News Archive - 12 July 2011

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had "lost legitimacy" for failing to lead a democratic transition, but stopped short of explicitly calling on him to step down. It was the strongest language the White House has used against the Syrian ruler over...

I went to Saudi Arabia because, with 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers being citizens of that country, I wanted to learn about the country, people and religion. Eight years later, I wonder what America and Saudi Arabia have learned about each other.

>BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had lost legitimacy and was losing his grip on power, and France called Tuesday for a Security Council meeting after Assad loyalists attacked the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus. Denunciations of Assad from U.S. Secretary of...

The journey of the Monchegorsk from Iran to Cyprus. Ammunitions that exploded this week in Cyprus could have arrived in Malta under US-Cyprus-UK proposal.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 29th birthday of a University of California at Berkeley graduate who has been detained in Iran for nearly two years will be marked at a fundraising event at a photo gallery in San Francisco Wednesday night.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Thursday that Iran is ready for new talks on its disputed nuclear program and alleged nuclear weapons studies, but he said that his country will not give up its nuclear rights.

TEHRAN -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Iran's significant potential should be utilized to help resolve problems facing the Middle East.

Testimony Michael H. Posner Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Statement before Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the House of Representatives Washington, DC July 12, 2011

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has helped damp down democracy movements sweeping the Arab world but is waiting now to see how events play out in places like Syria and Yemen for fear of overplaying its hand.

A senior Iranian military commander says Iran's Navy maintains presence in the high seas to safeguard the interests of the Islamic Republic.

Iran said it fired two medium range missile into the Indian Ocean six months ago under the eyes of "American spy planes," local media reported on Saturday, quoting a top military commander.

Vienna (AFP) July 12, 2011 Iran on Tuesday signaled it wanted closer cooperation with the UN atomic watchdog but said the Vienna-based agency must agree to "explicit" guidelines on how to proceed to solve a nuclear row. "Experts from both sides have to sit together and work out a mechanism...

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration, after weeks of urging Syria to carry out democratic reforms and end a brutal crackdown, has now turned decisively against President Bashar al-Assad, saying that he has lost legitimacy and that it has no interest in Mr. Assad keeping his grip on power.

Tehran (UPI) Jul 12, 2011 Tehran is again blaming NATO and Western intelligence agencies for supporting the terrorist activities of the Jundallah militant group inside Iran. Sunni Arab and Baluch ethnic militants last year claimed responsibility for a pair of bombings that killed at least 67 people last year in...

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BACOLOD City National High School (BCNHS) bets Norman Pineda of Batch ’74 and Lea Javier of Class ‘72/76 Combined emerged as top qualifiers in their respective division of the 2011 BCNHS/NOHS/DLNHS Inter-School Triangular Bowling Tournament for Unity at the Super Lanes of the Goldenfield Commercial Complex in Bacolod City. Pineda...

Baghdad (AFP) July 13, 2011 As they dissect the lethal rockets which Iraqi Shiite insurgents have fired at their troops, US weapons analysts in Baghdad say they have no doubt of Iran's signature. For the Task Force Troy doing the forensic work at the US military's Camp Victory near Baghdad...

As they dissect the lethal rockets which Iraqi Shiite insurgents have fired at their troops, US weapons analysts in Baghdad say they have no doubt of Iran's signature.

After making waves in Philippine broadcasting and expanding its reach to key cities all over the country, TV5 takes another giant leap forward by launching two international channels that will give Filipinos overseas access to the network’s most popular programs. The two new channels – Kapatid TV5 and Aksyon TV...

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Tuesday that the visit of the IAEA chief to Iran should be unconditional, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Washington, July 12 : Iraq has reportedly started negotiations to buy US fighter jets and air-defense systems worth billions of dollars, it has emerged.

LONDON - A fragile global economy is likely to suppress oil demand growth to 1.32 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012, lower than this year, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its first forecast for next year.

Mansoureh Behkish, sister of Toronto man Jafar Behkish, was released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on

Cypriots woke up on Tuesday to power cuts, water rationing, and counting losses one day after a huge explosion demolished a naval base and turned a 2-billion euro power station into mangled metal.

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.

Zemasch Corporation has acquired 100% of the local operating unit of Taiwan-based Full Colour International for 50 million baht to cement its market share in computer printer ink.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that the accusations by the U.S. secretary of defense against Tehran concerning Iraqi situation is a "big lie", the local satellite Press TV reported on Tuesday.

He Guoqiang (R), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, is greeted by a senior official of the United Arab Emirates on his arrival in Dubai,...

Shane Bauer, a Bay Area photojournalist, will spend his 29th birthday in Iran's Evin Prison on July 13. He has languished in prison along with his close friend, Josh Fattal, ever since they were detained July 31, 2009 while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan, near the Iranian border.

Iran has agreed on new talks with reservations on its disputed nuclear program and alleged nuclear weapons studies, the country's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Thursday.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has dismissed the recent allegations by the US secretary of defense against the Islamic Republic.

The United Nations Special Tribunal has indicted four senior Hezbollah members for the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is raging against the West, Israel and German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Asecretive plan to sell tanks to Saudia Arabia has caused a furor within Germany's governing coalition, members of which are demanding an explanation. The deal, which violates a tradition of avoiding weapons sales in conflict areas, signals a fundamental shift in German arms trade.

NORTH and South Sudanese awoke in separate nations on Sunday, relieved at the ease of the split but no closer to solving rows over borders, oil sharing and other issues that may yet spark conflict.

With a staff of 53 researchers of various nationalities, in a building of around 1,000 square metres, the Center for Nano Science and Technology is focused on technological innovation starting with basic research. In particular, the specific fields of application are photovoltaic conversion, biomimetic systems and plastic electronics.

A United Nations Special Tribunal received a mandate to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and handed down indictments to prosecutors in Lebanon.

Washington (AFP) July 12, 2011 Two key US senators expressed concerns Tuesday about a possible agreement to base a missile-shield radar in Turkey, citing the NATO ally's strained ties with Israel and relations with Iran. Republican Senators Jon Kyl and Mark Kirk wrote Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of...

THOUSANDS OF Egyptians braved searing heat yesterday to join the “Willing and Steadfast” rally at Tahrir Square to protest at the failure of the authorities to prosecute policemen who killed demonstrators during the 18-day uprising and to meet other popular demands.

Tomislav Ivic, who died on 24 June aged 77, was a former coach of the Croatian national football team. One of his country's most successful coaches, Ivic (left, AP) won championships in five different countries. During the 1970s Ivic landed three league title and four domestic cups in the former...

The Obama administration is withholding $800 million in military aid to Pakistan in understandable frustration with the Pakistani military's partial-at-best cooperation with the effort against militant radicals. But this approach is likely to result in even less cooperation.

American troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011 --but don't bet that all of them will leave. There are several reasons to maintain a residual, combat-capable U.S. military presence in Iraq, the most obvious being the proxy war on Iraq waged by Iran's tyrannical...

Firebrand Shiite preacher Moqtada al-Sadr lashed out Tuesday at U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s disclosure that American forces are keeping up unilateral attacks on Iran-backed insurgents in Iraq.

The United States said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had lost legitimacy and was losing his grip on power, and France called on Tuesday for a Security Council meeting after Assad loyalists attacked the U.S.[...]

Police fire tear gas as thousands of Greek Cypriots march on the presidential palace in protest at the deaths of 12 people in Monday's blast at a navy base.

A lawsuit has been filed against the State Department alleging it unfairly denied 22,000 would-be legal immigrants the right to permanent residency in the United States, their lawyers said last month.

Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a bitter opponent of serving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, came out Tuesday in support of talks with Tehran’s arch foe Washington.

The agency already has accused Iran of stalling the investigation and that has become a major source of international tension over Iran’s nuclear program.

W. and Cheney have faded from public view, but Obama continues to carry out their destructive war on terror

A long hike home It's been almost two years since three Bay Area hikers traveling through the Kurdistan region of Iraq were detained by Iranian officials for allegedly straying across an unmarked bor

The entire community and neighboring churches are invited to attend a Noon Potluck (bring a dish to pass & your own table service; drinks will be provided) to meet and greet our new Pastor, Christine Schoon and her husband, Steve.

AFP/Tehran Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a bitter opponent of serving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, yesterday came out in support of talks with Tehran’s arch-foe Washington.

U.S. motorists’ recent reprieve from a spring surge in gasoline and diesel prices looks to be short-lived, with crude oil prices poised to increase next year amid expanding global demand, according to an Energy Department report.

AFP/Tehran Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has urged Arab governments to heed popular demands for reform at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the presidential website said yesterday.

There was no sign of movement yesterday in the deadlock between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog over Tehran’s atomic activities despite an upbeat assessment by the Islamic state’s foreign minister.

AFP/Baghdad Radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday lashed out at US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta’s disclosure that American forces are keeping up unilateral attacks on Iran-backed insurgents in Iraq.

Anger mounted in Cyprus on Tuesday over the deaths of 12 fire brigade and armed services personnel in a huge munitions blast that sparked severe power and water cuts on the Mediterranean holiday island.

Jenny doesn't know any matches for us personally, but maybe her friends' friends do. If she posts on enough Facebook walls, will she find us all our soulmates?

When Thimios Gourgouris first caught the news of furious rioting in downtown Athens in December 2008, he reached for his Nikon camera.

The United States national debt exceeds $14.2 trillion and climbing. About 14 million Americans are unemployed. Public health, education, social services, and police and fire departments are facing cutbacks.

Iran will issue $12bn in bonds by March next year to finance development of oil projects, the semi-official Mehr news agency yesterday reported an official as saying.

Dow Jones/London Opec’s oil production increased by 0.5mn barrels a day (bpd)in June as Saudi Arabia and other Arab members in the Gulf region raised output, but it remains short of expected demand later this summer, the group said in its monthly report yesterday.

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus attempted several times to offload a dangerous cargo of confiscated Iranian munitions before it blew up killing 12 people in the island's worst peacetime disaster, the government said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to benefit from a payment dispute between Iran and India by selling additional cargoes of crude oil to refiners in the South Asian nation, two people with direct knowledge of the talks said.

Syria accuses Washington of provocation after the U.S. says President Bashar Assad has lost legitimacy and the American administration has nothing invested in his remaining in power.

Follow Israel news on and . Iran has executed an average of nearly two people every day in the first six months of this year, human rights groups say.

The Associated Press ___ SYRIA Syria accuses Washington of provocation after the U.S. says President Bashar Assad has lost legitimacy and the American administration has nothing invested in his remaining in power. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued her strongest condemnation yet of Assad after mobs...

Dubai - Bahrain's leading opposition group threatened on Tuesday to pull out of a national dialogue aimed at reforms after weeks of protests, as it sees little chance of success.

Wali Karzai was either a mobster, a source of stability, or both. His death leaves a gaping hole in the strategic Kandahar region. Human rights group say Iran is executing nearly two people per day, many in secret, to quell dissent.

KIYANLY, Turkmenistan — Malaysia's national energy company Petronas has drawn its first natural gas from a field off the coast of the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan.

For anyone who think the phone-hacking scandal represents a new low for the British media, here's a reminder that other people have had it much, much worse.

Germany's decision to sell 200 Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia has been made at a time when the Arab kingdom lacks the most basic requirements of a democratic rule.

A blogger on the right calls attack on the U.S. embassy in Syria “almost the ultimate Carter moment.”

BEIRUT, July 13 — The UN Security Council yesterday condemned “in the strongest terms” attacks by demonstrators on the US and French embassies in Damascus. Both Washington and Paris sharply denounced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been trying for four months to stamp out a broad popular revolt with...

Our analysis forecasts Crude Oil prices to fall in the second half of 2011, with the benchmark West Texas Intermediate to challenge $80 per barrel.

From 14-17 September, Furniture China 2011 will take place at Shanghai New International Expo Centre and will showcase a gathering of world furniture industry experts. The exhibition will host 2,000 exhibitors, both domestic and overseas, which when compared with last year is a 10% and 15% increase respectively.

YAHYA BARZANJI Associated Press SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq Lawmakers from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday accused Iran of building on Iraqi soil — the latest in an escalating border spat. The three-province Kurdish region in northern Iraq borders Iran. On Monday, a senior Iranian military official accused the president of the...

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan has shown strong resolve and commitment to establish and maintain National Authority of Railway in Afghanistan. This was announced by Federal Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour here in Paris during a seminar held under the aegis of French Presidency of G-8.

Here is a timeline of events in Syria since protests started in March.

VIENNA (Reuters) - There was no sign of movement in the deadlock between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog over Tehran's atomic activities on Tuesday despite an upbeat assessment by the Islamic state's foreign minister.

Like economy, healthcare or other domains, Romanian football is in a crisis. A crisis of personality, performance, cash flow, leadership, financiers or high profile owners, true football people and gentlemen.

Wired: It was January 2010, and investigators with the International Atomic Energy Agency had just completed an inspection at the uranium enrichment plant outside Natanz in central Iran, when they realized that something was off within the cascade rooms where thousands of centrifuges were enriching uranium. Natanz technicians in...

> * Sales of assembled vehicles up 2.1 pct to 1.65 mln * Europe market share 13.9 pct vs 14.2 pct in 2010 * Proportion of sales ex-Europe 38 pct vs 35 pct in H1 2010 * Shares down 3.0 pct (Adds executive comment, shares)...

> Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said "positive" conclusions were reached at the meeting in Vienna. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Sylvia Westall; Editing by Jon Boyle)...

>LONDON (Reuters) - World oil demand is likely to grow more slowly in 2012 because of a fragile global economy and deepening decline in consumption in Europe, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its first forecast for next year. Oil prices could draw some support from a...

> * 12 killed, island's largest power facility destroyed * Says suggestion explosives went to peacekeepers rejected By Michele Kambas NICOSIA, July 12 (Reuters) - Cyprus had attempted several times to offload a dangerous cargo of confiscated Iranian munitions that blew up on Monday killing 12, but was rebuffed by...

>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...

The head of Iran's Basij militia, Mohammadreza Naghdi, has condemned recent attacks against the Revolutionary Guards, saying those who insult the Corps are "mercenaries and the scum of political hypocrisy."

Here is a timeline of events in Syria since protests started in March.

Yazd is the land of old trees. As the most magnificent symbols of the past thousands of years, it is important that these trees be preserved. These photos show one of the oldest trees in Yazd which has been neglected and needs urgent attention and protection.

The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon has issued arrest warrants for the alleged murderers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But the militant group Hezbollah says it will not support the court.

“It is important that there are no more civilian deaths in Syria and that the country starts work on reforms as soon as possible,” Turkish FM said.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have agreed to establish a new mechanism to help resolve outstanding issues pertaining to the country's nuclear issue.

What follows is an interview conducted by Mosallas (Triangle) magazine with Kayhan Barzegar, Director of the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies and a faculty member at the Science and Research Branch of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.

The Google+ social networking site has joined the long list of websites filtered by the Islamic Republic. ITNA, Iran's Telecommunications News Agency, reports that Google Plus which was announced two weeks ago, will no longer be accessible to Iranian users.

KIYANLY, Turkmenistan — Malaysia's national energy company Petronas has drawn its first natural gas from a field off the coast of the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan.