News Archive - 18 August 2011

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States for the first time explicitly called on Thursday for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and imposed new economic sanctions likely to be followed up by the European Union. President Barack Obama made his appeal after five months of an increasingly brutal Syrian...

>MADRID (Reuters) - Europe's largest reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash opens its gates on Thursday in the Spanish resort of Benicassim, where over 200,000 fans are expected over 10 days of Jamaican-inspired music headlined by leading members of the Bob Marley dynasty. This year's 18th Sunsplash pays homage to the legendary...

>CAMBRIDGE, England (Reuters) - Egyptian chemist Ahmed Zewail first proposed building a $2 billion science and technology institute in Cairo 12 years ago, just after he won a Nobel Prize. Then-President Hosni Mubarak promptly approved the plan and awarded Zewail the Order of the Nile, Egypt's highest honor. Within months,...

STAMFORD — Family and friends will be gathering to remember a Navy SEAL from Connecticut killed in Afghanistan, while an anti-gay fundamentalist group says it will protest at his funeral.

In June, I wrote an overview of Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential nomination, and concluded with the suggestion that readers keep a close watch on Rick Perry, governor of Texas.

(MENAFN) The Trade Promotion Organization of Iran's Europe and America bureau's director, Abdolhamid Asadian, said that in the last Iranian calendar year which ended in March 2011, Iran's non-oil ...

With Circumstance, her Sundance award-winning debut feature, Maryam Keshavarz exposes a suspense-filled love story between two Iranian girls that culminates in unexpected ways.

GENEVA - An international coalition of 50 human rights and church relief organizations are calling for Monday's UN Human Rights Council session on Syria to mandate a permanent special investigator into violations by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and ...

JERUSALEM -- Armed attackers, described by the authorities as Gazans who had crossed into Israel from Egypt, carried out multiple deadly attacks near the popular Red Sea resort of Eilat on Thursday, prompting a fierce Israeli bombing raid on Gaza and threatening to escalate tensions there.

Azeri analyst Zafar Guliyev. Illustration: aze.az The course of events after August 2008 showed that “the Georgian adventure” Russia is clearly overdone and somewhat overestimated their abilities and potential impact.

Baku, Azerbaijan (UPI) Aug 17, 2011 A senior Iranian general has warned zerbaijan about getting too close to Israel, underlining fears in Tehran that the Jewish state could use Iran's northern neighbor to launch pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear program. Israel has been quietly building intelligence and military links with...

The working class Catholic kid grew up in Cambridge. His mum was East Cambridge Italian, dad came from a farm family of nine children in North Carolina; his sister is a teacher, brother a carpenter.

THREE British pals are driving from London to Sydney - in a black cab called Hannah

AN Indonesian fisherman agreed to skipper a people smuggling boat so he could seek asylum in Australia to avoid his creditors, a court heard today.

The United States on Thursday kept Sudan's name on its list of states that sponsor terrorism a day after a senior official in Khartoum anticipated that his country's designation will be rescinded.

Viet Nam's futsal (indoor football) team will play against Malaysia in the opener in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Championship qualifiers.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday for the first time explicitly urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, imposing the harshest sanctions on the Middle East country to date.

“Tick-borne encephalitis,” this summer moved 50 residents of the Altai Territory. As reported BakuToday Rospotrebnadzor in the Altai Territory, the diagnosis is confirmed by commissioning from the victim. This is 12 cases more than last year.

Do your recall the film The Morning After starring Jane Fonda about the next day after the world is destroyed? It was later followed by other films such as The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 . In these and other films humanity had to face extraordinary circumstances after the world as...

Clair E. George, CIA covert operations chief, was found guilty of two counts of lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal. President George H.W. Bush pardoned him. Clair E. George, a former CIA covert operations chief who received a presidential pardon in 1992 after being convicted of two counts...

A dispute between Iraq and Kuwait over maritime boundaries has been sparking fears of conflict, as both countries continue bickering over the tiny emirate's construction of a port that Baghdad says could block its passage to the Gulf and hamper plans to expand its own port facilities.

No doubt Iran is a state that commands a certain regional weight. This did not start after the Iranian Revolution in 1979; it had already existed for thousands of years.

The first shipment of Iranian crude oil has been sold on Iran's international oil bourse on the Persian Gulf island of Kish, an Iranian official says.

AMHERST – 50 or more people crowded the living room, dining room, and overflowed into the kitchen of a local pediatric surgeon’s Amherst home Thursday night for a chance to get their questions answered by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican presidential candidate from Texas. Attendees, many from the...

While other candidates are dominating headlines in the Republican presidential campaign, Ron Paul is quietly commanding a campaign that's showing a level of maturity in fundraising and performance that was lacking four years ago. The 12-term congressman from Texas has raised nearly double the amount of campaign cash he had ...

The messages from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels coincided with a U.N. report recommending that Syria be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation of possible crimes against humanity.

Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated ... read more

Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated ... read more

Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated ... read more

Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated ... read more

Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated ... read more

Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated ... read more Zardari's two trips to Tehran raise speculation of a new... read more

Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated ... read more

MRT Co will officially become MY Rapid Transit project and asset owner, currently held by Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd, from September 1. [ more ] Connect nstconn with Facebook to interact with your friends on this site.

Military force against Iran must be considered

Next month, Sean Penn will be honored with the Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Icon Award. Given in recognition of Penn’s acting achievements, the festival representatives also identify Penn’s directing work, as well as his journalistic and humanitarian efforts. The celebration will take place toward the middle of the festival, on...

CARACAS – Venezuela will nationalise its gold industry and is moving its international reserves out of western countries, according to President Hugo Chávez.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States retained Iran and Iran's ally Syria as well as Sudan and Cuba on a list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism on Thursday, after blacklisting the countries the previous year.

The Australian Opposition says it appears the Government's already on the back foot in negotiations with Papua New Guinea about establishing an immigration detention centre on Manus Island.

Militant-linked violence remains a "chronic problem" in Russia's North Caucasus region, the U.S. Department of State said in its annual report on global terrorism threats.

It has been a bad few days for the two most egregious tyrants in the Middle East. In Libya, the net is tightening around Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Now President Bashar al-Assad is under unprecedented pressure to end his savage crackdown in Syria, which has killed more than 1,800 people in...

The defense team of indicted tomato scion Frederick Scott Salyer has just gotten a very high-powered and high-priced player: attorney John Keker.

As the U.K. reflects on its recent bout of riots--with analysts searching for lessons and Prime Minister David Cameron declaring a "war on gangs"--Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism is similarly taking a step back from the media frenzy and analyzing what coverage of the unrest looked like. ...

New York – August 18, 2011- A pre-trial judge in the UN-backed tribunal set up to investigate the assassination of former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has lifted confidentiality requirements on the prosecution’s indictment, revealing details of the case against the four Lebanese members of Hezbollah who are accused of...

Turkey launched a heavy air and artillery assault on Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq overnight after a declaration by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan that he had lost patience with separatists fighting in southeastern Turkey.

“Project 95” at the Museum of Modern Art shows how the British artist Runa Islam injects the DNA of film into photography, the decorative arts, even graffiti.

COMMENTARY | Rep. Ron Paul, who recently finished a close second behind Rep. Michelle Bachmann in the Iowa Straw Poll, has managed to successfully carve out a niche within the Republican Party and promote himself as a serious contender for the nomination. However, he faces profound difficulties.

Readers respond to a recent Opinion piece about American support for an Iranian militant group.

A senior Iranian energy official says Iran is prepared to sign an agreement with Iraq to develop joint oilfields on border areas.

* This is why we’re fat. * Let them sing it for you. * Generate a news story. * One sentence stories. * Awesome things. * Ian’s shoelace site. * How to open a coconut. * Condensed classics. * Global warming explanation. (Thanks JM Heinrichs). * Annoying noises. * Slope...

An Anonymous protesting Anonymous. This is the week of Anonymous in San Francisco. With one protest that shut down four BART stations and two major hacks into BART websites, the irascible online colle

By Courtney Kube, NBC News producer BAGHDAD, IRAQ – One year ago today, the last of the "combat troops" drove out of in Iraq and into Kuwait, marking the symbolic end of more than seven years of U.S.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil markets will quietly swallow the loss of modest Syrian supplies if Europe joins Washington in slapping new sanctions on the country, but prices would spike if Syria's ally and major oil producer Iran becomes directly involved in a confrontation with the West.

Iran has resumed pumping natural gas to Turkey after a week-long halt caused by a blast in the pipeline, says an Iranian official.

With the Middle East in flames and news coming faster than governments can react, nothing is more important than to step back from the fray, take a deep breath and get some perspective. Historical perspective.

The nation of Iran is going to the dogs. No, they really are. Literally. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal ((July 18, 2011), Iranians are going to great measures to defy an Islamic Republic edict: buying and selling dogs. read more

On Thursday, Terrelle Pryor was declared eligible for the NFL Supplemental Draft, but under one condition. Wherever he goes, Roger Goodell will make sure Pryor still serves his NCAA suspension. Plus: Michael Vick, Mikhail Prokhorov, more on Miam, a great argument for gun control, and the best pep talk in...

U.S. military circles are buzzing with concern over China's focus on new military technology. Emily Lodish Forget about China's first aircraft carrier , the U.S. military has a whole new reason to be scared. At the world's largest robotics show in Washington this week, China debuted the F50...

WASHINGTON - Executing a global squeeze play, the United States and its European allies demanded on Thursday demanded an end to four decades of family dictatorship in Syria and underscored the tough talk with new sanctions against President Bashar Assad's government.

"Arab Spring," as it has been portrayed by the Western media, is an illusion.Virtually every element of the media narrative -- it is a spontaneous revolt, that it is Internet-driven, that it seeks democracy or income equality -- is wrong or misleading.After extensive interviews across the region and...

WASHINGTON — Executing a global squeeze play, the United States and its European allies on Thursday demanded an end to four decades of brutal family dictatorship in Syria and underscored the tough talk with new sanctions on President Bashar Assad’s government. The unified stance isolates Assad further as he presses ...

President Obama gave this statement on the situation in Syria on August 18, 2011.

(CNN) – President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally have done what so many have been urging...

Congressional hawks cheered President Barack Obama’s call on Thursday for Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign, a move that many of those Members have urged the administration to take over the last several months.

Letterman threat, by a blogger on an Al Qaeda message board, is being investigated by the New York Police Department and the FBI. The talk show host and comedian had joked about Al Qaeda leaders killed in US attacks, reportedly prompting the Letterman threat.

Congress backs the president’s call for Assad’s resignation, but asks: What took so long?

The further in time one gets from World War II, its savagery and ruthlessness, the horrors of the Holocaust, the destruction of cities and the...

The Associated Press ___ ISRAEL Heavily armed militants cross into southern Israel from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and kill seven people in attacks on a bus and vehicles. Israel blames Palestinians, saying they crossed into Sinai from Gaza and back into Israel near the resort of Eilat. Egypt denies that,...

Transport of 211 tonnes would be one of largest moves of bullion in decades, logistics firms say

Release Time:  For Immediate Release Via Conference Call 10:50 A.M. EDT MR. VIETOR: Hi, everybody. Thanks for getting on today. We are convening this call to talk about some recent actions with respect to Syria. You should all have the President's statement this morning calling on Assad to go.

Twelve cultural and student activists have been rounded up in the towns of West Gilan, West Eivan and Kermanshah in Iran's northern province of West Azerbaijan. Based on reports published by Kurdish news sources, some of the detainees told their family members through phone calls that they were being held...

A team of Archaeologists is currently working on the Arastu Tepe in order to find signs of the Kura-Aras culture in the mound located near the town of Malard in the southwest of Tehran.

Stan Masson, a World War II veteran, has an amazing story of survival to tell. It’s a story that makes listeners marvel, eyes wide and imaginations racing.

The head of the Tehran Justice Department, Alireza Avayi, said the final verdict in the Kahrizak Detention Centre case will soon be announced, two years after political prisoners were fatally tortured there.

Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, jailed Iranian blogger has been reportedly beaten by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in prison. -RadioZamaneh

Hundreds of Iranian political and civil activists have signed an open letter to international organizations demanding help in securing the release of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Musavi, Mehdi Karrubi, and their wives, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

The fall of the Berlin Wall - the British envoy missed the winds of change. The Africans as a whole are “not only not averse to cutting off their noses to spite their face; they regard such an operation as a triumph of cosmetic surgery.”

The retaliation came hours after combined attacks on Israeli buses, cars and an army patrol left seven dead and dozens injured.

Once upon a time we lived in a pre- 9/11 world where American idealism called to “Bring me your poor, tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Once we lived in a world of political checks and balances that limited the accrual of power into the hands of any...

PA leadership in Ramallah after the meeting decided to appeal to the UN to recognize an independent Palestinian state at the General Assembly in September – despite the opposition of Israel and the U.S., as well as possible pressure from other countries.

Campaign for imprisoned Syrian blogger . Anyone who still believes that imprisonment and torture of social media users is limited to political radicals and gadfly journalists need look no further than Syria's Anas Maarawi to be disabused of that notion. Maarawi was arrested on July 1. Talk about geek like me .

Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said the president's call for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to...

Israel's leader says anyone who attacks Israel will pay "a very heavy price." read more

Moves afoot in the Obama White House arms control shop: National Security Council non-proliferation hand Rexon Ryu has begun work as the deputy to the U.S. representative to the United Nations, heading up the US/UN's Washington office. Ryu, a former staffer to former Sen. Chuck Hagel (D-Neb.), met...

GOP hopeful celebrates Iowa finish, overdue media attention, and success at making Fed a 2012 campaign issue.

Thanks for your attention and your intelligent response to my articles. I am most grateful for your drawing me to see many aspects of Sarawak’s history I would have missed, and for letting me see that history from your point of view.

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UANI Calls on Konecranes to End Its Business in Iran as Part of Ongoing Cranes Campaign: UANI’s "Cranes Campaign" highlights the Iranian regime's abhorrent executions by hanging from cranes

Officials said Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has approved the outlines of a military plan to invade Iraq's Kandil mountains, the stronghold of the Kurdish Workers Party.

The journalist, Samer Allawi, Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Afghanistan, is a Palestinian. He was apprehended by Israeli authorities as he attempted to leave the West Bank.

When a senior Iranian official recently claimed that Tehran had captured a top Kurdish fighter, observers in Turkey feared the Kurdish insurgency had just taken an ugly turn.

WASHINGTON — A leading U.S. strategic center has called for defense cooperation between Israel and Russia.

Whether American statesmen will admit it or not, today announcement by the president is opening a chain of events that is leading to the final demise of the current murderous regime in Damascus.

Reporters may want to consider some of the following Johns Hopkins University scholars as potential sources for stories about how the world has changed 10 years after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Qom is planning to produce a religious animation adapted from the life story of the Prophet Solomon for children and young adults in the near future.

Havoc in Cyberspace

A senior Israeli defense official says gunfire is continuing into the evening from both sides of the Israel-Egypt border.

Vice President Joe Biden said that the United States and China "hold the key" to the global economy Thursday, the first full day of a visit focused as much on broader relationship between the two global powers as building a personal relationship with its future leaders.