News Archive - 26 August 2011

>VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hopes the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi shows his brand of foreign policy worked in Libya and can succeed elsewhere -- but the model may be hard to reproduce. Obama's preference to tackle foreign threats via painstakingly built international partnerships has been dubbed...

>AMMAN (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar al-Assad killed three protesters after Friday prayers in eastern and southern towns, activists said, as demonstrations flared, buoyed by the demise of Muammar Gaddafi's power in Libya. Assad has sent in tanks and security forces to crush months of demonstrations by...

> Sure, it’s a lousy place to be a woman who loves women, but it’s also not so great if you’re an intellectual or a feminist or even just a fan of hip-hop. Writer-director Maryam Keshavarz’s debut feature contains echoes of “The Lives of Others” and “My Son, the Fanatic,”...

Two Americans received eight-year prison sentences from Iranian authorities, who accused them of espionage when they illegally entered Iran in 2009 while hiking, according to reports on Saturday citing Iran’s state TV.

Perhaps the European Union, by holding out the prospect of future EU membership to Libya, would be a bold but creative answer to the question of who will be able to influence the Libyan situation for the better ( Editorial , 22 August). Economically, a country with low debt and substantial gas and...

On Aug. 1, I returned to Albuquerque from my annual two-month stay in Israel. These past two years I ...

If you're relatively new to the area, you might think ICI Homes is an established homebuilder with roots in a major city like Chicago or Atlanta. Its stature and reach would indicate so.

An Asian schoolgirl volleyball competition opened at Tien Son Sports Center in the central city of Da Nang on Monday.

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam U-15 and U-18 football squads will be heading to Thailand on Sept 2 to take part in the upcoming Asian Schools Football Competition.

Vietnam’s Under-21 players will play Malaysia in the opener of the 2011 U.21 International Football Tournament in the Central Highlands town of Pleiku on September 25.

JERUSALEM - Eight days after Israel suffered a terrorist attack from Egyptian Sinai and weeks before it faces a Palestinian statehood resolution at the United Nations, its officials say they are struggling with a painful set of strategic and diplomatic challenges produced by the region's popular uprisings.

The night Libya's rebels broke into Tripoli to join the insurrection in the capital, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, was being interviewed by the sycophants of his state television, explaining how he, unlike his fellow tyrant Muammer Gaddafi, was bringing Syria's five-month-old civic uprising firmly under his boot.

Dubai The Arab League will discuss Syria’s growing political turmoil in Cairo today as more protesters were killed yesterday during cross-country demonstrations dubbed by activists as the rally for ‘patience and determination’.

“Those two people that were sentenced to eight years in Iran for hiking on the Iran-Iraq border. Why do Americans always think that other countries are idiots? Who in their right mind hikes on the Iran-Iraqi border? You people are definitely entertaining.” “I could have sworn according to a...

Tehran, August 25 (KCNA) -- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressing an event on Tuesday, clarified the stand to resolutely shatter the enemy's aggression moves.

Tehran, August 25 (KCNA) -- Iran's army in a statement on August 20 expressed the willingness to defend the country by mobilizing all the military power.

Tehran, August 25 (KCNA) -- Iran continues to pay big efforts to strengthening the naval force.

Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- Foreign media carried special write-ups and reports to mark the 51st anniversary of General Secretary Kim Jong Il's start of the Songun revolutionary leadership.

Tehran, August 25 (KCNA) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in an interview with a TV on Sunday that the verdict issued for two U.S. hikers held in Iran was based on the "right judiciary procedure" and the "independence of (Iran's) judiciary system."

A slim figure in a dark suit, Brahumdagh Bugti, 30, could pass for a banker in the streets of this sedate Swiss city. But in truth he is a resistance leader in exile, a player in an increasingly ugly independence war within Pakistan.

ANKARA, Turkey - Zeynep Gurcanli, a Turkish journalist, endured the long security checks on arrival at Israel's international airport on their previous trips. Recently, however, Israeli authorities rolled out the red carpet for reporters in Turkey, a former ally turned into a harsh critic.

Mersin, a city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, is intended to be a major commercial and tourism centers of Turkey. The city is preparing to host a large volume of Arab tourists via cruise ships.

Seventy-five years ago this month, Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich played host to the Summer Olympics in Berlin. The International Olympic Committee had awarded the 1936 Games to Germany in 1931, two years before Hitler assumed dictatorial power.

Deny Anthony attention

An 8-year-old Lebanese boy boarded a boat to escape unrest in his country in the early 1900s.

A REPORT from Hyderabad stating that the city`s Endowment Fund Trust has undertaken to restore the tomb of Mir Karam Ali Khan Talpur (d. 1828) is heartening.

Twenty years ago this month, the Soviet Union – the last of the great 20th century empires – started to crumble following the ill-advised putsch of August 1991. Within two years, it had vanished altogether.

If history is anything to go by, embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has a lot of options for his retirement.

Politicians, former national security officials and thousands of others gathered outside the State Department on Friday to call for the removal of the Mujahedin-e Khalk, an Iranian opposition group, from the list of foreign terrorist organizations. Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” blasted from large speakers and doves and clouds of confetti...

Thousands of Palestinians prevented from attending the last Friday prayers of Ramadan at the al-Aqsa Mosque have clashed with the Israeli army north of al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Decathlon results and running standings after the 100 metres at the world athletics championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Iran accused Majid Jamali-Fashi in suspected show trial of 'Israeli sponsored' murder of Masoud Ali-Mohammad A man accused by Iran of carrying out an assassination "sponsored and designed by Israel" has pleaded guilty to the murder of an Iranian "nuclear scientist". According to Iranian media, Majid Jamali-Fashi, 26, admitted killing...

Now in its sixth month, the Syrian uprising is developing into a power struggle between regional rivals Turkey and Iran. After hesitating, Turkey appears to have determined that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad can no longer stand. In recent weeks, it has hosted conferences creating an interim Syrian “parliament...

The Islamic Republic of Iran will unveil its first domestically manufactured passenger plane in the next 30 to 60 days, according to a senior Iranian aviation official.

Posted: Aug 26, 2011 06:49 pm EDT It's been a rollercoaster month. Let's go straight to it: K2 editorial: end of an era in womens' Himalaya "Summiting K2 with a small group of friends, through the peak's wild side, and without supplementary oxygen is almost as beautiful as it gets,"...

The Edmond City Council took no action this week during executive session to discuss the purchase of property in the vicinity of the Central Edmond Urban Business District.

The IDF opened fire on Arabs who tried to break through the Israeli border in the Nakba day, without sufficient justification. This was stated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed its deep disappointment that position, wrote July 6 newspaper “Haaretz”.

US banking group, JP Morgan Chase, has agreed it will pay $88.3 million in fines to settle against liability for alleged violations of sanctions that had been placed against the nations of Cuba, Sudan, Liberia and Iran between 2005 and 2011.

Without exaggeration we can say that the controversy known Russian analyst, SN Tarasova, with the Baku Professor J. Hasanli about deciding the fate of Karabakh in the early Soviet years, unfolded in the pages of BakuToday, attracted the attention of many researchers both in Russia and in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2011/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This morning, thousands of Iranians from 41 states across the U.S. staged a huge and colorful rally outside the State Department urging the immediate delisting of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK), Iran's main opposition movement. They...

Edmond Sun General Manager Karan Ediger stands with Pat Lay, the winner of The Sun's final summer gas card giveaway. The Sun gave away five gas cards this summer via www.edmondsun.com.

As a painter and sculptor with non-religious and secular outlook, I joined National Council of Resistance of Iran, which was founded by Mr. Masoud Rajavi in 1981, that is a political coalition composed of many political organizations and personalities ...

Libya has reached the tipping point. Past this pivotal point is the road to democracy paved with a constitution establishing a Libyan government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Final Standings: 7.5 pts — GM Li Shilong (CHN) 7.0 pts — IM Lu Shanglei (CHN), GM Wen Yang (CHN) 6.5 pts — Wan Yunguo (CHN), GM Wang Rui (CHN), WGM Ju Wenjun (CHN), GM Joseph Sanchez (PHI) 6.0 pts — IM Oliver Dimakiling (PHI), GM...

AT LEAST eight people were reportedly killed in Syria yesterday in anti-regime demonstrations following Muslim prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan.

Scientists have long sought easier ways to make the costly material known as enriched uranium - the fuel of nuclear reactors and bombs, now produced only in giant industrial plants.

IT has been widely reported that President Asif Zardari is actively mediating between Saudi Arabia and Iran because he wants to promote peace in the region. It’s a pity his concern for peace hasn’t manifested itself in his own backyard.

Commentary: A longer view on Libya and the ouster of Gadhafi

DAN O'BRIEN

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated his past calls for Israel’s destruction, calling the Jewish state “a cancer cell.”

Security forces killed at least five people as they fired on protesters rallying in their tens of thousands across Syria on the last Friday of Ramadan and vowing to bring down the government.

Calcutta, Aug. 26: A death-a-day human tragedy, economic perils and administrative apathy that are striking at the root of Bengal’s tea industry were given a statistical face today in the Assembly as figure after grim figure tumbled out.

THERE is no room for Israel after the creation of a Palestinian state, Iran's inflammatory president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared yesterday.

Authoritarian regimes often dream through propaganda. To see what they're fantasizing about, we regularly check in on what state-controlled media outlets have been churning out. China asks whether its students return from France more promiscuous The Global Times , the colorful tabloid companion of the Communist Party's more staid  People's...

Iran's non-oil exports, excluding gas condensates, have more than doubled from early August 2009 to late June 2011, according to the Iranian industry minister.

Lawmakers in Iraqi Kurdistan demanded Friday that neighboring Turkey apologize for a week of airstrikes across their border and called for a closure of Turkish military bases inside Iraqi territory.

Many factors, including methods of calculation and the value of various consumer goods, can make the same inflation number have different meanings for different countries

AFP/Washington Supporters of an Iranian opposition group demonstrated en masse yesterday in Washington to urge the Obama administration to strike the group from a US terrorism blacklist.

The ever-unhelpful Senator Inhofe has been repeating his silly mantra that Iran will be in a position to deliver weapons of mass destruction against the United States by 2015. My friend Greg Thielman takes him to task in a recent blog , pointing out that the emphasis of Iranian missile ...

Hundreds of supporters of the Iranian resistance group Mujahedin-e Khalq rallied in front of the U.S. State Department in Washington Friday, demanding the United States remove the group from its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The popular Brooklyn food co-op is known for taking political and environmental stands. Some of its members have expressed concern over Israel's policy in Palestine.

Improvised explosive devices account for more than 60 percent of coalition casualties in Iraq and Iran. Sen. James Inhofe is looking toward Oklahomans to help fight the loss of life IEDs are causing in the war effort.

Tehran's popular soccer team Esteqlal has thrashed Foulad 4 to 1 in the fifth week of the Iranian Premier League (IPL) to remain on the top.

Perspolis won their first game of the season, as they beat Sanat Naft in Tehran. Persepolis defeated Sanat Naft 3-1 thanks to a spectacular hat-trick from Javad Kazemian.

Thousands of Syrians — after watching the violent televised downfall of Libya’s long-time autocrat — hit the streets on Friday to demand the same fate for President Bashar al-Assad.

Former Rhode Island congressman Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, called on the White House to remove the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations Friday as he addressed a rally of its supporters outside the U.S. State Department. "We...

An international team of Bronze Age archaeology experts has met in Doha to finalise the programme of a major conference to be held in China in November, entitled Bronze Age Societies – A Global Perspective.

Iran has moved one place up in the latest world football rankings released by FIFA. In the world rankings Iran moved up to 53rd with 559 points. The team has stayed at fourth place among the Asian teams, behind Japan (918), Australia (837), and South Korea (745) respectively.

Hundreds of pro-al Qaeda militants were among the prisoners freed from a notorious Tripoli prison this week, according to a former Libyan jihadist.

Improvised explosive devices account for more than 60 percent of coalition casualties in Iraq and Iran. Sen. James Inhofe is looking toward Oklahomans to help fight the loss of life IEDs are causing in the war effort. Sen. Inhofe and the Chamber are hosting the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat...

While calling for the "full liberation" of Palestine during public remarks Friday, Iran's president also called for the "disappearance" of Israel's so-called Zionist regime.

Q. I acquired this rug from my mother-in-law when she moved to a seniors’ residence. Before her house was sold, my husband and I drove to Toronto to have one last look at his old home. I found the rug in the trash heap.

Supporters of an Iranian opposition group demonstrated en masse Friday in Washington to urge the Obama administration to strike the group from a US terrorism blacklist.

I have a friend who has named his son Gadhafi.

The toppling of the Libyan tyrant provides a template for successful intervention in the Muslim world, says Charles Moore.

Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State during President George W. Bush’s second term, will publish a political memoir that offers readers the chance to experience the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the advancement to the Iraq war through the eyes of the Capitol.

“A media delegation from the Russian channel ‘Russia Today’ visited the Military Hospital of Tishreen in Damascus and listened [to] the truth about Syria’s events from the injured soldiers and law-enforcement personnel,” reports the official Syrian news agency.

LONDON (Reuters) - A senior Islamist rebel reported to have helped depose Muammar Gaddafi is a skilled guerrilla leader and veteran dissident who led a failed revolt in Libya in the 1990s and once spent time with al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, security experts say.

MAROUN AL-RAS, Lebanon — Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called for a “peaceful resolution” in crisis-hit Syria, warning of regional fallout.

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar says that the liberation of the Palestinian nation is the “common responsibility” of the Muslims world.

There was an interesting op-ed in the Moscow Times the other day by the famously pro-market and economically liberal Anders Aslund. Without agreeing with the article in its entirety, I?ve long been of the opinion that Aslund totally ignores the fact that the sort of hard-core liberalizing reforms enacted...

Attorney, corporate board member, college lecturer, sports commentator. Leader of a movement to clear name of Iranian opposition group with terrorist roots?

A senior Iranian military official says the popular uprisings in Arab countries prove the inspirational role of Iran's Islamic Revolution for Muslims nations.

Co-op and Conquest modes will offer vastly different gameplay experiences in Battlefield 3. We got to preview both up close at Gamescom 2011.

The Iranian president says the creation of an internationally recognised Palestinian state would be the first step towards wiping out Israel. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was addressing worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran.

The UK government will not ban suspected criminals from using social networks during times of emergency and civil unrest, reports the Guardian. The idea was first proposed by British Prime Minister David Cameron in the aftermath of the riots that wreaked havoc on London and other cities in the UK...

Drones are on the rise. Shell Oil is using them for exploration in the Arctic. News Corp's The Daily has one that it used to gather news footage from disaster areas (perhaps violating FAA regulations). And now a Canadian dronemaker has revealed that it supplied Libyan rebels with one after...

> Energy...

Iranian filmmaker Saeed Nabi's Anzali Pond will take part in the 2011 edition of Water, Sea & the Oceans International Film Festival (IFF).

People in Azerbaijan have gathered in front of Israel's embassy in Baku to mark the International Quds Day despite stepped security around the building.

Sarah Kazemy, left, with Nikohl Boosheri in Circumstance. One of the most thrilling directorial debuts of this year, Maryam Keshavarz’s Circumstance is an edge-of-your-seat thriller with silk-sheet sex; a soap-operatic family melodrama with double-crossing siblings; and an exploration of the power of the state in the private sphere. Oh, and...

TEHRAN, Aug. 26 (MNA) -- Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has said it is “our honor” that millions of Iranians have taken part in Qods day demonstrations.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Thousands of protesters rallied across Syria to mark the last Friday in Ramadan, as activists said President Bashar Assad's troops killed at least eight people.

The office of President Obama has defined our nation's fiscal challenge as 'demonstrating that we can live within our means so that we can invest in job creation and economic growth now and in the long term.' I suppose that is why he bought two $1.1 million tour...

International sanctions have exacerbated the pain of the middle class stuggling with high levels of unemployment.

TEHRAN, Aug. 26 (MNA) -- The current situation in Libya has given rise to many questions about the future governing system of the country after 42 years of dictatorship.

The Associated Press The Associated Press WASHINGTON Hundreds of people are demonstrating in Washington to demand that an Iranian opposition group formerly allied with Saddam Hussein's Iraq be removed from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and former Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy were...