News Archive - 8 August 2011

WASHINGTON -- The ornate ballroom of the Willard Hotel buzzed with activity on a Saturday morning in July. Crowded together on the stage sat a cadre of the nation's most influential former government officials, the kind whose names often appear in boldface, who've risen above daily politics to the realm...

>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude plunged to a six-month trough below $99 a barrel on Tuesday in a two-session drop of more than $10, after a U.S. credit downgrade intensified fears about a global slowdown in demand for energy, sending commodities markets tumbling. Brent crude fell as much as...

Mousavi and Karroubi may soon be a distant memory. If they are allowed to be forgotten, the hope for change that so many Iranian people placed in them after the 2009 elections may soon disappear as well.

> * $5 billion debts racked up since December * Iran denies Indian oil payment problem spread to Korea, China * Refiners expect to clear debt in coming days, secure supply By Ramin Mostafavi and Nidhi Verma TEHRAN/NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Iran has received 1 billion euros ($1.

> * Concerns over possible rise in ship insurance costs By Jonathan Saul LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - London's marine insurance market has added Benin to a list of areas deemed high risk due to an escalation of pirate attacks in the area, a senior official said. Pirates attacked two...

Organisation of Petroleum exporting Countries (OPEC) ministers will hold consultations if the price of crude oil continues to fall but it is too soon to call for an extraordinary meeting, Iran's representative to the organisation, Mohammad Ali Khatibi has said.

Sometimes there's no way to make a casting roundup conform to any sort of sense. Such is the case here, as we've got info on a wild reality-based political thriller set in 1979, an animated sequel, and an indie family drama with a very unlikely cast. In other words, after...

(New York) - Seven courageous and tireless advocates for human rights will be honored in November 2011 with the prestigious Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism, Human Rights Watch said today.

Naft Tehran picked up their first win of the Iran Premier League season after they edged out Mes by the odd goal in five, while Saba Battery missed the opportunity to go top after they were held to a goalless draw by Sepahan.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee fell to its lowest in 11 weeks on Tuesday, extending losses to as much as 2.9 percent over six sessions, on heightened worries about foreign fund outflows as investors fled risky assets across markets.

By: Sierra PannabeckerLectures and activities help educators teach Iranian history and politics On Friday Aug. 5, the Middle East Studies Center ( MESC ) hosted an all-day lecture event for Oregon K and ndash;12 teachers. ...

Chinese finance will be used to implement eight steel projects across Iran.

Production of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) rose by 54 percent in the first four months of the current Iranian year which began on March 21, an energy official said.

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the Islamic Republic plans to build more nuclear power plants in upcoming years as the country moves forward with its nuclear program.

Matarik, mabato, madulas at maputik ang pag-akyat dahil sinalubong na kami ng magkahalong malakas na buhos ulan at daluyong ng hangin.

Steven Schwankert Sundance Film Festival Audience Award winner Circumstance was lauded again Sunday night as it won the Audience Award, Best Director and Best Actress at the Fourth Annual Noor Iranian Film Festival, held on the UCLA campus. read more

Being dropped into a former Soviet country with minimal knowledge of the language, culture and what might lie in wait would be a scary prospect for many.

The Arab world moved to isolate Syria's Bashar al-Assad on Monday as Kuwait and Bahrain followed Saudi Arabia's lead and recalled their ambassadors while Cairo's al-Azhar university, the top Sunni authority, called for an end to the "Arab and Islamic tragedy".

Some countries depict themselves as committed to the universal human values, but when those values come into conflict with their national interests, they demonstrate hypocritical behavior.

source: June Navarro | inquirer.net UPDATE: Smart Gilas PHL vs. Malaysia (LIVE STREAM) [CLICK HERE] HSINCHUANG, Taiwan—Jordan nailed a third straight win with a 76-72 decision of Smart Gilas Pilipinas in a wild William Jones Cup match Monday that had coach Rajko Toroman threatening to abandon the tournament in...

The trade between Iran and Belarus has witnessed a 37 percent growth in the first half of the current year compared with the same period in the previous year.

An Iraqi man checks electrical cables attached to a pylon in Baghdad as the city endures another stifling summer with only limited electricity. Mismanagement and bureaucratic deadlock in the country's ...

ALICE-GHAN, Afghanistan -- This tiny village rose from the rocky soil with great hopes and $10 million in foreign aid, a Levittown of identical mud-walled houses built to shelter some of the hundreds of thousands of Afghans set adrift by war and flight.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland (L) puts the diploma on the empty chair where Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo should sit during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, December 10, 2010.

U.S. Global Influence Tanks with the Economy

KHARTOUM - One month after allowing the south to secede, Sudan's government has not reaped the hoped-for rewards but it has so far resisted strong international pressures and mounting domestic challenges.

If there is one place that exemplifies the embarrassing failure of American strategic and diplomatic hopes for the Middle East, it is the blood-soaked soil of today's Syria.

Three Arab nations withdraw ambassadors to Syria, and Turkey prepares to harden its approach.

Will the political conflict in Syria turn into a military struggle? Following the historic flight of Tunisian President Bin Ali, Arabian Heads of State, in their last words to the angry crowds demanding their overthrow, made sure to pronounce that their country is different.

Stop the Super Dictatorship By Lori Price, http://www.legitgov.org/ 07 Aug 2011 The unconstitutional 'Super Congress' aka 'Super Dictatorship' is the final straw!

Esteqlal has defeated Damash thanks to a first-half solo goal by skipper Farhad Majidi in the second week of Iran's Premier League (IPL).

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 10:17:00 THE Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) has landed itself in another controversy. This is not the first time they have treaded on sensitive issues. It would appear JAIS is unable to perform its duties in a plural society where there are many religions, races and...

I was reading Ejaz Haider’s latest column on the violence against Hazaras in Balochistan when I came across this bit: In June this year, about 170 people from the Hazara community were invited by the Iranian government to attend the death anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini. “They were feted by the...

Iran has called on the British police to exercise restraint against people protesting over the killing of a Black man in London.

The Australian High Court extended an injunction on Monday banning the transfer of asylum seekers to Malaysia, Australian media reported on Tuesday. Under the agreement called the Malaysia Solution which was signed last month, Australia would send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia over the next four years. In exchange, Australia...

Pyongyang, August 8 (KCNA) -- The Iranian paper Iran News on August 3 dedicated an article titled "The Immortal Great Program for Korea's Reunification" to the 14th anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il's work "Let Us Carry Out the Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung's Instructions for National Reunification."

Tehran, August 7 (KCNA) -- Iran has paid efforts to combating drug trafficking. The police of this country seized 18 tons of varieties of drugs in the border areas including Sistanbaluchistan Province in the first four months of the year.

Pyongyang, August 8 (KCNA) -- An Iranian official said on August 1 that the country has capabilities of exporting defense technologies along with industrial and defense products, according to IRNA.

Tehran, August 7 (KCNA) -- The Iranian parliament Wednesday appointed an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) official as the oil minister. The appointment of the official, who is on the list of the U.S. and European sanctions, is a blow to the West, said an IRGC commander.

THE recent events in the ancient Chinese city of Kashgar and their possible fallout need to be examined in three broad contexts: China’s concerns, Pakistan’s track record in combating anti-China terrorists and extremists, and the emerging ‘Great Game’ in a region in which the strategically located, mineral-rich province of Xinjiang...

Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerU.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman appears in this March file photo. Fishman's office today arrested a man accused of funneling weapons to Iran through the United States. NEWARK — He operated out of The Netherlands. But according to...

CHINESE TAIPEI – A hardworking Smart Gilas team held its own the final minute but succumbed to miscues and inroads of fatigue to bow to Jordan, 72-76, for its first loss in three outings in the Williams Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City here yesterday.

Japanese entertainment titan Sony has won the dubious honour of a "Most Epic Fail" award at a prestigious gathering of computer security professions in Las Vegas.

Samim Anghaie, 57, and Sousan Anghaie, 61, were charged with submitting false information to obtain the government contracts.

AUG 9 — The Jais raid on DUMC last week signals Malaysia’s quickening slide into a failed “Islamic state” like Iran, Yemen, and Tunisia and the rest. Prime Minister Najib Razak must act firmly and urgently to assure non-Muslims that the ruling coalition is serious about protecting their constitutional right...

FORT PIERCE — Charges against a Vero Beach rug dealer accused of smuggling and dealing heroin have been reduced to importing opium.

GENEVA - North Korea today began chairing the summer plenary of the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament, eliciting a boycott by the Canadian government and a sharp protest by 28 non-governmental organizations.

British blogger Marc Owen Jones investigated into the identity of an alleged Arab-American Journalist named Liliane Khalil. He traced back all her social media accounts, only to discover that most of what she had written about herself turned out to be false. ...

The Dow has lost 9.13 percent of its value over three days of trading. It's bad, but investors have seen much worse in previous sell-offs. Still, 'crash' versus 'correction' is a matter of debate.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Federal authorities in New Jersey have charged a citizen of the Netherlands with conspiring to ship aircraft parts and other items from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. law.

PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad extended a tank onslaught in Syria’s Sunni Muslim tribal heartland, residents said, in an escalating crackdown on protesters that prompted an extraordinary rebuke from the Saudi king warning the Syrian leader to adopt reforms or risk defeat.

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait recalled their ambassadors from Damascus on Monday, joining a chorus of global criticism of Syria, as Syrian forces pressed ahead with President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on the most restive areas.

Iran defeated Japan in the 2011 William Jones International Basketball Tournament, the local English language Tehran Times reported on Monday.

Words, words, words. Bashar al-Assad knows his Hamlet, and he is not impressed.

Obama has suggested that blame for the stagnant U.S. economy lies in places other than the Oval Office.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: A roster of influential former US officials is speaking at rallies in support of removing the MEK, an Iranian opposition group with a violent anti-American history, from the US terrorist list. A decision is expected within weeks.

Serbian Milovan Rajevac was sacked as Qatar coach on Sunday following a string of unimpressive results. He has been replaced by Brazilian Sebastiao Lazaroni, who was previously in charge of Qatar Stars League side Qatar SC.

Security researcher discussed various weaknesses still found in industrial control systems at Black Hat while reminding attendees of Stuxnet.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faces growing isolation as the bloodshed from his crackdown on demonstrators seeking his overthrow begins to alienate even sympathetic Arab neighbors.

We enjoyed and appreciated The Daily Sentinel’s coverage of the Grand Valley Performing Arts Festival. However, two key people that did an enormous amount of work not only for their portions of the festival, but for the event overall, weren’t mentioned.

If you've seen the 1983 movie "WarGames," in which a young Matthew Broderick accidentally uses computers to bring the world to the edge of "global thermonuclear war," then you have a pretty good idea what hackers and security researchers are super-concerned about these days -- in real life.

Just three months ago, Navy Seal Team 6 scored a monumental triumph with the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Now the same team is in mourning after more than 20 of its members were killed in Afghanistan. read more

Reuters/Tehran Iran’s first nuclear power station will not start working this month as planned, several parliamentarians were quoted as saying yesterday, blaming Russian builders for the latest delay in a project Tehran hopes will showcase its peaceful atomic aims.

Chang: Monday morning musings

Commodities extended last week's slump, while gold breached $1,700 (£1,030) an ounce for the first time, as fears mounted that the global economy was in for a long and deep slowdown. The Standard & Poor's GSCI spot index of 24 commodities fell by 2.2% to 631.69, following a...

HAIFA, Israel, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Israel seeks to build up its navy, partly to counter the Iranian ballistic missile threat, with missile-firing submarines and two other warships.

Riyadh supports other regimes but its conservative kingdom does not mesh with Syria's secular republic – or its links to Iran Saudi Arabian foreign policy is usually a discreet business involving financial incentives and low-profile initiatives, so condemnation of the Syrian repression by King Abdullah is a rare example of high-profile official...

Republican Shahram Hadian of Everett, a Christian pastor and former Muslim who now lectures on the threat of radical Islam, has launched a campaign for governor.

Politicians say recent riots carried out by opportunistic criminals, but others say underlying social issues may also be playing a role

A paintings exhibition, ‘Imagine Italy’, is being held at the Lionel Wendt theatre, Colombo from August 5 - 10 organized by the Italian Embassy to mark the 150th anniversary of the Unity of Italy.

Some 200 people demonstrated at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva yesterday, demanding US and UN protection for Iranian exiles at the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq. “If something happens in Ashraf, the (UN) will be held responsible,” Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of...

Syria facing near total isolation after countries withdraw ambassadors.

On 26 th December, 2011, the world will mark the 20 th anniversary of Soviet Union’s dissolution. During last 20 years, the international system has morphed from a bi-polar order into a bi-polar disorder. China has emerged as the new titan of Eurasia, and the Muslim-World has become more chaotic.

Three years have passed since Georgia attacked on South Ossetia on August 8, 2008, and it has become clear in the time since that the war was a point of departure for Russia's new foreign policy.

Commentators discern evidence of a structural, even fatal erosion of American power. It's a favourite pastime It has been a bad week for the United States, or at least for its government and the chief executive, Barack Obama. Commentators have been quick to discern evidence of a structural, even fatal...

BEIRUT (AP) — Despite five months of blistering attacks on dissent, the Syrian regime has yet to score a decisive victory against a pro-democracy uprising determined to bring down the country's brutal dictatorship. President Bashar Assad still has the military muscle to level pockets of resistance, but the conflict has...

World-renowned French choreographer Roland Petit, the creator of more than 100 ballets, died in Geneva at the age of 87 years. Petit was born in January 1924 in Vilmomble, a suburb of Paris.

The Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency, attacked the Iranian nuclear program with a highly sophisticated computer virus called Stuxnet. The first digital weapon of geopolitical importance, it could change the way wars are fought -- and it will not be the last attack of its kind.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Responding to an Iraqi refugee’s claim that the Geneva Convention bars his prosecution in the United States for alleged terrorism offenses in Iraq, the federal government says he is not eligible for protection under that international treaty.

The resignation of Foreign Minister of Iran Manouchehr Mottaki and his replacement in office acting head of the Atomic Energy Organization Ali-Akbar Salehi caused a great resonance in political circles and the analytical community.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama is called on to take dramatic steps against Iran's central bank as part of an effort to sideline the regime, lawmakers said.

THAT we are living in an information and media age where the power of the word, written and spoken is daily being vindicated, is a truism that cannot be refused without dishonesty.

NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is an opinion/statement attributed to Hudson Institute: "The true and poisonous nature of the upcoming Durban III conference in New York is crystal clear with the revelation that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will...

Iran's Foreign Ministry has called for an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as millions of people are on the brink of starvation amid worsening food crisis in famine-hit Somalia.

An Iranian official says India has cleared EUR 1 billion (USD 1.42 billion) of its massive debt to Iran and Tehran has no problem in continuing to supply New Delhi with crude.

Highlights from the September issue of Geology, which is now online, include debris flow hazard assessment; dune migration in the "greatest desert on Earth": Antarctica; Luizi, the first confirmed meteorite impact structure in Central Africa; a determination of the likelihood that fungal disease had accelerated latest Permian woodland deterioration; the...

The United States and Russia will continue talks on the issue of a proposed European missile shield on August 11-12 in St. Petersburg, the U.S. Department of State said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia is seen as one of America's strategic allies, but some suspect the kingdom of supplying the terrorist network al Qaeda with cash.

The U.S. Congress is not waiting for the UN Security Council to act on calls to sanction Syria for 1) attempting to build a covert nuclear facility with North Korean support, 2) brutally cracking down on protesters calling for reform and 3) assisting Hezbollah by providing it with ballistic...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following Op-ed by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) in Los Angeles Times, Another Crane Manufacturer, UNIC, Ends Business in Iran.

ANKARA, Turkey, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Police forces in Turkey won't be able to take on Kurdish militants with the same effectiveness as the national military, a retired general said.

Azerbaijani Popular Front Party urged Azeri authorities to convene a session of the OIC to discuss Armenia's economic ties with Iran, Turkey.

The Assad's regime's brutal crackdown on the besieged city of Hama during the first week of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan, combined with similar moves into the eastern city of Deir Ezzour, have clearly demonstrated Bashar al-Assad's regime is determined to shoot its way out of the current crisis.

On 2-5 August 2011, Sweden’s Social Democratic Youth League (SSU) congress was held in ABF-huset in Stockholm. Congress is the highest decision making body in the SSU and decides every two years on the political plan, which covers everything from welfare and education to international issues.

The Iranian regime continues to pursue avenues to circumvent both U.S. and multilateral sanctions,” says the letter to be sent Tuesday and first reported Sunday by The Wall Street Journal. “In the banking sector, the Central Bank of Iran lies at the center of Iran’s circumvention strategy.”

British Boxing Legend Chris Eubank 45 Today! Recalling His Finest Victory

Iran's new oil minister said on Sunday that the Revolutionary Guard's economic conglomerate should replace foreign gas and oil transnationals currently operating in the country.

As NATO investigates the crash of a Chinook helicopter  in Afghanistan on Friday--which killed 38 people, including 22 Navy SEALs, in the deadliest single incident in ten years of war--suspicions are surfacing that foreign assistance helped the Taliban pull off the sophisticated attack. An unnamed Afghan official tells AFP today that...