News Archive - 23 December 2011

>WASHINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - Western militaries are experimenting with having future drone pilots command up to four aircraft at once, adding new potential challenges even as a top-secret U.S. drone's crash in Iran exposed the risks of flying unmanned aircraft thousands of miles away. The initiative could help satisfy feverish...

>"We intend to continue operations if the situation stabilises," a Tatneft spokesman said by telephone, citing public remarks by company head Shafagat Takhautdinov.The Russian regional oil company, whose production base is in Tatarstan, has a production-sharing agreement with Syria's state-owned General Petroleum Corporation, which is on an EU blacklist...

European stocks rose to their highest in two weeks on Friday, tracking Wall Street gains as the U.S., the world's biggest economy, showed further signs of recovery, especially in the labor market.

>* Oils gain on strong crude price* Investors reassured after Italy's vote of confidence* Volumes dry up ahead of Christmas breakBy Brian GormanLONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - European stocks rose to their highest in two weeks on Friday, tracking Wall Street gains as the world's biggest economy showed further signs...

>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is concerned that the Arab Spring revolutions could sow further turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa by provoking a potentially catastrophic rift between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. In written answers to Reuters, Lavrov said the events in the region...

>* Islamists gain from Arab Spring* 2012 could be year of Assad's fall in Syria* Sinister outlook for Iraq in 2012* Arab world polarised along Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian linesBy Samia NakhoulLONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - It all began with a slap and a slur hurled at a poor vegetable seller by...

NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices rose to near $100 a barrel as worries over global security issues outweighed weak economic data in the U.S. Benchmark crude rose 36 cents to $99.89 per barrel in New York. Brent crude fell 6 cents to $107.83 per barrel in...

Arab League monitors are to meet Syria's top diplomat on Saturday, a day after suicide bombers killed 44 people in attacks Damascus blamed on Al-Qaeda

A senior Iranian lawmaker has blamed saboteurs and terrorists for the abduction of several Iranian engineers in the restive Syrian city of Homs.

Herve Zengue, a controversial player whose eligibility is questioned by Namibia, is left out of Burkina Faso's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Russia will deploy new missiles aimed at U.S. missile defense sites in Europe if Washington goes ahead with the planned shield despite Russia's concerns, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday. . . .

Michelle Bachmann : "They've stated, as recently as August just before President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad came ... to the U.N. General Assembly. He said that he wanted to eradicate Israel from the . . .

The same neocon hawks who lied us into Iraq are using the ultimate argument-stopper to push war with Iran We’ve been through this before. As one of the most disastrous wars in our history . . .

Ex-inspector rejects IAEA Iran bomb claim Former chief weapons inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency Robert Kelley has rejected its claim that Iran built a nuclear test chamber, . . .

The latest GOP debate was thin on memorable moments or major factual bloopers, but we do have some leftover claims to dispute before we shut down for the Thanksgiving holiday. We wouldn’t want anybody’s . . .

A senior Iranian lawmaker says there is no rationale behind the presence of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Iraq, as the Iraqi nation has been a major victim of the terrorist activities of the group.

Frankincense trees need miracle Times Union Copyright 2011 Times Union. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Published 07:50 p.m., Friday, December 23, 2011 The storied resin — known to millions as one of the three gifts of the Magi, the wise men...

A war of words is heating up between Hezbollah and Washington, with allegations and counter-allegations flying between the two foes as the crisis in Syria takes its toll on the Shiite militant group.

Washington: Immigrants, with the largest number coming from India, have started nearly half of America's top 50 venture-funded companies in the US creating about 150 jobs each, according to a new report.

“The early warning radar system will become operational next week, before the end of this year,” an official said.

LAHORE : The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) is currently facing gas shortfall of 550 mmcfd, which may reach 750 mmcfd in January, 2012, and four-day gas load management plan for industry would be implemented till January end while gas supply to fertilizer plants would be restored after February.

While Democrats and Republicans squabble in Congress they deserve bipartisan credit for one stunning

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2011. There are seven days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve. On Dec. 24, 1814, the War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent.

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has frozen political and military relations with France in retaliation for the approval by the French parliament's lower chamber of a measure that makes it a crime to deny genocide against Armenians a century ago.

The debt crisis has sent desperate Greek graduates to the other side of the world to a place they see as a land of opportunity For several months a stream of mostly young men and women, fresh off the plane from Greece, has been knocking at the doors of a...

ISTANBUL -- In a deepening diplomatic rupture, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey accused France on Friday of genocide against Algerians in the period of French colonial rule, one day after France made it a crime to deny the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks.

WASHINGTON, Dec 24, 2011 (AFP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in an interview published late Friday, called the Iranian leadership "evil" and said he would consider decapitating the Tehran regime if elected.

On Monday (19th), Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, heavily criticized the U.S. president, Barack Obama, in response to his warning of the alleged restrictions on the rights of Venezuelans.

WASHINGTON, Dec 23, 2011 (AFP) -Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in an interview published late Friday, called the Iranian leadership "evil" and said he would consider decapitating the Tehran regime if elected.

His views ▸End sanctions on Iran

Reporters routinely describe Ron Paul’s foreign-policy views as “isolationist” because he opposes the promiscuous use of military force. This is like calling him a recluse because he tries to avoid fistfights. The assumption that violence is the only way to interact with the world reflects how oddly circumscribed foreign-policy...

Click here for 48Hours In...Jerusalem map

There's some corner of London W5 that is forever North Korean. Indeed, you may have driven past it. The official address of the Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is 73 Gunnersbury Avenue, but motorists know the thoroughfare better as the North Circular Road. (Presumably the home-hunting diplomats...

Listen to the Audio JUDY WOODRUFF: And to the analysis of Shields and Brooks. That is syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Hello, gentlemen. DAVID BROOKS: Hello. MARK SHIELDS: Judy. JUDY WOODRUFF: Good to have you here. So,the standoff over the payroll tax cut, David,...

Djavad Mowafaghian heads a North Vancouver foundation that has helped build 26 schools in Iran.

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Julie Davis and Lisa Lerer talk with Bloomberg's Al Hunt about the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Rich Miller and Julianna Goldman discuss the outlook for the 2012 election and U.S. economy.

A US judge has signed a default judgment finding Iran, the Taliban and al-Qaida liable for the September 11, 2001 attacks.

WE are set for one of the warmest Christmas Days on record — with temperatures 26C higher than last year.

A road block issue that once divided parts of Pembroke Pines and Southwest Ranches is back on the map.

As the last of our troops return home from Iraq, the greatest tragedy of this misguided war is if we learn nothing.

Several thousand Iraqis in Sunni Muslim strongholds protested Friday against Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who employed over a thousand Jews during the Holocaust in an effort to save them from concentration camps, was memorialized in a famous book and Academy Award winning movie.

EmbedVideo(1671, 482, 304); Violence in Iraq and Syria. New tensions between Iran and western nations. Unrest in Bahrain and Kazakhstan. As oil hovered around $100 a barrel Friday, those were some of the day's major international developments that were helping to drive up the cost of oil once again over...

A sold-out crowd of more than 500 enjoyed a day of boxing. "People came out in force and this was our largest attendance ever," RING 8 President and dinner chairman Bob Duffy said.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- International pressure is growing for doing something to stop Syrian President Hafez Assad's crackdown on protesters amid diplomatic confusion and conflicting prescriptions for a solution.

SILVIA Tabassi and her family from the United States will be celebrating their first Christmas away from home in Malaysia.

China has bought enough spot crude from the Middle East, Africa and Russia in January to replace lost Iranian oil supply, trade sources said yesterday, putting it in a strong position as it tussles with the Islamic Republic over payment terms for 2012 contracts.

The Cabinet has decided to disallow new cars or old cars without CNG kits to be fitted with new kits.

In the 10 months that Syrians have taken to the streets, Bashar al-Assad has remained firm in his position. This is not a popular movement for democracy, he says, but rather, a sectarian and militant terror campaign.

Washington (UPI) Dec 23, 2011 Qatar is bidding to become the negotiating venue for an end to the 10-year war in Afghanistan. A small peninsular nation the size of Connecticut that juts out of Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf, Qatar keeps punching above its weight on the international scene.

Clare County saw Michigan’s lowest countywide average gasoline price at the start of the Christmas weekend, despite a substantial midweek price move elsewhere in the state.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is days away from unveiling a long-awaited strategic review of the future of military forces, the military's global role and its missions, a senior Pentagon official tells CNN. The strategy is expected to be the fundamental blueprint for the U.S. military over the next decade.

Books by Anita Hill, Bill Vlasic, Amir and Khalil, and John Moynihan.

Gary Barnes, of Niles, has been spreading holiday cheer as Santa Claus for more than 30 years. His oldest granddaughter, elf Isabelle, accompanied him Thursday evening at the Riverfront Café in Niles.

MOSCOW, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Russia views Western attempts to impose an oil embargo on Iran as "counterproductive" and "harmful."

ACCRA, Ghana, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Ghana's Danquah Institute alleges that governmental political indecision has resulted in delaying the growth of the country's gas infrastructure.

YEREVAN, Armenia, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- An Iranian delegation led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making an official visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan to increase bilateral ties.

American hawks are blaming President Obama for a premature withdrawal from Iraq, as if a few thousand American troops could prevent the country's current sectarian convulsion.

Robert Siegel speaks to Juan Zarate, a senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the $10 million reward the State Department is offering for information on the whereabouts of Yasin al-Suri. The government says al-Suri is a financier for al-Qaida operating out of Iran.

(Reuters) - WHO ARE THE ALAWITES? -- The roots of Alawism go back to the 9th and 10th centuries in the teachings of Mohammad ibn Nusayr and his follower Hussein ibn Hamdan al-Khasabi. -- Throughout their history, the Alawites have been the victims of persecution. They were gradually conquered by...

Fugitive Sunni vice-president, wanted on terror charges, accuses prime minister of pushing country to sectarian war.

There was a time in Cairo, just a few months ago, when it was considered slightly outre to suggest that Egypt’s religious conservatives might take advantage of Hosni Mubarak’s demise to engineer their way into power.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says a planned 10-day military exercise by the Iranian navy on international waters near the mouth of the Persian Gulf is an act of provocation.

MANCHESTER - Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, who have been attracting much of the attention in the Republican presidential race in recent weeks, have committed to appear in back-to-back New Hampshire debates the weekend preceding the Jan. 10 first-in-the-nation primary.

PARIS (Reuters) - The clannishness, secrecy and tenacity of Syria's power elite around President Bashar al-Assad are hallmarks of the enigmatic Alawite faith that unites its members and arouses suspicion among the majority Sunnis. An oppressed minority for most of their history, Alawites suddenly took control in Syria in 1970...

The political landscape is changing. Our economy is showing signs of life. President Obama's poll numbers are rising. GOP fire-breather Newt Gingrich's poll numbers are looking shaky. And Ron Paul, a libertarian gadfly ignored by the press and despised by Republican old-timers, is riding...

Christian leaders from around the world are asking for prayers and government protection of Christian minority communities, following threats of attacks during the Christmas season this year.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Iranian forces launch a massive 10-day exercise near the Strait of Hormuz, in what is seen as a rehearsal for a threatened closure of the artery if Iran is attacked.

Geneva’s world-renowned pastry chef Alain Roby created an 18-foot, 750-pound Christmas tree made entirely out of chocolate.

The death toll after a ship carrying Australia-bound immigrants sank off the coast of Indonesia on Saturday evening has risen to at least 95, officials said on Friday. Around 100 people remain missing. The migrant ship, which according to investigators was heading to Australia`s Christmas Island, was overloaded with around...

DUBAI - Middlesex University Dubai marked the 40th anniversary of the UAE with a day-long celebration on campus, which included performances, food and exhibits from all over the world.

Most of the supporters of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are content companies who think the government has been way to lenient about online piracy. Record companies, movie studios, and so on.

Plans for a major naval exercise stir up Persian Gulf, oil markets.

Special Report: Since the days of Richard Nixon, Republicans have pursued an anything-goes brand of politics that often has the look of hostage-taking, with Democrats usually caving in for “the good of the country.”

The surveillance satellite project was first mooted in 2008, shortly after the Gulf Cooperation Council, consisting of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, scrapped its HudHud program. The satellite is based on Astrium's highly successful Eurostar E3000 platform.

In many ways, this was a year to forget -- but we'd making a mistake not to learn from the past.

One of Obama's objectives entering the White House was to show that dialogue could be more effective than confrontation with US adversaries. From Iran to Burma, here's how it's going.

NEW YORK, Dec. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal district court in Manhattan yesterday entered a historic ruling that reveals new facts about Iran's support of al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks.  U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled yesterday that Iran and Hezbollah...

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli government has canceled a $141 million contract to supply Turkey with an advanced aerial intelligence system, Israeli officials confirmed on Friday. The move appeared to reflect a profound reassessment of strategic ties with Turkey, a former ally, months after Turkey downgraded diplomatic relations with Israel.

Herewith follows some of my predictions for what may happen in 2012 with respect to some key foreign countries.

In the Republican primary struggle to define the most reliably conservative presidential candidate, Mitt Romney has put his money where his mouth is. Over the past six years and two presidential campaigns, Romney has donated at least $260,000 from his family charity foundation to GOP causes and influential conservative groups...

Posted: Dec 23, 2011 05:14 pm EST It has been a tumultuous year in the world of exploration. New route attempts were rare on high altitude. There were no victorious expeditions to the North Pole and Greenland had a thin season.

More than 200 workers at Shiraz Telecommunications factories protested in front of the Fars Governor's building for a fifth straight day to demand unpaid wages.

The Iranian administration has decided to ban opening LCs for importing goods from the United Arab Emirates in response to illogical behaviors of the UAE under the pressure of international sanctions against Iran, a member of the Iranian parliament (Majlis) stated.

2011 has been a year of growth and important victories on critical issues, and there are many great things on the horizon in 2012! With 2011 drawing to a close, we look ahead to 2012, our 10th year serving the Iranian-American community! -NIAC

Journalist Amirali Allamehzadeh has been released after 95 days in Evin Prison. The Human Rights House of Iran reports that Allamehzadeh was released on Wednesday on bail.

Rising level of air pollution in the capital city of Tehran has forced people with respiratory and heart ailments to stay at home, Press TV reports. Iran's Health Ministry has issued a warning for the elderly and children to avoid any unnecessary travel to the city center.

A statement issued by 39 high-profile Iranian political prisoners urges the public to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections. Participation in those elections, slated for March, has been a hot topic in Iranian political circles, with reformists widely advising an all-out boycott.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center hosted an expert panel discussing the changing relationship between Syria, Iran, and Turkey amidst the Arab Spring and increasing regional tensions. -Ardavon Naimi, NIAC

Iranian oil ministry has envisaged investing up to $50 billion to explore oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea, the Mehr news agency quoted a member of parliament as saying on Friday.

The gold price was little changed in London on Friday, ending the short pre-Christmas session 0.6% higher from last week's finish after setting an AM Gold Fix of $1,607.50/oz. Silver prices also held flat, moving in a tight range below $29.50/oz.

This was a bad year for bad guys. Departing the political scene — or departing the scene altogether — were Osama bin Laden , North Korea's "Dear Leader," Kim Jong Il , and a trio of Arab leaders: Tunisia's Zine el-Abidine ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Moammar Gaddafi.

Sen. Michael Rush spent many months teaching Iraqi soldiers counter-terrorism techniques to prevent deadly attacks like the ones that took place Thursday morning in several civilian neighborhoods in Baghdad, killing almost 70 people and injuring hundreds more.

Gold prices remained confined to a tight, smaller than $20 range for a second day as trading in metals wound down further and as business slowly got underway this morning. The action was once again defined by the absence of general sentiment change.

Website hosting company GoDaddy has officially voiced its support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Bill in 2012, which is designed to thwart movie and music piracy on the Internet by empowering copyright holders to effectively shut down websites or online services found with infringing material.

This year should have been a stellar one for US-Latin American relations, marked by trade deals and Obama's high popularity in the region. Instead, 2011 held a sense of distance between the regions.

ATLANTA - They lived by the sword, both inspiring fear and acts of bloodshed around the world. And in the end, they both suffered violent deaths befitting their fearsome reputations.

They lived by the sword, both inspiring fear and acts of bloodshed around the world. And in the end, they both suffered violent deaths befitting their fearsome reputations. Perhaps no two deaths in 2011 transfixed the world...