News Archive - 7 March 2011

The Socceroos' failure to make it past the group stage in the 2010 World Cup has seen them slip to third in the Asian rankings for qualification into the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

CLAREMONT - Zalmay Khalilzad, the former United States ambassador to Afghanistan and the United Nations, will be the principal speaker at the 16th annual Rotary International District 5300 Peace Conference on March 19 in Claremont School of Theology's Mudd Theater.

Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani has deplored imposing of unpopular and despotic rulers in the region, saying the US dictatorship and despotism has contributed to terrorism and extremism.

WAUKEE, IOWA--“Are you ready to begin the process of choosing Barack Obama's successor here in Iowa?” So asked the longtime Christian conservative activist Ralph Reed on Monday night at the giant Point of Grace evangelical church here a few miles outside of Des Moines, Iowa. Before a crowd of...

From the mechanical engineering lab of Kingsbury Hall emerges new technology that assists metal cutting tools used for manufacturing. This technology is known as the Smart Tool. The three men behind Smart Tool are Chris Suprock, founder of Suprock ...

Dubai non-oil trade rises 19% in 2010

March Madness is still a few weeks away for college basketball fans but the madness of March is in full swing for the oil sector. Turmoil in the Middle East sent oil prices up more than 6% last week and seasonal factors are also in play.

United Nations, Mar 8 (PTI) The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency today said that Iran is still not cooperating with the IAEA to show that its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Iran claims that its uranium enrichment programme is to make medical isotopes.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Bernama) -- The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) is expected to issue the first Shariah-compliant financial instruments by year-end.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was aware that special commandos and Mi6 officers were to mount a secret mission in Libya, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.

Nobody escapes the pain at the pump. One expert says to blame the price spike on turmoil in the Middle East and the fear of a domino effect.

MANILA, Philippines - “For years, the Middle East had been a hair-trigger powder keg, proliferated by high-tech weaponry.” — Erik Durschmied IN view of the Middle East turmoil, for tiny democratic states such as the Philippines, the priority should be economic survival and escape from possible collateral impact arising...

Surge in gasoline price boosting cost of goods and services Soaring gasoline prices are expected to remain painfully high, affecting nearly every aspect of the economy, from how much consumers pay for many goods to, in some cases, how much they earn.

Natural gas derived from the process is lifting the economy, but it's environmentally risky

In 2007, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat implemented the Young Professionals programme, in recognition of the need to foster the development of young people with policy skills, scale up human resources, and strengthen policy mandates and the associated effective realisation of the Pacific Plan.

There's a sensible way to mull the question of whether the Western powers should intervene in Libya, and an obnoxious way. If I mentioned here Timothy Garton Ash and Marty Peretz, could you guess who represented which view? Last week in the Guardian, Garton Ash wrote a column weighing precisely...

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe felt relieved when the military took over the Egyptian government during the recent revolution, he said. The 2011 Egyptian revolution began with Cairo street protests on Jan. 25, then climaxed on Feb. 11 when President Hosni Mubarak resigned from power, leaving Cairo.

Saratoga High School's math club has been finishing at the top of many prestigious math tournaments this year.

Intellpuke: This commentary was written by Gwyn Morgan, retired founding CEO of Encana Corp., Canada's largest energy company; it appeared in the Globe and Mail's online edition for Sunday, March 6, 2011, but I felt it merited a broader readership and hope that neither Mr. Morgan or the Globe...

February 25, 2011: The UAE (United Arab Emirates) is converting 23 of its 40 UH-60 Black Hawk transports into AH-60 Battlehawk gunships. This will cost about $12 million per helicopter (including training, parts and support.) Arming UH-60s is nothing new.

MR. CROWLEY: Good afternoon and welcome to the Department of State. Several things to mention before taking your questions.

An annual intelligence report to Congress has dropped language stating that Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions are a future option. The revision comes as U.S. intelligence agencies recently altered a controversial 2007 intelligence assessment that said Iran halted work on nuclear arms in 2003 and was keeping open its options...

Surge in gasoline price boosting cost of goods and services Soaring gas prices affect nearly every aspect of the economy, from the cost of goods to paychecks.

Fairly or unfairly, mud has stuck to the Foreign Office in recent weeks. I have been reluctant to join in the chorus of condemnation over what has appeared to many as incompetence in the evacuation of British citizens from Libya.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran and India need to help spread justice in the world as the duo share humane perspectives on international affairs.

CNBC, the top U.S. business news channel, is running propaganda ads in support of unbridled capitalism, including a 1979 clip of right-wing economist Milton Friedman besting talk show host Phil Donahue in a debate over the merits of greed.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday as surging oil prices continued to weigh heavily on Wall Street. About three stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York stock exchange, while on Nasdaq seven stocks rose for every two that fell.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi unveiled here the country's first domestically-made self-propelled wheeled Howitzer cannon, the state IRIB TV website reported on Monday.

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar says Iran's anti-drugs police have seized more than 400 tons of narcotics since March 2010.

The parents of two young children at the Inverbrackie detention centre in the Adelaide Hills have filed a claim with the Federal Court for their immediate release from custody.

"ON to Libya! Down with the Tyrant of Tripoli!" That’s the latest hue and cry from America’s right wingers, media, and pro-Israel neoconservatives.

Gold traded near a record as escalating turmoil in Libya, coupled with concern that inflation is rising, bolstered demand for the metal as a store of value.

Senator Lieberman returned from a trip to the Middle East with the belief the U.S. must provide assistance.

USF professor Mohsen Milani, an expert on the Middle East, weighs in on the historic shift happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and elsewhere.

PARIS (AP) - An epic French documentary about the Holocaust, dubbed into Farsi, is to be broadcast on a satellite channel in Iran as part of a campaign to promote understanding between Jews and Muslims and to fight Holocaust denial.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described Iran's relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan as brotherly, saying the close ties will remain firm.

TORONTO - Grower Gus Nunez lives and breathes Medjool dates, and has been around what he dubs the "Cadillac of dates" all his life. He says with a chuckle that he "was born in a tree."

LONDON - IRAN is the country seen as having the most negative influence in the world, according to an annual survey by BBC World Service published on Monday. The Islamic Republic was followed by North Korea and Pakistan in the survey of negative and positive views of people in 27...

TEHRAN: Iran is a key player in Lebanon, there is no doubt about that. But if Lebanese visitors to Tehran are expecting Iranian officials to indulge in lengthy conversations over the political crisis in Lebanon and the role of their ally Hezbollah in domestic Lebanese politics then they are in...

One hundred years ago, more than a million people marched in streets across Europe on the first International Women's Day, calling for an end to discrimination and for women to have the same rights as men to work, vote and shape the future of their countries. One hundred years on,...

Global natural gas supplies could be reduced by about 3% if production cuts in Libya spread to other producing nations in West Asia, Goldman Sachs Group said in a report.

Muslim women have crucial roles in the social and political development of their communities, whether in the dramatically evolving Middle East or in Western society, says women's rights and humanitarian activist Manal Omar.

NOTHING makes me more nervous than new technologies. If I never had to learn another cell phone, another TV remote, another VCR, another DVD player, another car interior — I would be just fine. No change is the change I can believe in.

In his article, touching on the theme of turbulence in the Middle East, Ivashov said that they are quite logical. According to the testimony of Ivashov, social niches are clogged.

In 1960, Jack Paar returned as host of NBC's "Tonight Show," nearly a month after walking off in a censorship dispute with the network.

New York, Mar 7 2011 1:10PM Iran is still not providing the cooperation needed to conclude that its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful activities, the head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency warned today.

A shattered cooling pump at Iran’s only civilian nuclear-power reactor, forcing a shutdown during its initial start-up phase, has renewed safety concerns about the hybrid Russian-German power plant on the Persian Gulf coast.

A warship capable of detecting and shooting down ballistic missiles headed for the Mediterranean Sea on Monday as the U.S. started implementing its plan to protect Europe from a potential Iranian nuclear threat.

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday:

AS I AWAITED my turn Sunday to buy gasoline at Costco -- there were eight lanes, each five cars deep -- it was difficult to miss the blank faces staring straight ahead inside the cars on either side of me.

Posted: Monday, March 7, 2011 3:43 pm | Updated: 3:44 pm, Mon Mar 7, 2011.

AN Iranian boy and girl have asked a court to release them from the Inverbrackie Detention Centre because they are "sad".

>LONDON (Reuters) - Major U.S. oil companies have halted trade with Libya and big banks have started to pull back from funding such deals because of U.S. sanctions, in moves that will further disrupt oil flows from the torn country. Around half of Libya's oil output, or over...

A few days have passed since two of Iran's major opposition leaders were either kidnapped or taken hostage by the regime. Mir Hussain Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives were taken from their homes without an arrest warrant, and without their children being informed about where their parents...

The Telegraph: Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Zimbabwe's foreign minister, said the sanctions -- which prohibit member states from providing Iran with raw materials that it could use to make a nuclear weapon -- were unfair and hypocritical. He said that Zimbabwe, which is also the subject of sanctions over human rights...

The detention of Iranian opposition leaders is in contrast to international and Iranian law, an opposition movement said in a letter to the United Nations.

>WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will meet with European Central Bank and German finance leaders on Tuesday ahead of a European Union summit that will consider bolstering a rescue fund for debt-strapped bloc members. Geithner will meet with European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet...

Kamelia Massih, a 1985 graduate of the College of Optometry, opened successful practices in Beaverton and Portland before her March 2010 death. The first $2,500 endowment prize will be awarded at graduation in May.

In the Bay Area this weekend? Come along to Hayes Valley Farm between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm tomorrow (Sunday), to enjoy some organic Caffe Vita coffee and Theo chocolate , tour the farm, check out C-Lab 's gorgeous table, and hear a few words from Ellen Gustafson. There's a...

By The Associated Press A look at anti-government protests, political unrest and key developments in the Middle East on Monday:

> Gates, speaking during a trip to Afghanistan, said developments in the Middle East had demonstrated the ruthlessness of Iranian security forces towards protesters in Iran. (Reporting by Missy Ryan; Editing by Paul Tait) Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints...

BASEL, Switzerland — The world's leading central bankers vowed to keep inflation under control as energy costs surge and food prices touch record highs due to strong demand from fast-growing countries like China and Brazil.

An ordinance that would govern where adult entertainment businesses could be located was tabled a second time Tuesday by the Williston City Commission.

According to the data used in National Geographic 's  new video, "7 Billion: Are You Typical?," the most typical person in the world is now a 28-year-old Chinese man, of which there are nine million. Using that as a starting point, researchers then compiled and averaged out 190,000 photographs...

Libyan warplanes launch airstrikes on opposition fighters regrouping at the oil port of Ras Lanouf on the Mediterranean coast, the second day of a harsh government counteroffensive to thwart a rebel advance toward Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold in the capital, Tripoli.

By The Associated Press A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday:

Demonstrations have spread across parts of the Middle East and Africa. Here is the latest from each country and the roots of the unrest.

Follow Israel news on and . Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu explained succinctly on Sunday why the negotiations with the PA have gone nowhere. He answered a question during the joint press conference he held with visiting Chilean President Sebastián Piñera.

Republicans are looking ahead -- some with glee and others with fear -- to the presidential election in 2012.

David D. Moenning is a professional money manager and founder of TopStockPortfolios.com. Good morning. I believe there are two words that best sum up the current up-one-minute, down-the-next environment in the stock market: Fear and Momentum.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's great political survivor, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, may be removed from one of his remaining positions of influence this week as hardliners seek to punish him for expressing sympathy for the opposition.

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says the country is building new destroyers in order to beef up its defense capabilities.

An epic French documentary about the Holocaust, dubbed into Farsi, is to be broadcast on a satellite channel in Iran as part of a campaign to promote understanding between Jews and Muslims and to fight Holocaust denial.

Oil prices climbed to near $106 a barrel Monday as intense fighting between Libyan government forces and rebels appeared to be turning into a civil war and raised the prospect of a prolonged cut in crude ...

> * Turkmenistan complained it had no fare share of MTS profit * MTS warned energy firms business in Turkmenistan is risky * Russian diplomacy breaks silence, backs MTS in Turkmen row By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW, March 7 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry on Monday threw its weight behind the...

>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...

Afghan Deputy Minister for Commerce and Industry Mohammad Sharif Sharifi says Afghanistan attaches great importance to the expansion of its economic and trade relations with Iran.

In the past 16 months, the Internet landscape has shifted dramatically. Sixteen months ago, there were no iPads. The number of Twitter users was orders of magnitude smaller. And scarcely 10 percent of phone users had smartphones.

We accept instability and even war in the Middle East to maintain our addiction. The spread of popular revolt in the Middle East to Libya has exacerbated a spike in oil prices and gasoline costs at the pump. In turn, this has stimulated widespread complaints about the lack of a...

Egyptian revolutionaries say they are set to disclose information incriminating senior officials over their involvement in the violent crackdown on anti-regime protests.

An 82-year-old minister who allegedly molested two girls while residing in North East remained in the county jail on Sunday, despite a judge lowering his bond from $250,000 to $100,000.

Britain will damage its economy if it refuses to do business with "less savoury" countries, Lord Mandelson has claimed in an impassioned defence of Labour's dealings with Libya.

BANGKOK (AP) – Most Asian stock markets slid Monday, pressured by worries over a slowing global recovery and oil prices that rose to their highest level in more than two years as the conflict in Libya escalated. Crude prices jumped above $106 a barrel as political unrest continued to shake...

(Bernama) - SINGAPORE: Malaysia's AirAsia X is set to be a leader in the global low-cost, long-haul airline industry, said its newly appointed independent and non-executive chairman, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.

Deep in the middle of a Siberian winter, a frozen bird fell from the sky. Then another. Not what you expect while ice fishing in the Russian wilderness.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Hook of Hamate . . . It has the same sinister ring as Horn of Africa. Straits of Hormuz. Golan Heights.

>While longstanding U.S. policy is to release reserves only in the event of a significant and immediate supply shortage, some analysts say the Obama administration may feel compelled to try to tamp down prices that are being fueled by outages in Libya as well as concerns over Middle East...