News Archive - 21 September 2011

VIENNA — Iran was praised and Israel criticized Wednesday at a 151-nation meeting, with Cuba and Venezuela defending Tehran's right to run a nuclear program and Syria saying the Jewish state's undeclared nuclear arsenal is a threat to world peace.

Two Americans jailed as spies in Iran will be released today after a 1 million US dollars (£630,00) bail-for-freedom deal was approved by the courts clearing the way for the release of the men after more than two years in custody. Related Stories Peace negotiator killed in blast Gaddafi loyalists...

Fred Wilson wrote a blog post yesterday called “Real Names” in which he talked about a commenter on his blog who preferred not to comment because he didn’t want to use his real name.

The Belgian painter Rene Magritte once famously painted a pipe, below which was written, "Ceci ne pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe.") Of course, it was not a pipe; it was a painting of a pipe. When asked about it, Magritte replied that it wasn't a pipe,...

As the U.S. military marches warily toward the exits in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Obama administration is on an increasingly uncertain path in Pakistan. Islamabad's suspected ties to Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants risk drawing the U.S. deeper into conflict in that nuclear-armed nation.

MUSCAT, Oman -- After more than two years in Iranian custody, two Americans convicted as spies took their first steps toward home yesterday as they bounded down from a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf state of Oman.

Muscat, Oman - After more than two years in Iranian custody, two Americans convicted as spies took their first steps toward home on Wednesday as they bounded down from a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf state of Oman.

Hosts China hammered Japan 84-58 to stay unbeaten in the Asian men's basketball championship and head into the quarter-finals with their confidence supremely high.

Women and children only at Fenerbahce puts players on best behaviour and transforms the atmosphere.

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) It has not been as busy for a long while for vessel supervisor Mohammad Qassem, who is overseeing the loading of a commercial cargo ship that has just anchored in the ...

(MENAFN - Youm7) The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that social unrest and oil prices fluctuations were causing large uncertainties in the economies of the Middle East and North ...

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has slammed the selective and dual approach of some western governments towards human rights issue.

Whatever one thinks about the Palestinian effort to focus world attention on the plight of its people, it’s a showcase example of the shifting global order

By Naveen Kapoor, Onboard, Sep 22 : The Ministry of External Affairs has said the country has ''impeccable credentials'' to prove it deserved to be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

Hikers Released After 2 Years in Iran; Obama Warns Palestinians: 'No Short Cut'

Tehran, September 20 (KCNA) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the unity of regional countries. He said that the developments now taking place in the region will lead to solidarity, unity and authority of all monotheists in the face of arrogant powers.

The way Sri Lankas war crimes were viewed by many State actors at Geneva showed how these States are leading the world into anarchy and are contributing to global unrest of peoples, political observers said. In an informal discussion of State delegates and human rights groups held in Geneva on...

Ramy Kaddourah got the keys to his apartment in Abu Dhabi’s Raha Beach development two years late as the boom in the United Arab Emirates capital started to wane.

Pyongyang, September 21 (KCNA) -- Belarus has not violated the United Nations Security Council's resolution calling for sanctions against Iran, said the head of the Information Department of the Belarus Foreign Ministry.

South Africa, a key UN Security Council member, "fully supports" the Palestinian bid for full membership of the United Nations.

TEHRAN — Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on today bound for the Persian Gulf state of Oman, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families.

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 12:54:00 TEHRAN: Iran on Wednesday carried out two hangings, including the public execution of a teenage boy convicted of killing an athlete billed as "Iran's strongest man", local media reported. Despite calls by human rights group Amnesty International for an 11th-hour stay of the 17-year-old's execution,...

A Shikellamy school director has issued a challenge to former wrestling coach Brett Michaels to clear the air surrounding the circumstances that prompted the school board to replace him, and the 2009 District 4 Class AAA Coach of the Year is pondering the proposal.

It is the time of year when most Methodists (and maybe other Protestant faiths) plan and conduct their annual stewardship campaigns. It is typically a multi-week process of study and reflection on the subjects of generosity, giving, and tithing. In the words of our Senior Pastor, no one really enjoys...

Celebrations kick off tonight for the small village with a big birthday: It’s Laurelton’s bicentennial this year.

Jim Sprouse checked into it and found Lewisburg prohibits the keeping of hogs — actually, just about any animal you’d find in a barnyard — inside the borough limits.

When La-Z-Boy moved operations from the now-vacant Pennsylvania House factory to China in 2004, there were about 600 people working there.

The questions that have arisen following the Thai government's announcement that it will raise the cost-of-living allowance for civil servants marks another example of the Yingluck ...

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is calling on the Federal Government to resign if it cannot get its contentious offshore-processing plan through the Parliament.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a record of hurling insults at Israel when he addresses world leaders at the UN General Assembly. The Jewish state has reason to expect more of the same today.

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said Wednesday he was considering returning the Thai passport of fugitive former PM Thaksin ...

Racing to meet the outstretched arms of their cheering families on the tarmac in Oman's capital, American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer alighted from the plane that had whisked them out of Iran, and reveled finally at the room to romp. Mr. Bauer spun in the arms of his...

NEW DELHI, Sept 22 (Bernama) -- India says it is interested in the Iranian gas pipeline and issues like price and safety are being worked out. "In principle in the long run, we need a pipeline and the issues need to be addressed.

The Federation of American Scientists has just issued a report, Upsetting the Reset: The Technical Basic of Russian Concern over NATO Missile Defense , by the FAS scientific consultant Yousaf Butt and MIT’s Theodore Postol. To judge from the FAS summary, the report is actually not very technical ...

A government official says a pickup truck hit a roadside bomb in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing at least five people. Adalat Khan says several other people were wounded in the bombing. The incident occurred Thursday in the Chamarkand area of the Bajur tribal region.

Mahmoud Jibril, who's now at the helm of Libya's transitional leadership as its interim prime minister, has ties to the University of Pittsburgh: He received his Ph.D. there in political science in 1985.

To get our books in order, Obama would raise taxes on the rich while gaining savings by ending the wars abroad and reducing Medicare and Medicaid's unnecessarily high payments to drug companies. Republicans rise in defense of tax cuts for the wealthy and insist that deficit reduction come solely from...

Last week marked the two-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s announcement of what was to be a radical new approach to missile defence – the Phased Adaptive Approach. According to this plan, the United States, working with NATO, would ramp up the deployment of a mix of increasingly sophisticated sea...

ISLAMABAD (AP) — FBI Director Robert Mueller visted Pakistan Wednesday as tensions between the two countries spike over U.S. demands that Islamabad crack down on Afghan militants it alleges find shelter on Pakistani soil. A Pakistani government statement said that Mueller met with Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Pakistan’s...

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam, who is in New York for the 66th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, met his counterparts from Iran, Cuba, Fiji, Jamaica, Suriname, the Marshall Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Timor Leste on 21 September 2011.

Today is Thursday, Sept. 22, the 265th day of 2011. There are 100 days left in the year. On Sept. 22, 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York.

What goes up, must come down. So NASA officials predict 6.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today pressed for an early reform of the United Nations, particularly an expansion of the Security Council, noting it must be seen as an impartial, credible and effective world body.

A FOUR-BEDROOM THREE-AND-A-HALF BATH BRICK HOUSE IN TORONTO

Reaction to Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal's release at their alma mater UC Berkeley is elation.

United Nations, Sep 22 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes to the United Nations Thursday focused on global challenges such as terrorism, economic slowdown, terrorism and unrest in West Asia and North Africa.

Georgia inmate Troy Davis has been executed for the killing of an off-duty police officer in a case that has drawn worldwide support over his claims of innocence.

TEHRAN, Iran - The release of two American hikers convicted of spying in Iran ended an international drama involving longtime foes, but was also emblematic of the infighting among Tehran's ruling elite that has led to questions about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's grip on power.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The father of a North Dakota woman who was imprisoned in Iran for four months says he's delighted by Wednesday's release of 2 Americans held for two years.

These young Ottawa Senators do most of their talking on the ice.

FOREIGN journalists will be allowed into Bahrain to cover Saturday's by-election, despite fears they will use the polls as a cover to film one-sided broadcasts with radical groups.

Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies have been released from Tehran’s prison after more than two years in custody.

Ichiro Suzuki stopped Kevin Slowey's no-hitter with a two-out infield single in the sixth inning and added an RBI double in the seventh, spurring the Seattle Mariners to a 5-4 victory Wednesday night in Minnesota, the 11th straight defeat for the Twins.

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Residents with disabilities will have easier access to downtown sidewalks when the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) begins work to improve and pedestrianize intersections across the county.

Sept. 22 American Legion Post 22 at 632 N. Beaton St. will host bingo at 7 p.m. It is open to the general public. Food will be available, provided by the Auxiliary. For more information, contact the post at (903) 874-3938.

A two vehicle collision on the intersection of North 45th Street and West Second Avenue in Corsicana led to both drivers being given citations Wednesday.

MUSCAT, Oman, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- One of two U.S. hikers freed by Iran Wednesday told reporters he and his fellow captive were "so happy ... and so relieved" to be free.

For almost 50 years, people have used insect repellents containing DEET. But scientists still argue about how the stuff works.

TSUNAMIS and earthquakes come unannounced but their apparent `suddenness` is embedded in decades, possibly centuries, of subterranean activity.

The Supreme Court has rejected an eleventh-hour appeal from Troy Davis to ... If you logged on Tuesday it kind of felt like a slap in the Facebook because ...

Anoka County Technical College was placed on lockdown early Wednesday afternoon after a domestic dispute unfolded in a school parking lot.

In other UN news, all those visiting diplomats and related hangers-on in town for the General Assembly this week are doing more than snarling traffic -- this morning they’ll run an anti-Semitic hatefest right in the heart of New York. No, we don’t mean the UN address by...

If you logged on Tuesday it kind of felt like a slap in the Facebook because your social network made major changes and it didn't even give you a heads up.

Will a murder in Kabul upset President Obama’s timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? On Tuesday, a suicide bomber activated a bomb hidden in his turban -- killing Burhaneddin Rabbani, the 71-year-old former president of Afghanistan and, since last year, chairman of the so-called Supreme Council for Peace. Rabbani’s...

The United States is going broke, and the United Nations is morally bankrupt. So why should US taxpayers pay for UN bureaucrats to get swanky new offices -- destroying a New York City park in the process? It’s all poised to happen, if the UN project can clear a...

A wild car chase through downtown Orlando ends when a car slams into a bus station, according to the Orlando Police Department.

A claim by Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak that the governing Liberals were planning to introduce a carbon tax have been shot down by Premier Dalton McGuinty

VIENNA, Sep 21 (Reuters) Myanmar is in no position to consider developing nuclear arms, a senior diplomat from the military-ruled country told the UN atomic agency today, rejecting any such suspicions in the West. Last year, a UN report suggested that North Korea might have supplied Myanmar as well as...

A bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in New York may unsettle the Americans but India will seek to reaffirm the importance of the relationship.

The quarterfinals of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship is set on Friday, September 23, 2011. Smart Gilas, the Philippine team to said Asian basketball tournament will play against Chinese Taipei at 6:00 in the evening.

SANTA CRUZ - Caught in the middle of political and social unrest in her native Bahrain, journalist Nada Alwadi, was detained and interrogated after doing what her job - reporting on what was going on in the streets of her home country.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations on Wednesday there was no short cut to Middle East peace but Palestinians said they would press on with a request for U.N. recognition of their nascent state.

The Thai government is using naval vessels to tackle the floods that have killed 130 people across the country since mid-July. The propellers of the vessels are being used in a bid to push the ...

Wednesday September 21, 2011 MUSCAT, Oman -- After more than two years in Iranian custody, two Americans convicted as spies took their first steps toward home Wednesday as they bounded down from a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf state of...

Sudanese government forces defy withdrawal schedule for Abyei The thing is: Chiranuch Premchaiporn did not say or write anything offensive herself. She is accused of failing to delete posts made ...

Phosphate is essential to the production of our food and is used extensively in Australian agriculture. The main source for most of our superphosphate fertiliser is phosphate rock from the Bou Craa mine in Western Sahara. The problem is that it is exported ...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the wave of Islamic awakening in North Africa and the Middle East will foil colonialist attempts in the region.

Thailand bombings kill at least 5 people. Alleged insurgents were responsible for detonating three bombs at a nighttime entertainment area in Thailand's southern Narathiwat province that ...

When feminist leader Betty Friedan passed away in February 2006, traditional and online media were flooded with stories from women who were affected in some way by her 1963 book, "The Feminine Mystique."

Investigators say that a deadly fire at a Minneapolis duplex began on the second floor.

For 26 months, American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were held as prisoners in Iran. Seth Doane reports on the emotional scene as they were released and reunited with their families in Oman.

It was a joyous day in Elkins Park and at Cheltenham High School Wednesday after native son Josh Fattal and his friend Shane Bauer were finally out of Iran after spending more than two years imprisoned after a hike gone wrong.

Union officials say the drivers have not had a raise in over three years. So instead of going to work Wednesday morning, they went to the picket line.

Background Briefing: Preview of the Global Counterterrorism Forum Special Briefing Office of the Spokesperson New York City September 21, 2011 MODERATOR: All right, everybody. Thank you for coming, as (inaudible) time. We have a briefing to preview tomorrow’s Global Counterterrorism Forum. Our two speakers today are [Senior Officials One and...

In a little more than a week, Mobile's sales tax drops to 9 percent when the penny sales tax expires.

Family members of Clifford Olson's victims have been told he probably only has days to live. Sharon Rosenfeldt - whose son Daryn was murdered - says the serial killer often taunted the families of his victims

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad scoffs at attempts by colonial powers to mar friendly relations among the justice-seeking nations of the world.

A few weeks after posting a plea for help online, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer took his own life. Elaine Quijano reports on how his parents are refusing to grieve in silence.

REBIRTH OF BIRTHER? Though hubbub over President Obama's birth certificate ultimately became a Democratic fundraising tool, the "birther" factor won't die, insists one Republican presidential hopeful. Author, attorney and self-described "muckraker" Andy Martin — who has based much of his campaign on repeated investigations of Mr. Obama's heritage and eligibility ...

Up to 12 News International executives were told in 2006 that the Metropolitan Police had evidence that more than one News of the World journalist was implicated in phone hacking. The new information challenges NI’s account that it did not have evidence of this until 2008.

Two American hikers detained in Iran for over two years on espionage charges were released Wednesday after a $1 million bail-for-freedom deal, their lawyer said, and flown to the Gulf state of Oman to meet their families, the Associated Press reported.

Leaders of a protest near Wall Street say they plan to camp out in lower Manhattan indefinitely.

Jeremy Roth was working at Aprovecho when he first heard Josh Fattal was finally out of Iran.

source: inquirer.net UPDATE: FIBA Asia Quarterfinals Updates [CLICK HERE] WUHAN, CHINA—Smart Gilas Pilipinas could break a jinx that has spanned more than two decades with a quarterfinal victory in the Fiba Asia Championship. And with Chinese Taipei looming as the opponent, the Nationals’ chances are as bright as sunshine.

Contact: Kirsten Fedewa at inquiry@fedewaconsulting.com, +1-202-365-6936

Can't we all just get a bomb?

After more than two years in Iranian custody, two Americans convicted as spies took their first steps towards home Wednesday as they bounded down the steps of a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf State of Oman.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought to ease doubts about his leadership on the world stage on Wednesday as he confronted a looming diplomatic crisis in the Middle East and hailed popular Arab revolts.