News Archive - 11 July 2011

>LONDON (Reuters) - Crude oil prices fell by more than a dollar on Monday as worries about the widening euro zone debt crisis and a drop in Chinese crude imports rekindled concerns about a demand slowdown. After Friday's dismal U.S. employment data, investors remain on edge about a meeting...

> "We are very concerned about Iran and the weapons they are providing to extremists here in Iraq. And we're seeing the results of that," Panetta said. "In June we lost a hell of a lot of Americans as a result of those attacks. And we cannot just simply stand...

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A huge explosion — likely sparked by a brush fire that set light to containers of gunpowder — tore through a Cypriot National Guard naval base Monday, causing widespread damage and leading to extensive power cuts, the Defense Ministry said. At least 10 people were feared...

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has "lost legitimacy" as a leader interested in reform as the United States formally protested an attack on the U.S. Embassy and the American ambassador's residence in Damascus. Clinton's comments fell short of...

TEHRAN - Iran's Aerospace Organization plans to build two satellites namely Pars 2 and Qaem, the caretaker director of the organization announced on Sunday.

TEHRAN -- The annual trade between Iran and China will hit a new record of $40 billion in 2011, the Chinese ambassador to Tehran has predicted.

source: philstar.com A record 31-man NAMSSA Philippine motocross team will be attending the third leg of the 2011 FIM Asia Supercross Championships scheduled on July 15-16 in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. The riders from the NAMSSA Philippine motocross team will dispute titles in the MX2 and MX85 against top riders...

TEHRAN - A high-ranking military official has said that Iran reserves the right to attack and destroy terrorist camps and bases belonging to the counter-revolutionary group PJAK (the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan) located in Iraq near the border with Iran.

The federal government has appointed career diplomat Jenny Bloomfield as the next ambassador to Greece.

TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that Tehran will not relinquish its legitimate rights outlined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held a meeting in Tehran late on Sunday, in which they discussed the latest developments in the region, notably the unrest in Syria.

After shaking up the Philippine broadcasting industry and expanding its reach to key cities all over the country, TV5 is launching two international channels that will give Filipinos overseas access to the network's most popular programs.

TEHRAN - Iran's Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has said that parliamentary ties will help strengthen relations between governments.

Despite a wet and rainy weekend, STK-Australia obliterated defending champion Datis-Iran in the tough Division I of the recently held PALS 2nd Leg paintball competition held at the CDC Parade Grounds here from July 8 to 10.

Follow Israel news on and . Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khameni has ordered the revolutionary guards to "immediately" proceed with the completion of an atomic bomb with hopes of a test in 2012, Iran Press News reports.

BEIRUT — Hundreds of Syrian government supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus Monday, smashing windows and spray-painting walls with obscenities and graffiti that called the American ambassador a “dog.” Guards at the French Embassy fired in the air to ward off another group of protesters.

The theme of today’s panel is “The Nonproliferation and Disarmament Nexus.” Too often, we approach these dual imperatives in a binary, “either or” fashion. That’s silly because they are two sides of the same coin.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has expressed solidarity with the people of Bosnia and the families of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide of 1995.

U.S. Marines in the capital of Syria on Monday drove back dozens of pro-government demonstrators who stormed and vandalized the American Embassy compound, witnesses said.

On the morning of April 8, Iraqi military forces entered Camp Ashraf, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad in eastern Iraq near the border of Iran, and proceeded methodically to shoot and kill 34 and wound over 300 of the unarmed camp residents.

KUCHING: The 14th Rainforest World Music Festival ended on a high note with a grand finale which left many festival goers vowing to return for next year’s festival.

245 North American new olim – Jewish immigrants – are landing in Israel on this summer’s first Nefesh B'Nefesh flight. Watch the live broadcast. Masked gunmen blew up a terminal of the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan, the fourth time since February.

Deputy chief of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gholam-Ali Rashid, said Monday the Leopard tanks bought by Saudi Arabia from Germany do not pose any threat to the country, local ISNA news agency reported.

The envoy of Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to Iran, Nazem Dabbagh, rejected on Monday the reports that Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous region has given supports to the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Monday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi left Tehran on Monday for Slovenia and Austria for talks, the local Press TV reported. Heading a delegation, Salehi is scheduled to hold talks with Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar and also to inaugurate Iran's Embassy in Ljubljana, said the report.

An Iranian senior military official said that Iran will target Kurdish rebel centers in Iraq near its borders, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Monday.

President Dimitris Christopfias, who rushed to the area, described the blast as “a catastrophe of biblical proportions.”

China and Serbia, enjoying growing trade and investment ties in recent years, on Monday pledged to further expand bilateral economic cooperation in the years ahead.

MARI, Cyprus — Dozens of containers of gunpowder seized years ago from an Iranian cargo ship exploded on Cyprus’ main naval base Monday in a massive blast that killed 12 people, wounded 62 and wrecked a major power station, causing extensive blackouts.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi opened the Islamic republic's first embassy in Ljubljana on Monday and said that his country is willing to develop ties with Slovenia.

THE head of the Cypriot navy, a navy base commander and six firefighters were among 12 people killed early yesterday after Iranian armaments seized two years ago exploded at a

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia X (AAX), which flies six times weekly to London by way of Stansted airport, will move its base to Gatwick, which is Britain’s second largest airport from late-October this year.

Written by John Daly In the past three decades the Islamic Republic of Iran has developed a well-ear...

Written by Joao Peixe Relations between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran have been stre...

US secretary of state says Syrian leader has 'lost legitimacy,' and should not see himself as indispensable to country’s future

So why, after meeting with North Korea at the UN's disarmament committee since January, is Canada protesting the rogue regime's chairmanship now?

Baghdad - The United States will take unilateral action when needed to deal with the threat to American troops in Iraq from Shi'a militias armed by Iran, US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta said on Monday.

Nothing gets done in the boss’s last day at the Pentagon. It’s all ceremonies and handshakes. In fact, on Thursday, June 30 President Obama stopped by to drop off a Medal of Freedom for departing Secretary Robert Gates.

FRIDAY, March 4 (HealthDay News) -- Poor diagnosis and ineffective treatment of diabetes may put millions of people worldwide at risk for early death, a new study finds.

A munitions dump located at the naval base of Evangelos Florakis on Cyprus exploded today, killing 12 people and injuring at least 60 more. The dump stored almost 100 containers of Iranian explosives confiscated from the ship Monchegorsk in 2009.

Between the Arab Spring and Israel's outreach to Greece, Turkey is clearly rethinking its damaged relationship with Israel. But with Turkey's prime minister still talking a harsh line, reports of a reconciliation are premature.

The munitions, seized in 2009 from an Iranian shipment to Syria, apparently exploded when a wildfire reached a military base. The explosion leads to the resignations of Cyprus' defense minister and the commander of the Greek Cypriot National Guard. Two top officials in Cyprus resigned Monday after a massive explosion...

"President Assad is not indispensible and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power."

Iranian authorities have urged the U.N. to step up efforts to locate four missing Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982.

BAGHDAD — A blunt and frustrated U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expressed exasperation Monday with Iraqi indecision on whether it wants U.S. troops to stay next year. He threatened stronger U.S. action to stop Iranian-supplied weapons from killing Americans as they prepare to depart. To reinforce...

> * Seeks rule change on automatic rotating presidency * Acknowledges move is symbolic OTTAWA, July 11 (Reuters) - Canada will boycott the U.N. Conference on Disarmament for the several weeks that North Korea is chairing it, Foreign Minister John Baird announced on Monday. "It's just absurd to have...

>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States will take unilateral action when needed to deal with the threat to American troops in Iraq from Shi'ite militias armed by Iran, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Monday. Panetta's comments came during his first trip as defense secretary to Iraq, where he also...

> * Essar is ready to tap alternative supplies in "worst case" * Essar looks at buying oil from LatAm to meet expanded capacity * Essar may halt fuel oil exports post expansion (Releads with details on Iran debts) NEW DELHI, July 11 (Reuters) - Essar Oil owes $2 billion...

American forces are pursuing Iran-backed insurgents in Iraq, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said in Baghdad on Monday as US deaths spike nearly a year after US troops formally ended combat operations.

Iran will invest $18 billion in the development of its oil and gas fields in the hydrocarbon-rich south of the country in a 5-year development plan ending 2015, its deputy oil minister in charge of planning was quoted as saying Sunday.

Today, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed visa restrictions on, and Canada announced support for increased measures against, officials of the Government of Iran and other individuals who have participated in the commission of human rights abuses related to political repression in Iran. More than 50 Iranian officials...

Both Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev have repeatedly suggested that they may run in the 2012 presidential election. But neither of them has announced an official bid, and they have put considerable effort into keeping everyone guessing.

Hundreds of Syrian government supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus Monday, smashing windows and spray-painting walls with obscenities and graffiti that called the American ambassador a "dog." Guards at the French Embassy fired in the air to ward off another group of protesters.

Foreign Affairs Minister also dismisses Palestinian bid to win world body’s recognition for statehood

Right now, the anger and mistrust between the US and Pakistan is palpable. One could even argue that it is justified. But problematic as this relationship may be, it cannot be abandoned.

BEIRUT - Hundreds of Syrian government supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus Monday, smashing windows and spray-painting walls with obscenities and graffiti that called the American ambassador a "dog." Guards at the French Embassy fired in the air to ward off another group of protesters.

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A series of gruesome pictures depicting emaciated lung cancer patients, a dead body in a morgue, a baby confined to a respirator (presumably the result of secondhand smoke) and other consequences of smoking that will appear on the outside of cigarette packages will hopefully...

>Police and army officials were not in a position to immediately confirm the report, and information was scant from the scene of the blast at the Evangelos Florakis navy base."There are a number of dead which we cannot confirm yet," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said.It...

> Financials...

>AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least one civilian and injured 20 in Homs Monday during the heaviest raids on the city since troops deployed there two months ago to crush dissent against President Bashar al-Assad, residents said. The armor and tank-backed assaults on Homs, Syria's third largest city...

At least 12 people were killed today when a depot at the main naval base on Cyprus, containing confiscated arms from the Middle East, exploded sending shock waves across surrounding villages.

ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer BAGHDAD The U.S. will not "walk away" from the challenge of Iran's stepped-up arming of Iraqi insurgents who are targeting and killing American troops, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday. "We're very concerned about Iran and the weapons they're providing to...

NICOSIA, Cyprus - A huge explosion — likely sparked by a brush fire that set light to containers of gunpowder — tore through a Cypriot National Guard naval base Monday, causing widespread damage and leading to extensive power cuts, the Defence Ministry said. At least 10 people were feared dead.

July 11, 2011: Afghanistan is losing its dominant share of the world heroin trade. In the last year, Burma has gone from producing five percent of the world's heroin, to 12 percent. Afghanistan is down to under 80 percent.

SHAH ALAM - Demonstrations will not solve political problems or issues in any given situation, said Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. The self confessed demonstrator during his student days in the 1970s, Zahid said it was just a waste of time and a way to get hit back with a...

July 11, 2011: Iran announced that it had developed an anti-ship missile, with a range of 300 kilometers. The new missile, called the Khalij Fars, is said to be developed from the earlier Fateh 110. But this is where this announcement gets strange.

The British Home Office is probing into the case of Iran's former Ambassador to Jordan Nasrollah Tajik, who was arrested in 2006 for alleged involvement in purchasing night vision goggles.