News Archive - 2 August 2011

>DAKAR (Reuters) - The Horn of Africa food crisis shows the need to provide the world's poor with better access to family planning as part of efforts to prevent future tragedies, the head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said. The United Nations has declared a famine in two...

>In announcing the step, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton warned there could be further sanctions "should the Syrian leadership persist in its current path."Syrian security forces have used tanks, gunfire and mass arrests in efforts to crush a months-old revolt against 41 years of authoritarian rule by the...

>RENA, Norway (Reuters) - On a taxi ride to his farmhouse the day before he killed 77 people, Anders Behring Breivik talked easily of a future he must have known would never come. Police believe the 32-year-old Norwegian had just deposited one of two vehicles -- either the car carrying...

>CAIRO (Reuters) - In his last address to the nation as president, Hosni Mubarak vowed he would never leave his homeland and would die on its soil. His decision not to flee Egypt may carry a heavy price. Wednesday, Mubarak is to be tried for conspiring to kill protesters who...

'University Challenge' has been testing the finest young minds of academia for nearly 50 years with Stephen Fry, John Simpson, Sebastian Faulks and David Mellor appearing on the show. How well can you do with the fiendish questions below:

Iran's Oil Ministry plans to set up three new petrochemical plants in the near future to increase its gains by producing more propylene, an Iranian official says.

Iran's Majlis (parliament) has begun discussing votes of confidence to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's candidates for four newly established ministries.

A new MPs guide will advise politicians to use Twitter to keep their constituents informed. But beware. Many have fallen foul of the social networking site.

Syrian opposition activists are stepping up their lobbying for international sanctions against the oil industry to deprive the regime of a crucial source of revenue and cripple its ability to finance the mounting repression of popular protests.

Syrian troops tightened their siege on the city of Hama yesterday, drawing a fresh wave of international condemnation against a regime defying the growing calls to end its crackdown on anti-government protesters. Related Stories Aid parcels flown to famine victims United States braced for austerity backlash Troubled Toyota prepares for...

The low pressure system that gave us those showers and thunderstorms overnight was just a bump in the road , the National Weather Service suggests. Coming in behind it are more bright skies and a sun-baked afternoon on Thursday.

Ameneh Bahrami, the Iranian woman who fell victim to a horrific acid attack that left her blind and badly disfigured, says the West uses human rights as a tool to achieve its political objectives.

Talk about your slings and arrows. When JosÉ Luis RodrÍguez Zapatero took office seven years ago amid the high drama of the Madrid train bombings and a surprise election win, he could not have imagined that his time as Spain's Prime Minister would end with such a whimper. Yet only...

Pizza with ketchup and ranch dressing? At the Westwood restaurant Café Glacé, it's a combination that works, as does its distinctively Persian-style snacks and sandwiches. The sign in Café Glacé's all-glass storefront says "Persian pizza." Now, if you were a canny Los Angeles food explorer, you'd probably suspect that...

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site thattranslates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The articlebelow was originally published in La Stampa.

source: Reynaldo Belen | interaksyon.com UPDATE: 2011 William Jones Cup Game & TV Broadcast Schedule [CLICK HERE] The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team will travel to Taipei on Friday to compete in the annual William Jones Cup basketball tournament,.. ...one of two international tilts lined up for the squad before...

Bobby O'Neal, a.k.a. Dr. Love, considers himself fortunate he's gotten a second chance to sell his Syncrohearts relationship board game on the TV show Dragon's Den.

TEHRAN, Iran—The lawyer for two Americans jailed in Iran on charges of espionage said Sunday the court will announce its verdict within a week, dashing hopes for their immediate release after a final hearing in the case.

Texas Lake Turns Blood Red Image Credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries The West Texas lake turns blood red and the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park almost dried up completely during the last week of July, according to a report by Live Science on Monday, August...

BAGHDAD -- Iraqis still live in a nation where bombings are a nearly daily occurrence, government paralysis is routine and corruption is de rigueur.

The U.S. is stepping up the pressure on Syria, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with opposition activists and lawmakers announced new sanctions legislation against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is facing intensifying calls to punish Syria more forcefully for its bloody crackdown on protests, but officials say that without broader international support they have few options to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's government.

MEN, if you think these women will let you overtake them easily, you're mistaken. No friendly hand gesture or quick flicker of the headlights will get you ahead of the pack. This is Kartright Speedway in Jurong.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Rupee remained near its weakest level in a week on Wednesday as the dip in Asian equity markets stoked fears of foreign fund outflows.

Exposure to world cultures has always been a significant part of the educational experience for young children attending Edmond’s Goddard School for Early Childhood Development, 17440 N. Western Ave.

Baghdad's decision comes on the same day Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, visits Iraq and warns that the U.S. needs to know soon whether a training mission will proceed. The Iraqi government agreed late Tuesday to start negotiations with U.S. officials on whether to authorize...

SYDNEY, Aug 1, 2011 (AFP) - - Confessions by a former refugee that he is a killer responsible for scores of deaths in Myanmar have raised questions about whether other possible war criminals are living in Australia undetected.

The director of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta al-Moula traveled to Paris last June in secrecy where he held talks with French officials, according to a news report.

The Pentagon’s gotten what it wanted from Congress since 9/11, but that may change with the debt deal.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian ‘Harimau Malaya’ squad has been invited to play a friendly match against Indonesia to help prepare their squad for 2014 Asian Zone World Cup Qualifier in September.

Some 3,400 innocent Iranian dissidents now living in a camp in Iraq are in imminent danger of being slaughtered. These men, women and children -- members of Mujahedin-e Khalq, or People’s Mujahedin, a longtime Iranian opposition movement -- trusted America’s promise to protect them. But the gradual...

In a recent book on women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa, one contributor, in analyzing Saudi Arabia, concluded that nation “remains a country without the basic freedoms necessary for civil society to take root.”

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is out of the hospital after his recent asthma scare and back in the gym. Yes, back in the gym, that's correct. Why are you laughing? Christie, as everybody knows, is a total fitness fanatic who pumps iron three times a week with boxing trainer...

In a democracy, when senior military officers can no longer support the policies of the elected civilian government they serve, they are supposed to resign their posts and retire -- not launch a coup.

Iranian volleyball players have lost to Serbia in their second game in the 2011 FIVB Men's Junior World Championship in Brazil.

There is no point, and the desire to talk about what brought it twenty new nation-states. Answers will obviously different, because some will come from the estates of the “new national elite,” and very different – from the dilapidated “hruschob” biomass, excuse me – the majority of the electorate.

Pyongyang, August 2 (KCNA) -- Media of different countries gave special write-ups and made commemorative reports between July 24 and 27 to mark the 58th anniversary of the Korean people's victory in the Fatherland Liberation War.

Iraqi political leaders agreed early Wednesday that the Iraqi government will begin negotiating with U.S. officials about leaving U.S. forces inside Iraq -- beyond their scheduled departure at the end of the year -- on a training mission.

An ole' pipe-smokin' conservative... Adrian Vassallo For conservative and outspoken Labour MP Adrian Vassallo, today’s society is marred by excessive liberties and social degeneration.

After a July 31 hearing, Iranian authorities will announce their verdict for the two American hikers they have charged with espionage by Aug. 7.

The National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) says the country's petrochemical exports will reach $14 billion by March 19, 2012.

PUTRAJAYA: The Prisons Department dismissed claims by 34 students who said they had been terrorised by warders at a motivational camp at Kluang Prison in Johor over the weekend.

Even last week’s swearing in of Ryan Crocker -- one of the most talented U.S. diplomats -- as ambassador to Kabul seems unable to stanch the perception that U.S. efforts in Afghanistan are waning. Most Americans take solace in the notion that, in President Barack Obama’s words, “the...

The U.S. is ratcheting up the pressure on Syria, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with opposition activists today and lawmakers announced new sanctions legislation against the regime of President Bashar al- Assad.

SYRIAN troops tightened their siege on the city of Hama yesterday, sending residents fleeing for their lives and drawing a fresh wave of international condemnation against a r

No American was yet inside the residential part of the compound. The operatives had barely been on target for a minute, and the mission was already veering off course. Photoillustration by John Ritter.

We all know people who are going through it. We all know people who can no longer bear to share the same house, or bed, or air, with someone they might once have loved. We all know people who would do pretty much anything to get away from their partner,...

A young man, his face masked by a red cloth so that only his eyes are visible, strides at the head of a crowd of protesters down the street in the Shia village of Nuwaidrat in Bahrain. The people behind him look as if they expect a confrontation with the...

By Ramesh Mathew Ramadan season is proving profitable for those in the business of dry food in Qatar this year as well. Despite an average price rise ranging between 15 and 20% for most dry fruits and related foodstuff business in Qatar has exceeded the expectations of most suppliers.

Rapes, killings and tortures were all in a day’s work for Uday Hussein, one of the most sadistic monsters the world has ever seen.

U.S. leads in preserving an open, global Internet

Google searches find critical infrastructure equipment that could be remotely controlled over the Internet.

Onion exports have declined by at least 25 per cent in the April-June quarter as onion from competing nations is available cheaper.

The Kooch Ensemble is bringing a new multi-media interpretation of the Persian tale Atash Bedone Dood to Centennial Theatre that is part musical concert, part animated projection and an all around storytelling experience.

The 11th edition of Iran's Premier League (IPL) has started with six of the eight matches of the opening day ending to a draw.

Russia says it would not oppose a UN resolution to condemn violence as Italy recalls its ambassador from Damascus.

STUDENTS should be able to sell their kidneys for tens of thousands of pounds to pay off university debts, according to a Scots academic.

Cyprus has suspended three senior army officers in the wake of a naval base munitions blast that killed 13 people, destroyed the country’s largest power plant and sparked a political crisis.

Public Coordination Council for Entrepreneurship tested the effectiveness of financial support and reviewed grant proposals from the budget of the Chelyabinsk region. On June 7 this correspondent was told BakuToday in the government press service of the Chelyabinsk region.

A Bahraini man died this week from tear gas inhaled during security operations in a Shiite Muslim village, rights activists said Tuesday, and the government said some police were under investigation for exceeding their authority.

Militaries in the former USSR are among the most secretive in the world, but our new information age is creating some opportunities to peek behind the curtain a bit.

Saba Battery got their Iranian Pro League season off to a winning start, beating Teraktor Sazi 3-2, while Saipa saw off Mes Sarcheshmeh 3-1 and Rah-Ahan drew 2-2 with Zob-Ahan.

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) allowed on Tuesday about 20 per cent increase in fuel cost, increasing the overall power tariff by Rs1.04 per unit for nine distribution companies of Wapda to be recovered from consumers during the current billing month.

Attention seems focused now on south Lebanon, where skirmishes are taking place from time to time between the Israeli and Lebanese armies...

By Steven Hill

Cyprus suspended three senior army officers Tuesday in the wake of a naval base munitions blast that killed 13 people, destroyed the country’s largest power plant and sparked a political crisis.

BEIRUT: Iran is ready to provide Lebanon with its expertise in terms of petrol extraction, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon said during a meeting with Energy and Water Minister Gibran Bassil Tuesday, the National News Agency reported.

People are starving in Somalia under the tyranny of Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, which has forced out all western aid groups after condemning them as spies and Christian "crusaders." Somalia itself has not had a functioning government in over twenty years, though the devastation may only be known to...

Perry, Ia. - Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum today criticized early education programs as an effort to indoctrinate your children, adding that parents, not federal bureaucrats, need to take responsibility for educating their children.

A pastor in Iran found guilty of leaving Islam awaits the outcome of a judicial investigation into his spiritual background to see if he will be executed or, if possible, forced to become a Muslim, according to Christian groups with ties in Iran.

Utah governor visits deployed troops By Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune Published Aug 2, 2011 03:34PM MDT Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is in the Middle East this week, a trip he said has renewed his appreciation of U.S. soldiers and heat. Herbert — who for security reasons wouldn’t...

British police officer flung in the air, lands, then chases suspect on foot.

AFP/Baghdad More than 200 Iraqi Kurdish families have been forced from their homes by weeks of Iranian shelling of separatist rebel bases in northern Iraq, local officials and an NGO said yesterday.

Robert Baer, a former CIA agent in the Middle East, predicted on a radio show today that Israel will bomb Iran's nuclear facilities next month, before the Palestinians go to the United Nations for statehood recognition.

A Michigan journalist, a writer and an IT security expert have written a novel about cybercrime based on real vulnerabilities in the way the Internet is constructed.

So evidently there’s a move in wrestling called the flying squirrel, and that’s the one that Ellis Coleman of the U.S. pulled out against an unsuspecting Iranian opponent at the Junior World Championships last week in Bucharest, Romania. That’s Iran’s Mehdi Chooli Zeidvand who was the unfortunate recipient of...

Posted: Aug 02, 2011 03:49 am EDT (Newsdesk) Climbers currently pushing for K2 summit via the Cesen (Basque) route have reached C2 as planned.

The foreign ministry said it would retaliate to such “hostile steps.”

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Iran was said to have consolidated its nuclear weapons research programs. Copyrights 2008, Middle East Newsline. All rights reserved.

From National Journal's Global Security Newwire:The targeted strikes have been one component of a…

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Families of Camp Ashraf residents will join Iranian-Americans to begin a round-the-clock sit-in across from the Department of State in protest against the Department's unlawful delay in completing the Court of Appeals mandated review of...

ABU DHABI [MENL] -- Kuwait has reported Iranian energy tests in the waters of the Gulf Cooperation Council sheikdom. Copyrights 2008, Middle East Newsline.

AL AIN — The Public Health Department of Al Ain City Municipality has seized more than seven tonnes of counterfeit and illegal goods from vendors in different parts of the oasis city.

DUBAI — The Ministry of Economy has called on retailers to slash costs of foodstuffs by 20 per cent during the holy month of Ramadan.

Lebanon’s economy is taking a beating from both domestic and regional instability, analysts say, as growth is slowed by high inflation, a sharp fall in tourist numbers and a freeze in decision-making at government level.

One atomic researcher after the other has died in a series of recent murders in Iran. Is Israel's Mossad trying to sabotage the construction of a nuclear bomb with the attacks? Officials in Jerusalem aren't denying anything.

A 10-foot Gandhi puppet, stolen along with Ignacio resident Jes Richardson’s car, was returned to him thanks in part to the detective work of a 10-year-old.

Etan Vlessing The 20-strong film competition at the Montreal World Film Festival includes one U.S. contender: Joel Fendelman's David. read more

FIRST PERSON | Ramadan begins Aug. 1 and so begins my one-month of remembering my heritage in southwest Iran. In my family, we do not celebrate Ramadan in America in the same way as someone who is devout or conservative. Just like a non-Christian who celebrates Christmas, my family found...

COMMENTARY | In 2008, a charismatic mystery candidate named Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. He gave good speech. He campaigned on ambiguous things like "Hope and Change," "Change we can Believe In." When the messiah speaks the youth will hear," Louis Farrakhan said of Obama...

The Cardin list — named after its sponsor, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin — hits the most vulnerable part of Russia’s corrupt system. In contrast to the Soviet leadership, the current Russian regime is not dictatorial, but exponentially more corrupt.

Figure 2. The nuclear test (red) and GNSS station (yellow) locations with detected signals (four plots) on Google Earth. (Click to enlarge.) Can GPS be used to detect underground nuclear explosions?

MONTREAL - The Montreal World Film Festival will take moviegoers on a cinematic trip around the globe with its 2011 edition, with 383 films screening from more than 70 countries.

There's a whopping 25 films listed on indieWIRE's August calendar. From an apocalyptic love story to the best race-car driver who ever lived, check out indieWIRE's picks for the seven best options, and then check out the full calendar or iW's summer movie preview; there's many worthy films that didn't...

Global Witness applauds Senators Levin (MI-D) and Grassley (IA-R) for introducing legislation that would make it harder for corrupt politicians, tax dodgers, drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals to form and hide behind anonymous U.S. shell companies.

Slashdot regular contributor Bennett Haselton wrote in this week to say that "The proposed "Telex" anti-censorship system could technically work, but unless I'm missing something, it would more cost-effective to spend the same resources on fighting censorship using existing technologies." His essay on the subject follows. Read more of...

Engaging the private sector in peace building activities can help reduce tensions in even the most intractable conflicts. It also creates conditions for resolving problems that gave rise to conflict in the first place. There are many examples of commercial contact as a tool for conflict resolution.

Syrian troops tightened their siege on the city of Hama today drawing a fresh wave of international condemnation against a regime defying the growing calls to end its crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The US National Security Agency hopes to hire a mass of “cyber warriors” this year, and another large group next year, to help the country fight the increasingly intense international cyber war, reports Reuters.

For a moment, one of the Iranian president's key aides was making friendly noises to the west and Israel. But it's really all about Iranian politics.