News Archive - 13 December 2011

>TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama should apologize for sending an unmanned spy plane into Iranian territory rather than asking for it back after it was seized, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. Iran announced on December 4 it had downed the spy plane in the eastern part of...

>HELSINKI (Reuters) - The world No. 2 mobile telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks will start to gradually ramp down its business in Iran, pressured by tightening international sanctions. Nokia Siemens -- one of the key suppliers to Iranian telecom operators along with Ericsson and Huawei -- has decided to...

>* Euro falls to 11-month low at $1.30090* U.S. crude dips back below $100 a barrel* Gold steady around $1,633 an ounceBy Alex RichardsonSINGAPORE, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Asian shares drifted lower and the euro floundered near an 11-month low on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve failed to...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC's oil price hawks looked set on Tuesday to accept a new group output target that legitimizes a big increase in supply over the last six months from rival producers Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies. A deal expected at a Wednesday meeting should restore some credibility...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil scored its biggest gain in a month on Tuesday after escalating tensions between Iran and the West, and wheat and cocoa prices also rose sharply to help push commodities broadly higher. Gold and copper fell, extending the previous day's sell-off, as the dollar's rally outweighed...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "Mission Accomplished" are two words President Barack Obama will not use as he winds down the most unpopular U.S. military venture since Vietnam and declares an end to another war without victory. Obama's visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Wednesday will be a chance to...

>MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Whenever a homemade bomb kills a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, the chances are its main ingredient came from a factory in Pakistan, a trend that has emerged as the latest source of friction in already frayed U.S.-Pakistan relations. A U.S. Congressional panel...

>LONDON (Reuters) - Healthy production levels by OPEC will help balance oil markets next year as demand growth slows, the West's energy watchdog and OPEC said on Tuesday, in a rare agreement, a day ahead of a policy-setting meeting by the producer group. The International Energy Agency said the Organization...

>"A U.S. Air Force remote-piloted MQ-9 crashed at the Seychelles International Airport in Mahe. The MQ-9 was not armed and no injuries were reported," the embassy said in a statement.The Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) confirmed the incident and said that the plane was on a "routine patrol"...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - The first cinematic output covering protests in Egypt and Tunisia this year recreates the euphoria of revolutions that many thought would never happen, but reveals signs of the conflicts that lay ahead over Islamist groups. The last stage of the revolt that brought down Zine al-Abidine Ben...

>LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude inched up towards $108 on Tuesday as a sell-off in the previous session provided investors with some buying opportunity in the broader markets and with some support from tensions in the oil rich Middle East and low oil stocks. Brent rose 34 cents to $107.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's official news agency says the country's judiciary has issued indictments against 15 'American and Zionist' spies. IRNA on Tuesday quoted Tehran's chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi as saying the suspects carried out espionage activities against Iran.

American troops are leaving behind an Iraqi security force unprepared to defend the nation against foreign threats.

I hope that whoever is in charge of such things realizes that Las Cruces High School has had no heat for about three weeks. Going over there is like going to the North or South Pole. Half the kids in the place are sick. It s freezing.

Iran’s intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, visited Saudi Arabia this week to clear up misunderstandings and discuss security issues, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday without elaborating.

After billions of dollars and nearly nine years of training, American troops are leaving behind an Iraqi security force arguably capable of providing internal security but unprepared to defend the nation against foreign threats at a time of rising tensions throughout the Middle East.

This is the second time that Ahmet Davutoğlu is expressing Turkey’s concern over similar remarks to Ali Akbar Salehi.

SINGAPORE - High oil prices threaten to worsen a global economic slowdown and crude producers should consider boosting output, the chief economist for the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.

LAS CRUCES - New Mexico State University will use half of a $4 million surplus to give all its full-time employees an extra $950 in their Friday paychecks, university officials announced.

NAIROBI, Kenya -- An American military drone that had been used to monitor piracy off the East African coast has crashed at an airport on the island nation of Seychelles during a routine patrol, officials said Tuesday.

Chennai, Dec 13: The ninth edition of the international film festival being conducted by Indo Cine Appreciation Forum(ICAF), will be held from tomorrow to December 22 in this once capital of South Indian cinema and screen 153 films from different countries where cinema is part of indegenous culture.

By Alex Richardson

JOHNSTON, Iowa -- The smallest county in Iowa? Adams. What's its county seat? Cornell. Who was born in Cornell? Johnny Carson. "I'll do Iowa trivia with you all day," Rick Santorum tells a roomful of insurance executives. They're Iowa residents, but it's likely none of them have been to as...

Stock gains fade amid warning of market strains NEW YORK -- A late-afternoon slide pulled stock indexes lower after the Federal Reserve held off on any new steps to boost the economy. The Fed cautioned that strains in global financial markets still pose a danger, a...

The last American troops in Iraq will fly home by month’s end; whatever the shape of future relations between the two nations, the US withdrawal marks the end of a chapter, if not a whole volume. In one of those ironies that add spice to history, the end of...

Once again the world is on the brink. Iran is on the verge of building a nuclear bomb, the middle East is in chaos and terror attacks grip the planet. It is hard to remember a time when so many threats loomed from so many places. The current climate of...

Attention has returned to the potential nuclear threat building in Iran. It has long been assumed that the regime seeks the bomb for its deterrent power or as a means of projecting influence in a politically volatile region.

RAMADI, Iraq -- Meeting various neighbors and supplicants on a recent evening, America's staunchest ally in Iraq, Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, sat in a tent sipping tea from an implausibly tiny glass cup. He greeted each new visitor with a hearty outburst of "dear one" and a kiss on the...

Something popular protest movements have learned in the last year is that Twitter is an excellent medium for offering whoever wants it your unvarnished message. While that may please Western government when it comes to anti-totalitarian demonstrators, what happens when designated terrorist groups create Twitter accounts?

Tehran (AFP) Dec 12, 2011 - Iran will reverse-engineer the US drone it has in its possession, and is in the "final stages" of unlocking the aircraft's software secrets, the head of Iran's parliamentary national security committee said on Monday. "Our next action will be to reverse-engineer the aircraft," Parviz...

Our biggest challenge in 2012 will be dealing with the current account deficit. It will be a problem because 2012 will be the precursor to elections due by April 2013.

Tehran (AFP) Dec 10, 2011 - Iran's boast it downed a highly sophisticated US drone has handed the Islamic republic a propaganda coup while revealing numerous inconsistencies in both Iranian and US accounts of the incident. Leading Iranian newspapers on Saturday gave front-page prominence to the story, displaying photos of...

Tehran (AFP) Dec 9, 2011 - The US drone which Iran said it had brought down penetrated 250 kilometres (150 miles) inside the Islamic republic's air space, state television's website reported on Friday. In a letter of protest to the United Nations, the government said "the American RQ-170 spy plane...

Qatar Petroleum: Closes Financing On $10.4 Billion Barzan Project

Tehran (AFP) Dec 13, 2011 - A US drone captured by Iran is now the "property" of the Islamic republic, Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Tuesday, dismissing a request by US President Barack Obama for its return. "The American espionage drone is now Iran's property, and our country will...

Rep. Ron Paul got an unexpected shoutout tonight from the other side of the aisle, as Rachel Maddow noted, after her extended interview with Vice President Joe Biden , that only Rep. Paul among the Republican candidates vocally opposed war with Iran. The comment came in response to the "pride"...

Executive assistant was named to Order of Canada for sticking with the embassy during the hostage crisis

Iran's tyrannical regime has sent the world what passes for a holiday greeting in contemporary Tehran -- a grim and cynical threat. This week, a member of Iran's National Security Committee intimated that Iran would soon demonstrate that it could close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic.

# drones General Atomics' Avenger—the newest iteration of the classic Predator—is headed to war for the first time, Danger Room's David Axe reports . It's got F-35 sensors, loads of stealth weapons bays, and terrain-sweeping radar. Iran: start licking your lips. More »

Remember me? What's this? What's this?

By Alex Richardson

An international energy research firm says Iran's oil revenues will hit record of more than $100 billion this year, despite the sanctions imposed on the country's oil sector over its nuclear program.

Nokia Siemens has joined Huawei in deciding to stop seeking new business in Iran , and to reduce its existing commitments in the nation.

  WASHINGTON - Exactly three weeks until the first Republican presidential nominating contest in Iowa, front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have two different challenges, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

The U.S. and its allies hope the kingdom will boost output to prevent oil prices from climbing as they pressure Iran on its nuclear program. In a new effort to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear program, the Obama administration and its European allies are asking Saudi Arabia to...

Faced with Israeli warnings of strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, officials here routinely answer with bravado and counterthreats.

The world’s financial system continues to teeter near a very nasty brink, with the United States and Europe disagreeing about how to pull back from the edge. Danny Shechter sees crisis, crisis, everywhere.

VIENNA : OPEC holds a ministerial meeting here on Wednesday to decide on oil production levels, with markets expecting the cartel to maintain its official quota as a weak global economy hits demand for crude.

Christiane Amanpour is leaving the comforts of Sunday network talk and will return to foreign reporting as “Global Affairs” correspondent for ABC News while anchoring a weekday broadcast for CNN International. She will be replaced as anchor at ABC’s “This Week” by George Stephanopolous, who preceded her as host of...

The escalating confrontation between Sudan and the new republic of South Sudan is not for lack of communication: Days of talks last month in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, saw negotiators from the shrunken, bitter rump Sudan and its youthfully overconfident breakaway neighbor huddled under the exasperated watch of former...

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is amassing dictatorial power as U.S. troops leave the country, risking a new civil war and the breakup of the nation, his deputy warned Tuesday.

The withdrawal of American troops has major implications not just for Iraq but for the entire region - and beyond.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia play an important and effective role in international relations.

With Pakistan closed, Nato seeks new supply routes to Afghanistan

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is amassing dictatorial power as U.S. troops leave the country, risking a new civil war and the breakup of the nation, his deputy warned Tuesday.

> Financials...

London:  Harga minyak melonjak pada Selasa, akibat  pasar terjebak dalam rumor tentang latihan militer Iran di rute penting Teluk dan harapan langkah-langkah stimulus lebih dari Federal Reserve AS.

Fuel prices in Utah fell significantly last month, according to AAA Utah.

The Obama administration is committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear arms as a “vital national security interest” but believes there is still time to change Iranian behavior through economic and political pressure, a former top adviser on the Middle East said Tuesday. Dennis Ross, who stepped down last month...

Iranian Ambassador to Afghanistan Fada Hossein Maleki says the US violation of the Iranian airspace is against Washington's proposed strategic pact with Kabul.

Tehran, Dec 14 : Iran has threatened to close off the world’s most important oil shipping lane as tensions between Tehran and the West increase following the capture of an American surveillance drone.

>WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY IN THE PHILIPPINES:- Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes and Chairman Mary Grace Pulido-Tan of Commission Audit are guests at Communication and News Exchange Forum, 3/F, PIA Conference Room, PIA Building, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, 9:30-11:30 a.m. [0130-0330 GMT]REUTERS NEWS - PHILIPPINES > October bank...

JOHN ARMSTRONG

Production cuts expected to be on table as OPEC ministers meet Wednesday

The greatest danger posed by a nuclear Iran would be the increased likelihood of a Middle East nuclear war, Dennis Ross said.

Cramer goes “Off the Charts.”

WITHOUT doubt, this has been one of the most successful years Malaysian archery has experienced in its history.

WASHINGTON: A key US lawmaker on Tuesday denied Iran's claims of having brought down a US drone, saying "technical" problems pulled the state-of-the-art unmanned aircraft from the sky and into Tehran's hands.

Directors are the ones calling the shots (pun not intended) among this week's DVD releases . First up, New York filmmaking brothers Josh and Benny Safdie finally get to see their semi-autobiographical film Daddy Longlegs out on DVD, more than a year after it was released in theaters. Next is Circumstance...

TEHRAN, Dec 12 (Reuters) Eight people were killed by a blast at an Iranian steel plant when old munitions were included among scrap metal being recycled, the local member of parliament said today.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in an exclusive interview with Fox News, said that the stealth drone campaign along the Iran-Afghanistan border will "absolutely" continue despite the loss of a valuable and sophisticated drone to Iran. 

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) President Barack Obama today pledged that Washington would remain a strong partner for Iraq as US troops exit by year-end, and played down the risk this departure creates a power vacuum Iran can exploit.

Iran’s parliament passed Tuesday a bill for a free trade agreement with Syria in a show of support for President Bashar Assad’s regime beset by protests and international pressure.

Retired Army Colonel Tim Lawrie says it's time to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. But fears Iran could go on offensive.

WebMemo - The Heritage Foundation's Web Memo is an online exclusive analysis that supplies Heritage.org visitors with the information they need to follow fast-breaking policy developments.

Islam is known categorically forbids divination and vorožbu. Despite the express prohibition, virtually all of the mullahs in Azerbaijan are making big money witchcraft.

America is taking a phenomenal risk by not developing all available oil and gas resources. We have an abundance of resources, the technology and a huge labor force to accomplish energy independence.

Oil prices rose today with US crude back above $US100 a barrel.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A key US lawmaker on Tuesday denied Iran's claims of having brought down a US drone, saying 'technical' problems pulled the state-of-the-art unmanned aircraft from the sky and into Teheran's hands.

A visiting government official from Iran has praised Qatar for its forward-thinking outlook on regional issues and its close relationship with his country, claiming that both nations share common ground on a range of issues.

Risks to computer networks are rising and the losses incurred by companies are mounting. There are steps risk managers can take to defend themselves.

Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s biggest economy, named a new central bank head and economy minister as the kingdom presses forward with a record spending plan aimed at reducing unemployment and diversifying an oil- dependent economy.

>Kuwaiti media said last month that Iranian authorities had arrested two nationals working for a private television station at a town in southern Iran. It said the two were held on suspicion of spying and illegal entry, charges denied by the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry.KUNA quoted a Foreign Ministry source...

"You'd call MTV and you'd say, 'Hey, you know that Sting video... where the girl's dancing, the blonde one, yeah... What's her phone number?' And they'd give it to you... I was watching the Iran-Contra hearings and I saw Oliver North's secretary and I thought she looked good in...

Greenpeace anti-oilsands campaigner Mike Hudema is standing by his comments that the federal Conservatives "imposed a death sentence on many of the world's most vulnerable populations by pulling out of Kyoto."

Less than two weeks after the Iranians claim to have captured a U.S. stealth drone, the U.S. Air Force is quietly sending another one to Afghanistan -- and this one is armed. Only you don't need a stealth drone for a country like Afghanistan with undefended skies. Hmm.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, issued the following statement today regarding Nokia Siemens Networks’s decision to reduce its current business in Iran and stop seeking new business there.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose 2 percent on Tuesday as geopolitical jitters about Iran combined with threats to supply and key shipping lanes sent U.S. crude above $100 a barrel. Crude futures briefly surged nearly $4 a barrel after markets opened in New York in a furious...

The gloves didn’t have to come off on Monday night in a Lincoln-Douglas style debate between Republican rivals Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman, who found more agreement than strife on foreign policy issues.

As another year draws to a close, we look back on the IT-related comments that stuck with us.

Calcutta, Dec. 13: Tea production is likely to miss the 1,000-million-kg-mark this year.

"We're looking for a stable, democratic government that is not beholden to anyone in the region and is able to be secure within its own borders," the vice president told NPR, and he sees that happening in Iraq.

A lively debate continues to swirl in some quarters of Washington about whether time is running out to derail Iran’s nuclear program through military action. The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg, who has perhaps written more than anyone on this subject, relays growing concerns in Israel about Barack Obama’s willingness to use...

SINGAPORE, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Singapore shares arelikely to open down on Wednesday after U.S. stocks closed loweron disappointment that the Federal Reserve gave no hints of newstimulus measures to offset the effects of the worseningEuropean debt crisis. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2352 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET...

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Higher crude prices and a bullish analyst call gave shares of a trio of oil companies a lift on Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude oil for January delivery rose nearly 2% to $99.52 a barrel, rebounding on fears about escalating tensions in...

“I love texting, tweeting, blogging and emailing as much, if not more, than the next person, but there are some occasions when nothing, but nothing, can replace the power of the hand-written letter” – Stephen Fry

Every legacy media and central planner's worst nightmare is slowly coming true: as the broader field of GOP candidates is rapidly dropping like US secret drones blowing up nuclear power plants in Iran, due to general idiocy, incompetence, too much baggage-ness or general reverse American Idol syndrome where Americans get...

Cheating on your wife is a terrible sin and a horrible violation of a marriage. But it does not mean that the person cheating will be a crook in the rest of his life or a failed public servant, as indeed some of our greatest presidents have demonstrated.