $6.50 to $1,437.70 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price hit a record intra-day high...

House Republicans, pandering to the new corporate money trough legitimized by the Supreme Court, have voted to kill off public financing for presidential elections.

Gold rose to a record high for a second straight day on Wednesday, breaching US$1,440 an ounce as political unrest in Libya and surging oil prices prompted investors to pile in.

The cost of protecting corporate bonds from default in the U.S. reversed an earlier decline as the benchmark tracked oil’s rise above $100 a barrel.

MUSCAT - Hundreds of Omanis demonstrated on Wednesday in support of Sultan Qaboos as more than 400 activists camped outside the Gulf state's consultative council, continuing a series of anti-corruption protests.

Short of a U.S.-led military offensive, international options to quickly force Moammar Gadhafi from power now appear to be highly limited, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for an end Wednesday to "loose talk" about steps that would amount to an act of war.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. risks falling behind China in the competition for global influence as Beijing woos leaders in the resource-rich Pacific, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday.

Massive budget cuts in our capacity to support democracy abroad could take the United States out of play just when the global tipping point may have finally been reached.

KABUL - US FILM star Angelina Jolie has made a surprise two-day visit to Afghanistan to meet refugees in the war-torn country, the UN's refugee agency said on Wednesday. Jolie, star of films such as Mr & Mrs Smith and also a UNHCR goodwill ambassador, spent two days meeting refugees,...

Fears that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, could be destabilised and rock global economic recovery have edged closer to reality.

For the past seven weeks—beginning with the protests that ousted Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali—the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has been the No. 1 story in the mainstream media.

> Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Republican proposals to cut the U.S. foreign affairs budget would hit U.S. efforts to compete with China's rising power on the global stage. "We are in a competition with China," Clinton said, citing the Papua New Guinea energy find...

> "Tomorrow (Thursday), the Iranian ships will cross the canal with the convoy starting in the north from the Mediteranean," a canal official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, adding that they would head through the canal on Thursday morning. (Reporting by Yusri Mohamed, Writing by Edmund Blair...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 2 (UPI) -- Heavy fighting around the Libyan port of Brega, a key oil export center, and growing political turmoil in the oil-rich Gulf has sharpened global concerns that Middle East energy flows could face serious disruption if the crisis is not contained.

Nizar Zakka, the Secretary General of IJMA3 - The Arab ICT Organization, urges the development of protective measures for social media users

Toronto stocks were moderate higher at midday Wednesday as turmoil in Libya and other oil-producing nations continued to drive up the prices of oil and gold.

Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gave a speech in Brussels today, entitled Building Open Societies: Transforming Europe’s Partnership with North Africa.

“We can have both falafel and gefilte fish,” concluded Cordova Initiative Chairman Imam Feisul Abdul Rauf to a packed room at the annual J Street conference, which provides of forum for discussion and speakers for the pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy group.

An Iranian parliamentary panel set up to probe anti-government protests in Tehran on Feb. 14 called on by opposition leaders Mir-Houssein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi -- whom opposition websites claim have been jailed -- urged Iran to take "firm" action...

WASHINGTON — A former translator of U.S. broadcasts into Iran who was fired after making an Internet music video criticizing the Iraq War can continue her free-speech lawsuit under a ruling yesterday by a federal appeals court.

NICOSIA — Iran, escalating its rhetoric against its Sunni neighbor, has warned Saudi Arabia of any crackdown on the kingdom's Shi'ite minority. For the first time in years, the mullah regime in Teheran has begun issuing threats against the Saudi kingdom.

Oil prices rose to $100 a barrel Wednesday after the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi attacked rebel strongholds in the eastern half of the country, where many production facilities are located, and a report showed an unexpected drop in U.S. crude and gasoline supplies.

Bahrain Defense Force (military) tanks return to base in Hamala after they were called off by the Crown Prince, who is also Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces.

TEHRAN, March 2 (MNA) – The Air Force plans to manufacture fighter trainer planes, Air Force Commander Hassan Shahsaffi announced on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — The United States sees no “proliferation risk” from Iran’s Russian-built first nuclear power plant at Bushehr that was loaded with fuel Saturday, the State Department said.

There have been five central crises in America's post–World War II encounter with the Middle East, and the Obama administration now faces a sixth.

Traders returned to panic mode on Tuesday in response to the rising price of oil and the growing uncertainty in what is now being referred to as MENA (Middle East, North Africa). I know what you're thinking. Why on earth are we worried about oil again? Haven't we done this...

HONG KONG: Asian stocks tumbled yesterday following a surge in crude prices caused by concerns about a wave of instability in the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa. Tokyo's Nikkei dived 2.43 per cent, or 261.65 points, to 10,492.38, its biggest loss since August 31. Shanghai edged...

(AP:ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan) Energy-hungry China is set to sign an agreement with the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan later this year to boost its future annual natural gas purchases by 20 billion cubic meters, state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported Wednesday.