News Archive - 17 July 2011

>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...

As a human rights lawyer who defended scores of women unjustly condemned to death in Iran, I am accustomed to hearing unpleasant news. However some stories still shake me. Ashraf Adelzadeh's ordeal is one of them.

>AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian tanks surrounded a town near the border with Iraq's Sunni heartland on Sunday after tens of thousands, emboldened by defections among security forces, took to the streets there denouncing President Bashar al-Assad, residents said. Assad, from the minority Alawite sect, has sent troops in to towns...

> "Ten soldiers entered my father's house around 9:00 a.m. in the Damascus suburb of Qatana and took him. He just had heart surgery three weeks ago," Abdullah's son Mohammad told Reuters by phone from exile in Washington. Abdallah, a 61-year-old secular thinker, was released in May after spending...

>A poll by the leading Phileleftheros daily said 39 percent of respondents blamed Christofias for the disaster personally, with 33 percent believing he should step down.The July 11 explosion of confiscated Iranian munitions at a military base killed 13 people and triggered Cyprus's worst peacetime disaster with rolling power...

NEW DELHI: Senior officials of India and Pakistan were holding preparatory discussions on in New Delhi on Monday ahead of their Foreign Ministers meeting later this month, DawnNews reported.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China stepped up its criticism of Washington on Monday after President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama, but stopped short of threatening retaliation, indicating Beijing was keen to avoid escalating tensions between the world's biggest economies.

Monday, July 18th, 2011 14:21:00 IF there is one thing you will have to do before your last days, it would be to go for the Rainfor­est World Music Festival (RWMF). Chances are, you will want to go back to the annual festival again - whether for its diver­sity in...

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, is on Monday visiting Norway for political talks with Foreign Minister Jons Gahr Støre. On the agenda for the talks and a working lunch are the peace process and the situation in the Palestinian areas.

THE Iranian cooperative sector is committed to working with its Ugandan counterpart in an effort to strengthen the two countries' economic ties, an Iranian official has disclosed.

OPEC President Mohammad Aliabadi says currently there are 60 million barrels of extra oil in the market, Mehr News Agency reported.

China stepped up its criticism of Washington today after President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama, but stopped short of threatening retaliation, indicating Beijing was keen to avoid escalating tensions between the world's biggest economies.

The agreements were signed during a visit by He Guoqiang, a senior executive of the Chinese Communist Party, visiting Iran.

With the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and more Saudi oil sales to Asia , U.S. sway over Saudi Arabia has declined as their policies diverge, said Theodore Karasik , an analyst at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia is scheduled to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Italy on Monday, in a visit that analysts say is intended to signal a wish to mend ties with the country's Christians after a series of episodes, including the firebombing of...

KARACHI/ ISLAMABAD: After a daylong visit President Asif Ali Zardari returned to Karachi from Iran and held meetings with officials on violence in Karachi and deteriorating law and order situation.

HIS story of escape from a death sentence as a radical Muslim in Iran will amaze you.

Petaling Jaya (The Star/ANN) - Only a mere 2% of Malaysians have donated their kidneys in the last 20 years, says National Kidney Foundation (NKF) founder Dr S.S. Gill.

At least three people have lost their lives after floods hit two regions in West Azarbaijan Province in northwestern Iran, an Iranian rescue official says.

THE announcement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during President Zardari`s trip to Tehran that the Iranian section of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline will be completed by the end of 2012 will once again put focus on the poor management of this country`s gas sector.

Albu Kamal is on the eastern-most edge of the province of Deir Al Zor where hundreds of thousands protested on Friday. The centre of Syria’s 380,000 barrels per day of oil output, the region is still among the poorest in the country with little of the oil revenue invested in...

Above all, it has long considered itself a principled nation. Unfortunately, political myopia has once again blurred our global vision. As a nation, the United States is cursed by a lack of visionary leadership on both the right and the left of the political spectrum.

By Matthew Burdette Journal City Editor Editor's note: The Journal's annual Unsung Heroes feature profiles local veterans who served in wars and conflicts from World War II to the present.

“In a war of ideas, it is people who get killed”. (Stanislaw Jerzy Lec) History knows many proofs of the famous proverb: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. High-minded dreams of some result in sweat, tears and blood for others.

Mahbuba Iasmin, a doctoral student in civil engineering, serves food at the Interational Tea and Coffee party in Caldwell Hall Wednesday. Representing Bangladesh, Iasmin served jhal muri, a traditional spicy Bangladeshi dish made with puffed rice.

BANGKOK, July 17 (UPI) -- An Iranian man was caught by customs in Thailand trying to smuggle snakes out of the country tucked in socks in his luggage, authorities say.

Iranian holder of powerlifter and strongman title, Rouhollah Dadashi, was killed in Iran's northern city of Karaj, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

An alliance of minds, which is essential to elevate the strategic partnership to a higher level, appears hard to accomplish. A new sense of realism, rather than undue optimism, will prevail in India-US relations in the future, says TP Sreenivasan

FIFA says headscarves are unsafe. Iran is crying foul. Inside the controversy.

An alliance of minds, which is essential to elevate the strategic partnership to a higher level, appears hard to accomplish. A new sense of realism, rather than undue optimism, will prevail in India-US relations in the future, says TP Sreenivasan

source: philstar.com After admitting the giant Smart-PLDT group of Manny V. Pangilinan has talked to former owners of the Philadelphia Sixers,... ..the conglomerate is now sitting down with potential owners of the Atlanta Hawks for a possible acquisition of a franchise which owned NBA stars Josh Smith, Al Horford...

Iranian holder of powerlifter and strongman title, Rouhollah Dadashi, was killed in Iran's northern city of Karaj, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) killed five Kurdish rebels in northwestern Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday.

In his testimony, Richard Murray from SABIC Petrochemicals BV wrote that he obtained ‘a very good review of the main issues and growth areas in the industry”. For Tetsuji Ogura from JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, 17th APS was ‘very useful’, while Shafi AlAjmi of PIC Kuwait proclaimed it...

Malaysian prime minister to meet with Pope Benedict

LONDON, Jul 15 (Reuters) Oil rose on Friday as the market focused on the potential for a weaker dollar amid concerns about U.S. budget talks meant to cut deficits and avert a debt default.

Amman - Syrian tanks surrounded a town near the border with Iraq's Sunni heartland on Sunday after tens of thousands, emboldened by defections among security forces, took to the streets there denouncing President Bashar al-Assad, residents said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces have killed as many 1,600 civilians since protests began in March. Human rights organizations also estimate that at least 12,000 Syrians have been arrested or detained.

source: Joey Villar | philstar.com UPDATE: 2011 William Jones Cup Complete Schedule [CLICK HERE] Smart Gilas Pilipinas will have Asi Taulava of Meralco and Dondon Hontiveros of Air21 back in time for the 2011 William Jones Cup slated Aug. 6-14 at the Sinjhuang Stadium in Chinese Taipei. Taulava and...

Iran is ready to export 2.6 million liters of gasoline per day, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) has announced.

What could be a poor harvest and falling prices due to bumper crops elsewhere a double whammy

The Iranian football team has edged past Madagascar 1-nill in the first official match of Team Melli with Carlos Queiroz at the helm.

At least two Iranian Kurdish rebels and one member of Tehran’s elite Revolutionary Guards were killed during clashes along the Islamic Republic’s border with Iraq, the two sides said Sunday.

An Argentine prosecutor Saturday criticized a statement from Iran expressing willingness to help solve Argentina’s worst terrorist attack.

Bahrain's largest Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq said on Sunday it planned to pull out of a national dialogue, which was aimed at reforms after mass pro-democracy protests rocked the Gulf island kingdom earlier this year.

A female member of the al-Khalifa royal family in Bahrain has been accused of repeatedly beating the 20-year-old student poet Ayat al-Gormezi when she was in prison accused of reciting a poem at a pro-democracy protest rally criticising the monarchy.

The leading state prosecutor has criticised a statement from Iran expressing its willingness to help to solve Argentina's worst terrorist attack.

Bahrain’s largest Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq said Sunday it planned to pull out of a national dialogue, which was aimed at reforms after mass pro-democracy protests rocked the Gulf island kingdom earlier this year.

The Syrian Army Sunday set its sights on the town of Zabadani near the Lebanon border as it pressed ahead in its campaign to overcome anti-government revolts...

A THIRD of Greek Cypriots say President Demetris Christofias should resign following an explosion at a naval base a week ago that killed 13 people and gutted the republic’s main power plant.

Two teams of young people, one pretending to be Israeli soldiers, the other resistance fighters, were facing off in paintball battles at the Iran Garden in the southern village of Maroun al-Ras Sunday.

Reuters/Manama Bahrain’s largest Shia opposition group Wefaq said yesterday it planned to pull out of a national dialogue, which was aimed at reforms after mass pro-democracy protests rocked the kingdom earlier this year.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari have called for a boost to bilateral relations, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran has hanged a man convicted of raping and murdering a five-year old girl in a village near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the ISNA news agency reported yesterday.

Argentina's government is describing as "very positive" an Iranian offer to cooperate in a probe of the South American nation's worst terrorist attack.

Argentina on Sunday said it welcomed as "positive" Iran's offer to cooperate in the investigation of the worst terror strike on Argentine soil -- the 1994 bombing of a Jewish charities building.

The United Arab Emirates finalised their 2014 World Cup qualifying preparations with a 7-2 drubbing of Lebanon on Sunday.

The Syrian army set its sights yesterday on the town of Zabadani near the Lebanon border as it pressed ahead in its campaign to overcome an anti-regime revolt, a human rights activist said.

An Iranian man is still holding out hope that his brother was not among those lost at sea after a boat of asylum seekers smashed into cliffs at Christmas Island in December.

Island nation's revered, yet controversial, Catholic leader might be just the man to midwife a political transition out of the Castro era.

DAMASCUS, July 17, 2011 (AFP) - At least 30 people were killed in 24 hours in the central Syrian city of Homs in clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, a human rights activist said on Sunday.

AMMAN, July 18 — Syrian tanks surrounded a town near the border with Iraq’s Sunni heartland yesterday after thousands of people, emboldened by defections among security forces, took to the streets there denouncing President Bashar al-Assad, residents said. Assad, from the minority Alawite sect, has sent troops in to towns...

Some things our government says do not make sense, but few people seem to have the critical thinking skills to discern between propaganda (national security/national interests) and the facts — or maybe they are afraid to be called unpatriotic.

Follow Israel news on and . Syrian soldiers rounded up more than 500 people Sunday in a town located near the border with Lebanon. Government forces backed by tanks surrounded the town of Zabadani in a chokehold on Saturday, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Damascus.

One look at the most recent naval update maps shows that in addition to global insolvency (courtesy of the broke European dominoes and a potentially technically broke US), a UK on the verge of a parliamentary scandal courtesy of a media baron whose empire is crumbling, and not to mention...

In a clear sign that India has not let the latest Mumbai blasts affect its dialogue process with Pakistan, senior officials will take the next steps in adding confidence-building measures on Monday.

"The former president Hosni Mubarak is in a full coma after his health suddenly deteriorated," Egyptian state TV reported Sunday night, July 17, shortly after a cabinet reshuffle was carried out in Cairo to placate rising dissent five months since his overthrow.

Iran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for more trade ties with China, saying there is no limit for expanding bilateral relations.

The plight of millions of people left hungry by a harsh drought across the Horn of Africa is set to worsen, with the rains not expected soon and harvests months away, a top UN official warned Saturday.

Seiko Epson Corporation announced the delivery of 70 millionth high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) TFT LCD-panel for 3LCD projection systems. As noted in the company, thanks to a total of 23 million was released 3LCD-projectors.

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- Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Community Services will be offering tax preparation services for seniors starting March 1. Basic tax returns only. Space is limited. INFO: 604-467-6911 ext 232.

The Associated Press ___ SYRIA Syrian troops flown in on helicopters descend on an eastern town near the Iraqi border where scores of soldiers defected to join the four-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. Assad has unleashed military and security forces on rebellious towns across the country to crush the...

Syrian troops flown in on helicopters descend on an eastern town near the Iraqi border where scores of soldiers defected to join the four-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.

Consumption of cement, steel, and bitumen is to get a boost of Rs 42,000 crore (Rs 420 billion), as the National Highways Authority of India has announced to award 7,994 km of highway projects in the current financial year.

AIPAC photo-ops? Check. Initiate and pass Iran divestment bill? Check. Pheasant-hunt fundraisers, sandbagging for flood protection and running a bail bonds business… Check.

Asghar Farhadi's Golden Bear winner "Nader and Simin: A Separation" was awarded the Grand Prix of the festival, while "Gesher" by Vahid Vakilifar grabbed Choice of the Jury special award

Iranian authorities have hanged another 30 prisoners at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad on drug-related charges, says the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran .

The international organization Peace and Sport and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced a "Peace and Sport Table Tennis Cup" - a historic Table Tennis tournament aimed to encourage dialogue and good relations between nations - which will take place in Doha, Qatar on 21-22 November 2011.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has arrived in Tehran for talks with high-level Iranian officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While there, the two leaders discussed a range of bilateral issues, including the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project.

Rouhollah Dadashi, Iranian Powerlifter, Bodybuilder and Strongman, was attacked by and stabbed to death Saturday night in the city of Karaj west of Tehran.

ASTRAKHAN — While the Russian word for "tomato" may be masculine, Astrakhan natives tag an "a" on the end, switching the gender.

The state of the Vatican City is a landlocked sovereign city-state, whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares or 110 acres, and a population of just over 800. The Pope is the head of state of...

Talks collapse in Bahrain as Egypt’s prime minister reshuffles his cabinet and NATO launches raids on Libya.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has disbanded a terrorist cell linked to the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) in the country's West Azarbaijan Province.

Iranian weightlifting champion and holder of the country's Strongest-Man title has been killed after a verbal fight which turned violent.

DAMASCUS - The Syrian army on Sunday set its sights on the town of Zabadani near the Lebanon border as it pressed ahead in its campaign to overcome an anti-regime revolt, a human rights activist said.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama) -- National elite Paralympic archer Mohd Salam Sidik became the first paralympian to qualify for the 2012 London Paralympics on merit.

DUBAI, July 17 —Bahrain’s largest Shi’ite opposition group Wefaq said today it planned to pull out of a national dialogue, which was aimed at reforms after mass pro-democracy protests rocked the Gulf island kingdom earlier this year. Opposition groups such as Wefaq had complained since talks began on July 2...

LOWELL - The following employees at Enterprise Bank recently earned new officer promotions as a result of a culmination of many years of increased responsibility, education, training and community

Minister of Railway Transport of Turkmenistan Rozymyrat Seyitkulyev at the government meeting, reported on the draft resolution on financing the purchase and installation of equipment energy systems, warning systems, communications and logistics area Bereket Buzhun railway “Gyzylgaya-Bereket-Etrek” correspondent BakuToday . “With regard to issues of technical support of the construction of...

ARBIL - At least two Iranian Kurdish rebels and one member of Tehran's elite Revolutionary Guards were killed during clashes along the Islamic Republic's border with Iraq, the two sides said on Sunday.

LONDON, July 17 (UPI) -- Human rights activists are calling on Iranian authorities to release actress Pegah Ahangarani, a high-profile supporter of the opposition.

Agencies Tehran, July 16 China and Iran Saturday signed several agreements on infrastructure and trade cooperation.

“Hezbollah” in the event of non-refoulement threaten the killers of Rafik Hariri. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri said that the authorities have arrested four members of the Shiite movement “Hezbollah”, accused of killing his father – former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

Bahrain's largest Shia opposition group Wefaq said today it planned to pull out of a national dialogue, which was aimed at reforms after mass pro-democracy protests rocked the Gulf island kingdom earlier this year.

In the presence of the Minister of Roads and Transport Ali Nikzada work began on the construction of the railway section of Gorgan, Gonbad-Cavus – Inche-Barun to the border with Turkmenistan, the Iranian Mehr News Agency.

(MNA) -- Germany’s Michael Henke joined Esteghlal football team on Saturday as an assistant coach on a two-year contract. Henke, who has already worked as an assistant coach in Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Koln joined Esteghlal for an undisclosed fee.

TEHRAN, July 17 (MNA) -- Egyptian thinker Hassan Nafaa says that the Egyptian revolution has not come to full fruition and the goals of the revolution are yet to be attained.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Iran has put forward a proposal to resolve the crisis in Libya in a meeting with Algerian officials.