News Archive - 22 July 2011

>AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said. Five civilians were killed overnight in Homs, 165 km (100 miles) north of the capital Damascus, when tanks were deployed to halt protests in the...

TEHRAN - IRAN'S Revolutionary Guard denied on Friday that it shot down an unmanned US spy plane over an uranium enrichment site, saying on Friday that its air defences had only hit a test target. The statement carried on the official IRNA news agency was in response to a claim...

> "We are also making supply arrangements. There is no need to worry," Reddy told a news conference. Sources at Indian oil firms have said they had not been given any supply plan by Iran for August. Since December, India and Iran have struggled to find ways for New Delhi...

VIENNA -- Iran's president wants to shed the nation's secrecy and forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons but is opposed by the clerical leadership, which is worried about international reaction to such a move, says an intelligence assessment shared with The Associated Press.

>The Draft Penal Law for Terrorism Crimes and Financing Terrorism, published by Amnesty on its website, would allow extended detentions without charge or trial and impose a minimum 10 year jail sentence on anyone who questions the integrity of the king or crown prince.Apart from small protests in the...

>TEHRAN, July 22 (Reuters) - A commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was killed in an explosion during clashes with Kurdish rebels in northwestern Iran, the Guards said in a statement on Friday. It named the commander as General Abbas Asemi, a commander in the province of Qom, southwest of Tehran.

>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Improved security in Baghdad and a lull in assassinations in the last three weeks may merely signal that armed groups are preparing a major attack in the Iraqi capital, a senior official said. Violence has dropped sharply overall since the height of Iraq's sectarian conflict in 2006-2007,...

In the Komi republic of 148 million rubles planned for the implementation of fire prevention in educational institutions, municipalities disbursed 15 million rubles.

CAMP ASHRAF, Iraq -- The more than 3,000 people living here once represented a powerful paramilitary organization bent on overthrowing the government in Iran. In the 1970s, the group killed Americans in Tehran, and after being given refuge by Saddam Hussein its members were suspected of serving as a mercenary...

Israel's 'Threat' to Bomb Iran Nukes Is Central to Its Strategy

Former Iran coach Branko Ivankovic has been appointed the new coach of two-time Saudi Arabian champions Al Ettifaq.

Iran's national youth karate team has ranked first in the 11th Asian Karate Federation Junior Championships in China.

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

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.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said his government forced Israel to pay for gas three times its market value.

Tehran, July 21 (KCNA) -- Iran has directed much effort to strengthening the security of the frontier. Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Ali Abdollahi revealed that the country installed monitoring systems along its borders to prevent illegal crossings.

Tehran, July 21 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry at a press conference on July 19 demanded the foreign troops out of the region.

Tehran, July 21 (KCNA) -- The project of natural gas pipeline linking Iran to Pakistan has made headway. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a recent meeting with the Pakistani prime minister, said the pipeline would become operational in 2013.

Choose BRIC ETFs Carefully

HONG KONG : Saudi Arabia and Iran are expected to take a big step on the road towards the 2014 World Cup finals when they face minnows Hong Kong and the Maldives in Saturday’s qualifiers.

ISLAMABAD: While the Senate was informed on Friday that the ministry of water and power was considering the Indian offer to sell electricity, the officials have already decided not to proceed with the offer because of strategic reasons, according to sources.

From The Times, on Iran's apparently accelerating nuclear program:Filtering out the hyperbole…

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia and Australia will go ahead and sign their refugee and asylum seeker exchange programme.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — One fact illustrates this bewildering Copa America: Paraguay enters Sunday's final against Uruguay without a single victory in five games.

Plans to transfer a top commander of Hezbollah who is being held in Baghdad from U.S. to Iraqi custody have been put on hold amid fears in Washington that he will ultimately escape or be freed...

A senior officer of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards was among six soldiers killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels on the border with Iraq, Fars news agency reported Friday.

The president of the Association of Lebanese Banks Joseph Torbey stressed Friday that the banking sector is capable of overcoming Moody’s last report on the outlook of four Lebanese banks with no substantial damage.

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Argentina's two main Jewish bodies rejected Friday an offer from Iran to help with a probe into a 1994 bombing that levelled a Jewish charity building in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people.

Dozens of protesters marched in the northern city of Tripoli Friday in support of the popular uprisings in Syria, as thousands of Syrians continued their demonstrations against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

FIRSTLY, I have to say that I’m not a great fan of the Najib administration. There are many policies of the BN government which I find appalling and do not agree with.

Aside from the bland icon of the new China, there is a much more dangerous Mao, whose ideas retain their vitality In 2008 in Beijing I met the Chinese novelist Yu Hua shortly after he had returned from Nepal, where revolutionaries inspired by Mao Zedong had overthrown a monarchy. A...

Accra, July 22, GNA - Mr Mohammed Soleymani, the new Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran, on Friday paid a courtesy call on Mr Martin Amidu, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, with their discussions focusing on the legal systems of the two countries.

President Barack Obama is currently focused on domestic challenge. However, this should not blind the U.S. Administration, for example, to the urgent need to correct the strange disrepair in its relations with Saudi Arabia.

The first full-fledged international art fair to launch in the Lebanese capital may still have a long way to go before Beirut gets the kind of showcase, market-driven event that its art scene deserves.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Friday that he hoped misunderstandings with Saudi Arabia could be resolved after a war of words erupted over Riyadh’s military intervention in Bahrain.

Britain condemned an execution in Iran of three rapists, after a video showed their gruesome deaths.

Qatar, the 2022 World Cup hosts, will begin their quest to get into the soccer’s showpiece event in 2014 when they entertain Vietnam in the first leg of the second-round qualifying at the Sheikh Jassem stadium in Doha today. The match starts at 7.15pm.

Tens of thousands of people rallied in support of Bahrain’s largest Shia opposition group yesterday after it pulled out of government-led national reform talks earlier this week.

Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests yesterday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said.

A senior officer of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards was among six soldiers killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels on the border with Iraq, Fars news agency reported yesterday.

source: Nelson Beltran | philstar.com Smart Gilas Pilipinas will have the 2011 Fiba Asia championship in mind in taking on the Kobe Bryant-led NBA selection Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. The Nationals wont treat the game as mere exhibition but a serious business that could help them in their...

TEHRAN, July 22 (UPI) -- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, is urging censors to be vigilant against "harmful" and "poisonous" books.

NYC Event at Merkin Hall to Feature Old Friends and New: Juilliard String Quartet, Kinan Azmeh with City Band, Kojiro Umezaki and Bassam Saba with New York Arabic Orchestra M4H Founder Allegra Klein Embraces Life in Iraq Musicians For Harmony will commemorate the tenth anniversary of September 11th with its...

Iran said yesterday it had no plans yet to cut oil exports to India over a payment dispute, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted an oil official as saying.

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said.

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- Net oil export earnings of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will top $1 trillion this year, the Energy Information Administration said citing consolidated figures for the 12 member countries.

For many in India, Secretary Clinton’s visit this week was reassuring; reassuring that India was still United State’s most favored partner in the region. Secretary Clinton’s visit was part of the second annual India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue initiated last year. Strategic dimension of the interactions received maximum attention ...

Posted: Jul 22, 2011 04:02 pm EDT (Newsdesk) Iranian Mountainzone reports that Iranian lady climber Leila Esfandyari fell to her death while descending from GII’s summit today.

WASHINGTON -- Eight months after he narrowly survived an assassination attempt on the streets of Tehran, Fereydoon Abbasi, the nuclear physicist whom Iran's mullahs have put in charge of the country's Atomic Energy Organization, is presiding over what intelligence officials in several countries describe as an unexpected quickening of Iran's...

WASHINGTON - An Iranian opposition group said Friday that Tehran's leaders have consolidated several scattered nuclear research efforts in a single new defense agency geared to streamline weapons development.

Washington is abuzz with the headline news that the FBI is accosting two Pakistanis who allegedly have been trying to win influence and influence policy...

The market appears quite relaxed about the escalating dispute between India and Iran over payment for oil supplies, but it has wider implications and may yet disrupt Asian crude markets.

Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said.

Tehran's claim that tripling its uranium enrichment speed will help develop cancer treatments is dismissed as 'a provocation' Western capitals have reacted angrily to an announcement by Iran that it is installing more advanced centrifuges in a uranium enrichment plant with the aim of accelerating its nuclear programme. "The installation...

Two Thai prospects cruised into the semi-finals of the World Under 21 Snooker Championship 2011 in Montreal, Canada on Thursday.

COMMENTARY | On July 21, the space shuttle Atlantis touched down for the last time, bringing an end to our manned exploration of space, and our defense of it.

You might be checking your credit score every year, but Uncle Sam has clearly taken his eye off the ball. The United States is facing an economic crisis because it is reaching the limit of how much money it can borrow.

VIENNA (AP) - Iran's president wants to shed the nation's secrecy and forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons but is opposed by the clerical leadership, which is worried about international reaction to such a move, says an intelligence assessment shared with The Associated Press.

VIENNA: Iran’s president wants to shed the nation’s secrecy and forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons but is opposed by the clerical leadership, which is worried about international reaction to such a move, says an intelligence assessment shared with The Associated Press.

VIENNA - Iran's president wants to shed the nation's secrecy and forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons but is opposed by the clerical leadership, which is worried about international reaction to such a move, says an intelligence assessment shared with The Associated Press.

Sometimes, the best place to look is up.

A senior Iranian cleric has hailed the resistance of Muslim revolutionaries against their foreign-backed rulers and slammed the West's disregard for human rights.

Iran's president wants to shed the nation's secrecy and forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons but is opposed by the clerical leadership, which is worried about international reaction to such a move, says an intelligence assessment shared with The Associated Press.

Iran, Iraq, and Syria will sign a contract for the transit of Iranian gas from the country's South Pars gas field to Europe via Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea.

Heat that's broiled Midwest for days marches onward; warnings in place from Kansas to Mass. More>>

Posted: Jul 22, 2011 10:19 am EDT (Angela Benavides) Climbers from at least four teams set off from C3 towards GII summit today. Alex Txikon - 9 days after bagging GI - and Louis Rousseau were first on top, one hour before Spanish Pauner. According to a later report, another...

Accra, July 22, GNA - The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countri= es (OPEC) says it has set out to broaden its appeal to younger people with the publication of a book that gives basic information on the oil industry.

MANAMA, July 22 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people rallied in support of Bahrain's largest Shi'ite opposition group on Friday after it pulled out of government-led national reform talks earlier this week.

The Stuxnet computer worm which attacked the Siemens Industrial computer systems operating the centrifuges responsible for Iran’s uranium enrichment program last year had not been purged and had actively affected operations for the past 11 months.

Circumstance, the winner of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, will be released in Los Angeles and New York on August 26, 2011 and in Chicago, San Francisco, and D.C. on September 9, 2011.

Demonstrators believe women who joined protests will be more than mothers, wives - they will be recognized as citizens

TEHRAN, July 23 (Bernama) -- Iran's largest solar power plant was officially inaugurated in the country's Northeastern city of Mashhad in a ceremony attended by First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, reports Iran's Fars News Agency (FNA).

“Tehran already has taken a step by cooperating with the IAEA and the international community should now reciprocate,” Iranian President said.

Iran's female karatekas grabbed one gold and two silver medals in the Asian Karate Championships in China. The gold medalist for Iran was Parisa Vafaie in the minus 48 kg category in the age group 16 to 17 after overpowering the Chinese rival.

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said.

Vafamehr's husband, Nasser Taghvai, a prominent film director and screenwriter, told RFE/RL on July 20 that the charges against his wife are nonpolitical and related to the movie " My Tehran for Sale," in which she played the lead role.

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/c60dd4/iran_insurance_rep) has announced the addition of the "Iran Insurance Report Q2 2011" report to their offering. The Iran Insurance Report has been researched at source and features Business Monitor International (BMI)'s independent assessment and 5-year forecasts to end ...

Jonathan's Space Report No. 644 2011 Jul 22

Iraq's government said Friday it would delay taking custody of a top Hezbollah commander from the U.S. military after American senators asked the Pentagon "to take whatever steps" necessary to block the transfer for fear he would escape or be released.

Eight suspected illegal immigrants are being held by police in Flint, the UK Border Agency has said.

What is it about the oil ministry that breeds so much controversy? Jyoti Mukul tries to pin down the reasons by analysing the performance of its various ministers, including Ram Naik, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Murli Deora and Satish Sharma

Contact: Majid Roshan, U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents, PHONE: +1-202-640-1947

The Naked Archaeologist's Simcha Jacobovici sets out to create a "real-life Da Vinci Code" in new six-part docuseries Decoding the Ancients.

TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- The multi-talented auteur Abbas Kiarostami says the excerpts he selected from Rumi’s Divan of Shams and published in his recent book are like text messages he sends to readers.

(Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Iranian Cinema at Harbourfront; a cavalcade of horror

TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- Representatives of the five Caspian Sea littoral states who participated in the 29th meeting of the special working group tasked with the formulation of the Caspian Sea legal regime issued a statement, in which they described the meeting as positive.

TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- The hit novel “Missing Rose” by Turkish author Serdar Özkan went straight to number one on the bestseller list at the Hamedan book fair which runs from July 13 to 21.

THE World Cup is not only the biggest sporting competition in the world, it's also the longest. Less than 12 months after Spain won football's greatest prize before a global television audience and a packed house in Johannesburg, the marathon journey towards the next tournament kicked off in front of...

TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- The registration of the Persian garden on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List was celebrated in a ceremony in the town of Mahan in Kerman Province on Thursday.

TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- “Documents on Occupation of Iran during World War II”, published in five volumes, was unveiled during a ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here on Wednesday.

> Markets Funds News ETFs News...

TEHRAN, July 21 (MNA) – State Inspectorate Organization Director Mostafa Pourmohammadi has said that the Islamic system welcomes all loyalist groups’ participation in elections, but no one should set conditions for taking part in elections.

The following listings are not casting notices but instead reflect the best general information available about current casting assignments. Do your homework and use them wisely. Do not phone or visit casting directors' offices.

BAGHDAD — Plans to transfer a top Hezbollah commander who is being held in Baghdad from U.S. to Iraqi custody have been put on hold amid fears in Washington that he will ultimately escape or be freed, a Justice Ministry spokesman said Friday.

Lynda Howland of Pittsford and Judy Bello of Webster went on a weeks-long journey to Iran as part of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an international organization that sends out peace delegates and promotes nonviolent conflict resolution.

> Energy Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News...

> * Knocks down walls between high- and low-brow * May change venue to Woody Allen film scene By Martin Roberts ABOARD THE NOIR TRAIN, July 22 (Reuters Life!) - One of Europe's biggest literary festivals convenes for the 24th time in Spain on Friday in its annual bid...

With Hugo Chavez faltering, the Islamic Republic is looking for new friends in the region