News Archive - 22 October 2011

>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will continue talks with Washington on how U.S. trainers can work with Iraqi forces after a complete withdrawal of American troops at the end of the year, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday. U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday that all U.

>* Could deliver 'unbearable' blow to Iran economy -trader* Bank governor says other countries would not back new sanctionBy Robin PomeroyTEHRAN, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Iran dismissed on Saturday a threat by Washington to impose sanctions on its central bank in response to an alleged assassination plot, saying the United...

>* King's reforms improved position of Saudi women* King is in his late 80s, has had back problemsBy Angus McDowallDUBAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has pushed cautious social changes in the world's biggest oil exporter and guided it through a turbulent time that included an al...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as success stories. In a message Obama is likely to push in his 2012 re-election campaign, he said...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan has died, the royal court said on Saturday, and Interior Minister and reputed conservative Prince Nayef was expected to become the new heir to the throne in the world's biggest oil exporter. Sultan, whose age was officially given as 80 and who...

TEHRAN – Iranian officials found six bodies in a diving chamber recovered after an oil services ship sank in the Gulf, dashing hopes of discovering survivors in the pod, the website of Iran’s state broadcaster said Sunday. Sixty people were rescued from the ship Thursday by Iranian navy and local...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) on Saturday issued the following statement concerning the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq :

TUNIS, Tunisia - Today's election in Tunisia will affect the Middle East more than the grisly death of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

EXCLUSIVE: LOCKERBIE campaigner Jim Swire has called for the son of Colonel Gaddafi to be put on trial to finally reveal the truth about the 1988 atrocity.

Iran's Vice President for Executive Affairs Hamid Baqaei has downplayed sanctions imposed by the US and its Western allies against the Islamic Republic, stressing that such moves will be detrimental to those who imposed them.

Esteqlal has blanked Zob Ahan to regain the top position of the table in the 11th week of the Iranian Premier League (IPL).

Gadhafi's death, U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq on the minds of many at Arab American festival.

Conflicted Iraqis face future without US troops.

BAGHDAD -- For the first time in decades, Iraqis face a future on their own, with neither Saddam Hussein's iron fist nor the United States' military might to hold them together This has been both their dream and nightmare: They wanted American troops (the occupiers) to go, but they wanted...

In a state that had a heavily Democratic Legislature, Mitt Romney was able to find common ground and achieve success, which is lacking now in Washington, the former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate said Thursday.

Global events impact oil markets

San Jose Councilman Kansen Chu wants the city to join in a "Healthy Eating, Active Living" effort to adopt policies promoting physical activity and discouraging fast-food outlets.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the expansion of interactions between the Islamic Republic and African countries, saying Tehran is committed to continue supporting African nations.

With Colonel Muammar Gaddafi now dead, all eyes have moved to Libya's prized oil assets and how quickly the National Transitional Council can get oil production up and running to feed Libyans which now have much greater expectations from the new leadership.

When Hassan Burawi received a phone call from his sister at 3 a.m. Thursday with a message to “check the news,” he couldn’t believe what he saw when he began flipping through the channels.

Nation mourns Prince Sultan

A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official has called for the immediate withdrawal of Saudi Arabian military forces from Bahrain.

An Argentine trade official has blamed the US for accusing Iran of involvement in the 1994 bombing of Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in an effort to obstruct Iran-Argentina ties, Press TV reports.

Iran's foreign minister has offered condolences to his Saudi Arabian counterpart Saud al-Faisal over the demise of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.

Kota Kinabalu: AS an ambassador of sorts, Sinarajah Govindasamy never fails to don a badge on his shirt wherever he goes, night or day.

As President Obama walked from the podium after announcing his plan to withdraw all troops from Iraq, a White House reporter shouted out, “What about Iran?” Obama ignored the question because he could, but, sooner or later, he will have to deal with Iran. Make that sooner. The mere...

LAHORE: Pakistan exported wheat worth $624.45 million in 2011 and major importers were Bangladesh, Dubai, Iran and Afghanistan.

US SECRETARY of State, Hillary Clinton, was in Islamabad recently. It is yet unclear if her mission was conciliation or further coercion.

Interior minister seen as next in line for the throne after Crown Prince Sultan's death

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of people rallied outside the White House on Saturday, calling on President Obama to remove an Iranian opposition group once allied with Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.

The spectacle of a bloodied Moammar Gadhafi, surrounded by Libyan rebels ridiculing the once-omnipotent tyrant, is a severe blow to dictators who have ruled the Arab world for decades. The grandiose, mercurial Col. Gadhafi is the third strongman to be deposed but the first to be killed in a wave...

Many, both Sunnis and Shiites, believe the departure of U.S. forces will lead to a rise in sectarian violence and Iranian influence.

President Barack Obama has confirmed that all US military operations troops will be pulled out of Iraq by the end of this year. The United States will leave a very large diplomatic force behind in Iraq , giving the Shiites another opportunity to take an American Embassy hostage.

The Museum has been a pioneer in the acquisition of this material and now, in its fourth decade of collecting, houses the pre-eminent collection of art from this region in the UK.

Ahmet Ertug, Meryem Ana Kilisesi (Church of the Mother of God) Turkey, Capadocia. First half of the 11th century CE. Photographic Print. Arcade. PHILADELPHIA, PA.-

Time to bring remaining troops home from Iraq .

NEWTON — Students entering the English for Speakers of Other Languages program at Sussex County Community College want to improve their language skills to have a higher standard of living for themselves and their families.

BAGHDAD - Beyond the withdrawal of troops that President Barack Obama announced Friday, U.S. fiscal troubles are dictating a scaling back of plans to expand diplomatic and cultural programs once deemed vital to steadying Iraq.

WASHINGTON (AP) — America's long and deeply unpopular war in Iraq will be over by year's end and all U.S. troops “will definitely be home for the holidays,” President Barack Obama declared Friday.

The country is a key U.S. ally amid ongoing upheaval in the Middle East. But King Abdullah is 87 and the likely next crown prince is in his late 70s. The death of the heir to the Saudi throne has cast a spotlight on the aging leadership of the...

Two days after the death Muammar Qaddafi, Libyans are still celebrating and enjoying their new freedoms. But, as Elizabeth Palmer reports, there is hard work ahead for the interim government to prepare for orderly elections next summer.

Cynthia Bowers reports on an Ohio non-profit called the Circles Campaign that matches low-income families with middle-income volunteers who provide relief from the day-to-day grind and a path out of poverty.

A homeless woman with Stage 4 breast cancer found a way to beat the odds with help from an unlikely friend. Mark Strassmann reports on their remarkable story.

PETALING JAYA: Team Barloworld will be back to defend their title when the Tour of Langkawi takes off again from Feb 3-12 next year.

Sura Wood With its didactic lecturing, flat visuals and two-dimensional acting, her "Principles" doesn’t have a future outside of the festival circuit. read more

Dozens of Iranian students held a rally in front of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran on Saturday to support the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement in the US. Students chanted anti-US slogans and burned an Israeli flag.

For more than five decades, the world’s oil map has centered on the Middle East. No matter what new energy resources were discovered and developed elsewhere, virtually all forecasts indicated that U.S. reliance on Mideast oil supplies was destined to grow. This seemingly irreversible reality has shaped not only...

GOP presidential hopeful turns quick-change artist as he moves between Iowa football games

State of the Union. Topics: Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy’s death; US troops to leave Iraq; the 2012 campaign. Guests: Vice President Joe Biden; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. 9 a.m. and noon (CNN)

WASHINGTON (AP) — America's long and deeply unpopular war in Iraq will be over by year's end and all U.S. troops “will definitely be home for the holidays,” President Barack Obama declared Friday.

Obama ignores Iraq problems

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has implicitly warned Iran not to interfere in Iraq after the decision to pull all American troops out of the war-wracked state by the end of the year.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hundreds of protesters gathered on Saturday at the White House to demand that the closure of a refugee camp for Iranian exiles in Iraq be postponed, arguing that a massacre will occur when US troops leave.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday warned Iran not to interfere in Iraq after the decision to pull all American troops out of the war-wracked neighbouring state by the end of the year.

For the first time in decades, Iraqis face a future on their own, with neither Saddam Hussein's iron fist nor the United States' military might to hold them together. This has been both their dream and nightmare: They wanted American...

PETALING JAYA: The men’s recurve trio of Cheng Chu Sian, Khairul Anuar Mohamad and Haziq Kamaruddin made history for Malaysia when they claimed the team gold in the Asian Championships in Teheran on Friday.

Not that there were any corrections, retractions or apologies, but six months ago, the national news media, in what seemed to be a don’t-want-to-be-the-last exercise, began to report the most hopeful, fantastic and impossible story: The street demonstrations in Cairo were spreading throughout the Islamic-Arab Middle East, a surge...

Libya is preparing to officially declare its liberation today following the death of Muammar Qaddafi, the autocrat who ruled the North African country for more than four decades.

See the new movie poster for 'The Iron Lady,' which stars Meryl Streep as former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Troops with the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment begin stowing their gear as they prepared to deploy from the National Guard Armory in Austin Aug. 18 to assist with Operation New Dawn, the removal of U.S. military troops in Iraq. President Barack Obama announced Friday the nearly 40,000 troops...

WASHINGTON – By declaring that the last American troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year, President Barack Obama signaled the official close to one of the longest, most politically contentious wars in U.S. history – and the end to an American attempt to transform the Middle...

Indian paddler Achantha Sharath Kamal beat higher- ranked Li Hu to move to the pre-quarter finals of the Swedish Open in Stockholm. The 75th-ranked Kamal beat his world No. 31 rival from Singapore 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 .

Pakistan emerged triumphant yesterday from one of the most hotly contested UN Security Council elections in years and played down fears of tensions with the United States and rival India on the world body.

Libya is preparing to officially declare its liberation today following the death of Muammar Qaddafi, the autocrat who ruled the North African country for more than four decades.

The death of the octogenarian heir to the Saudi throne was expected Saturday to position a committed conservative who is a reliable, if choleric, ally of the United States as the ruler-in-waiting within the dynastic Saud family. Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz died in New York late Friday, according...

Cain says he is not the political "flavor of the week."

WASHINGTON - There were women who lost their heads over Adel al-Jubeir, back when the Saudi ambassad ...

After the Saudi ambassador urged cutting off the head of the snake, did the snake strike back?

Senior Whitehall officials told Liam Fox's unofficial adviser Adam Werritty to rein in his political activities which included visits to the Iranian capital Tehran and regular contact with dissident groups.

Hundreds of people rallied outside the White House on Saturday, calling on President Barack Obama to remove an Iranian opposition group once allied with Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.

All American troops will come home from Iraq in time for Christmas this year with their heads held high, President Obama told the nation as he announced the end of American presence in Iraq. The troops are the only ones who have earned the right to hold their heads high...

America’s fiscal troubles are dictating a drastic scaling back of plans to expand diplomatic, economic and cultural programs once deemed vital to steadying Iraq.

President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to pull out all US. troops from Iraq this year, symbolically ending the war but dashing US hopes of leaving a few thousand troops to buttress a still shaky Iraq and offset neighbouring Iran's influence.

Gaddafi's body should be treated with dignity in order to send a message to other dictators and future generations.

Iraq will bumble forward, its problems unresolved by America -- Sunni-Shia rifts, Arab-Kurd disagreements, unresolved oil revenue sharing, and empowered Iran.

BakuToday: Karabakh problem remains far from solution, and meanwhile the protracted ethno-territorial conflict still further and further raises two neighbouring people.

U.S. oilfield services company Halliburton Co conducted an internal investigation of its Angolan operations after an anonymous email alleged its employees breached corruption laws.

Remarks With Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi After Their Meeting Press Availability Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Dushanbe, Tajikistan October 22, 2011 SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Foreign Minister Zarifi, for that very warm welcome to Tajikistan. It’s my first visit here. The beauty of this country is well...

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda urged concerned mayors and heads of government agencies to prioritize the rehabilitation and recovery projects to severely-affected areas hit by Typhoons Pedring (Nesat) and Quiel (Nalgae). The governor together with officials of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) spearheaded a...

Some worry about fragile security, others say it is past time the Americans go home

There is no news about the fate of six Indians trapped in a diving chamber on a ship that went down off Iran's coast on Friday, said reports reaching here. The Indian Consul-General in Bandar Abba...

Yesterday, history was made in Libya and Libya is free after decades of brutal dictatorship. I was in Tripoli and Benghazi only 2 weeks ago visiting some of the bravest young people I have ever met.

Iran's Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani says the death of fugitive Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi shows that the will of the people cannot be ignored.

The US military's 'historic' withdrawal will not affect Iraq's security, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says.

TEHRAN, Oct. 21 (MNA) -- Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the Western powers have been looking for new ways to control the situation in the country.

BAGHDAD — For the first time in decades, Iraqis face a future on their own, with neither Saddam Hussein’s iron fist nor the United States’ military might to hold them together. This has been both their dream and nightmare: They wanted American troops (the occupiers) to go, but they wanted...

It's been an earth-shattering week for Middle Eastern dictators, and with the fall of Muammar Gaddafi , many in the region are turning their eyes towards Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , as their people continue to struggle (though less violently) from within to free themselves from their...

TEHRAN, Oct. 22 (MNA) – Deputy Navy Commander Mahmoud Mousavi announced on Saturday that an attempt by pirates to hijack an Iranian tanker was foiled by the Jamaran destroyer during its first mission.

Syrian security forces killed three civilians and arrested dozens more on Saturday, activists said, while state media was mum about the death of ex-Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, the third Arab leader overthrown by popular revolts this year.

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of people rallied outside the White House on Saturday, calling on President Barack Obama to remove an Iranian opposition group once allied with Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. Former Pennsylvania Govs. Tom Ridge and Ed Rendell were among speakers urging...

TEHRAN, Oct. 22 (MNA) – A number of students from universities across Tehran held a demonstration outside the Swiss Embassy on Saturday to express sympathy with the protests on Wall Street.

A look inside the Conflicker computer worm, and the Internet techies who worked to eradicate it.

One not-so-funny fact about Washington is that nearly all the news media stars who fell for neoconservative falsehoods about Iraq are still around to fall for new ones on Iran, even some like Richard Cohen who briefly regretted his earlier gullibility, notes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

Iranian filmmaker/activist and two time winner of the Cannes Film Festival, Mohsen Makhmalbaf will be in Brazil for a one week human rights tour, talking about violations in Iran and the crackdown on filmmakers and educators.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on five Iranians for alleged involvement in the "assassination plot" against Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Reuters reports that the sanctions include travel restrictions and the freezing of all of their assets in EU banks.

Imprisoned blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki has stopped taking his medication in order to protest the prison authorities' refusal to allow him to be hospitalized for his kidney and gallbladder problems.

Iranian president condemns "killings and massacre" as activists report fresh deaths and arrests in continuing turmoil. Activists in Syria have reported fresh deaths and spate of additional arrests amid continuing unrest in the country.

TEHRAN, Oct. 22 (MNA) – Iran and Pakistan held on Saturday the seventh security committee meeting and discussed a range of topics including security cooperation, better control of common borders, organized crime, human trafficking, drug smuggling and illegal immigration.

Energised by the killing of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, thousands of protesters in Syria and Yemen poured into the streets and said their longtime rulers will be next.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday slammed NATO's role in Libya and said the United States -- and all other countries -- should stay out of the conflict in Syria.