News Archive - 27 May 2012

The former Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani was elected as the Majlis temporary Speaker on Monday morning. Larijani and Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel were the two candidates for the post. Larijani gained 173 votes while Haddad-Adel gained 100 votes out of 275 votes. Majlis members will also elect the Speaker deputies on...

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Islamic Republic has devised and implemented a new system for conducting international transactions, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mahmoud Bahmani said, adding the new system will replace Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). On March 15, SWIFT CEO Lazaro Campos said in a statement that the society has...

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday that there are ample potentials and capabilities in the African continent and the world should expect emergence of a new global power thanks to wave of awakening in the region. He made the remarks in a special ceremony marking African Day in...

A NATO air strike killed a family of eight, including six children, in their home in Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktia, Afghan officials said Sunday. "Eight people, a man, his wife and six of their children, are dead. It was an air strike conducted by NATO. This man had no...

Islamic Republic of Iran invited Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to an upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran. IRI Vice President for International Affairs Ali Saeedlou met Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro and submitted the invitation to him in Caracas on Sunday. During the meeting, Saeedlou expressed hope that President...

IRI's non-oil exports have enjoyed 32.6 percent increase in the first two months of the Iranian calendar year, started March 20, compared to the corresponding period last year, an official said Sunday. Deputy head of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Kiyumars Fathollah Kermanshahi told IRNA that the figure does...

Islamic Republic of Iran and Tajikistan are seriously determined to increase joint investment in various fields and promote bilateral cooperation, IRI Energy Minister Majid Namjoo said on Sunday. Addressing the ninth meeting of Iran-Tajikistan joint economic commission, he said Tehran and Dushanbe enjoy various cultural and religious commonalities. Mr. Namjoo...

Israeli regime must be disarmed as the first goal behind declaring the Middle East region a nuclear weapons free zone, a British author and anti-war activist told IRNA. “In accordance with authentic reports, Israel has at least 200 nuclear warheads and hundreds of other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and...

JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a near two week high on Monday, as investor worries about the euro zone debt crisis eased and demand showed signs of improving ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in July.

>* Euro off 2-year lows, Greece euro exit fears ease* Lack of progress in Iran nuclear talksBy Luke PachymuthuSINGAPORE, May 28 (Reuters) - Brent crude edged above $107 per barrel on Monday as polls showing support for a pro-bailout government in Greece calmed fears of a euro zone exit hitting...

>Without assigning a blame for the killings of at least 109 civilians in Houla in central Syria, a statement by Hezbollah said it "strongly condemns the massacre and deplores those who carried it out".The Shi'ite guerrilla group, which the Syrian opposition accuses of backing Assad's military crackdown on the-14...

>By Marcus GeorgeDUBAI May 27 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog has not yet given good enough reasons to visit an Iranian site where it suspects there may have been experiments for developing nuclear weapons, Iranian media said.The Parchin complex is at the centre of Western suspicions that...

Official says that while there is no disagreement that Iran is a threat to world peace, there is a gap over the non-satisfactory demands made by world powers in the Baghdad talks.

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Crude oil futures rose modestly on Friday in lighter than usual trading ahead of an extended holiday weekend in the US. Crude found support from news that some of Europe's leaders agreed that euro bonds deserved further study.

Iran's newly-elected parliament has voted to reinstate a conservative critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as temporary speaker.

TEHRAN, May 28 (Bernama) - The director of the Environmental Protection Organization announced on Sunday that constructing dams on rivers which pour into the Lake Urmia is banned, Iran's Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported.

COLOMBO, May 28 (Bernama) -- Sri Lanka police arrested 113 people on Monday as they attempted to sail to Australia illegally by boat, Xinhua news agency reported.

>...

Bess Fulton turned on the television, switching the channel to a young all-news network called CNN because it covered international news all day. She had a son in Beirut, and she found herself more interested than ever in the tumultuous and violent events in Lebanon.

These are mortgage foreclosures filed with the civil division of the Circuit Court in November. Names in bold are the subject of or have an interest in the foreclosure action. Lighter names filed the foreclosure action.

Oil advanced for a third day in New York on signs voters in Greece may back austerity measures needed for a European Union bailout, easing concern the region's debt crisis will worsen and derail the global economic recovery.

In April of 1993, President Bill Clinton and Elie Wiesel presided over the dedication of the Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, D.C. Wiesel spoke first. He asked, “What have we learned?,” then went on to say, “Mr. President, I cannot not tell you something. I have been . .

Last night’s episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians featured an exclusive preview of the Snow White and the Huntsman,

Investigators working in four countries have amassed new evidence linking attempts to assassinate officials and businessmen to either Iran-backed Hezbollah or Iran-based operatives, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Power cuts of up to 12 hours a day continue to make life in Gaza extremely difficult, due to the Gaza power plant being unable to produce more than one third of its capacity because of fuel shortages caused by the Israeli siege, and the closure of tunnels by Egypt...

In November, the tide of daily cable traffic to the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan brought a chilling message for Ambassador Matthew Bryza, then the top U.S. diplomat to the small Central Asian country. A plot to kill Americans had been uncovered, the message read, and embassy officials were...

Oil prices edged higher in Asian trade Monday as major crude producer Iran and Western powers failed to reach agreement over Tehran's nuclear programme, analysts said. Markets were also supported by signs ...

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IRAN'S nuclear chief said yesterday there is no reason at the moment for his country to halt production of uranium enriched to 20 percent, a key demand of world powers.

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's nuclear chief, reversing the country's previous statements, said on state television Sunday, May 27, that the country would not halt its production of higher-grade uranium, suggesting that the Iranian government was veering back to a much harder line after talks in Baghdad with the West last...

France have extended their lengthy unbeaten run with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against Iceland in an international friendly on Sunday.

Congratulations OPEC. The world is now accustomed to $90 oil.

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The ICA is pleased to welcome two new member organisations - bringing the total to 272 from 97 countries, an increase of over 40 members in the last two years.

A political analyst says the United States policies towards Iran, including Washington’s approach regarding the Iranian nuclear energy program, are precisely dictated by the US-based Zionist lobby of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday voiced "revulsion" over the bloodshed in Syria, while accusing Iran and its Lebanese militia ally Hezbollah of being accomplices.

TOKYO, May 28 (Reuters) - Key TOCOM rubber futures edgedhigher early on Monday, tracking gains in oil and shares, butconcern that Europe's debt problems will hit rubber demandlimited the rise. FUNDAMENTALS ...

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Sunday that more than $500 billion in defense-related cuts scheduled to kick in early next year would be "disastrous" to national security and begged lawmakers to restore the money. The cuts were included in last summers bipartisan debt and budget agreement that allowed the ...

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Today, the National Post’s Vidya Kauri with 10 things you need to know about the Duke of Edinburgh

The U.N. Security Council condemned the weekend massacre of more than 100 civilians in Syria, including the stabbing and axing of nearly 50 children, with members casting blame on government forces.

Will Assad depart in the Yemeni manner? The New York Times has revealed that US — Russian talks are taking place to implement the Yemeni solution in Syria, and this is in the hopes of securing Bashar Assad’s withdrawal from power along the lines of Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh.

On May 15, the anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, its Arab citizens observed a day of mourning for the victims of the Naqba (“catastrophe”) — the mass exodus of half the Palestinian people from the territory which became Israel.

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed yesterday not to let the United States be “gouged” by Pakistan on the price it charges for overland deliveries of American military supplies to Afghanistan.

The U.N. Security Council on Sunday condemned the weekend massacre of more than 100 civilians in Syria, with members casting blame on government forces for the deaths.

> Stocks Asian Markets Markets Financials...

>U.S. financial markets are closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.FUNDAMENTALS* U.S. crude rose 43 cents to $91.29 a barrel at 2247 GMT.* ICE Brent crude edged up 6 cents to $106.89 a barrel.* Hedge funds and other large speculators increased their...

COMMENTARY | The United Nations has been a failure. Recent news highlights three brewing crises that reflect the international body's inability to force rogue states to comply. Syria has been in the spotlight in recent months for its brutal crackdown on protesters of repressive President Bashar al-Assad. According to Reuters,...

Iran is to build a new nuclear power plant, alongside its sole existing one in the southern city of Bushehr, by early 2014, state television reported yesterday, quoting the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organisation.

Commodities news from around the world

A Bahraini court yesterday sentenced six people to 15 years in jail each for plotting with Iran to stage attacks on targets including the Saudi embassy and the interior ministry, the official BNA news agency said.

Leon Panetta on Afghanistan and tensions with Pakistan and Iran.

The West has been hoping to convince Iran to reduce their nuclear development, but announcements the country made on state television Saturday show they have no sign of slowing down.  Iran announced on state TV that it was going to start building two new nuclear power plants in 2013,...

IRAN: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the world needs a new order based on justice, brotherhood, progress and welfare.

MANAMA, Bahrain, May 27 (UPI) -- Bahrain will stop broadcasting its channels on Arabsat satellite starting June 1 in condemnation of Iran, the Information Affairs Authority said.

A famed battleship that saw action during the Second World War and the Korean War and carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a wartime summit travelled along the California coast Sunday on its final voyage.

Iran announced it will continue enriching high grade uranium while adding a nuclear power plant in 2014 and rebuffed calls to allow U.N. inspectors to visit the suspected home of the country's nuclear weapons research.

A pipeline being built by the United Arab Emirates to pump most of its oil exports from east coast terminals bypassing the Iran-threatened Strait of Hormuz, will be operational in June, the ruler of Fujairah told AFP in an interview.

Responding to reports that 90 people were killed in a massacre in the Syrian town of Haoula, Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the White House’s response to the violence there was “about a year too late.”

The country's nuclear chief says they are planning two new reactors.

For the first time since the Syrian uprising began more than 14 months ago, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned the atrocities committed by the regime against innocent civilians and called for “action by the international community in the light of continuous Syrian atrocities.”

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi says the Islamic Republic intends to construct two new nuclear power plants alongside its existing facility in the southern coastal city of Bushehr.

NEW YORK CITY (May 26): US stocks and the euro slipped on Friday, as Spain's deteriorating finances and a possible Greek exit from the euro overshadowed an upbeat report on US consumer confidence.

America's effort to mediate conflict and effect change in some of the world's most troubled regions has been met lately with a startling response, in country after country -- defiance. 

NEW YORK (AP) — It's Memorial Day weekend and our national obsession with the price of gasoline is in focus once again. We'll spend a little less at the pump than a few weeks ago, but that won't s...

Tehran, May 27 : The Islamic republic inaugurated the new Majlis (parliament) on Sunday.

>Bahrain, a U.S. ally and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since pro-democracy protests led by majority Shi'ites erupted last year after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.The Sunni-led island, along with fellow Gulf Arab countries, have accused Iran of being behind the unrest...

Higher enrichment level is for a medical research reactor, Iran’s nuclear chief says

As the summer driving season kicks off this holiday weekend, most Americans are enjoying lower gas prices.

The Defense Secretary on Afghanistan and tensions with Pakistan and Iran.

Political analyst Larry J. Sabato has little doubt which issue will decide this year's presidential election.

Gas prices have been on the move, with the national average dropping 18 cents in the last month, and experts expect them to fall more over the holiday weekend. - JOIN THE DISCUSSION

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During one of the nightly clashes with Bahrain's security forces, a new chant broke out among opposition protesters: "The U.S. is the great Satan." A few days later, pro-government marchers also waved their fists against Washington.

AMMAN, Jordan — A Christian Jordanian woman said Sunday she is suing her Gulf Arab employer for arbitrary dismissal after she refused a new dress code forcing her to cover her head.

With the Baghdad P5+1 talks winding down into a malaise of frustration and finger pointing it doesn't look good for Iranian nuclear negotiations. Not that it ever looked good, but this latest round of talks gave the optimists something to hold on to.

Iran's nuclear chief says there are no reasons at the moment to halt production of uranium enriched to 20 percent, a key demand of world powers.

Two spectators have been killed and several others injured at a rally race in Ireland. Related Stories Clegg dismisses immigration claims Browett 'to get £36m golden hello' Syria denies it was behind attack Iran to build new nuclear plants Man held in China murders probe

A man has been arrested in south-western China accused of killing 11 people and dismembering, burning and burying their bodies to destroy the evidence. Related Stories Clegg dismisses immigration claims Browett 'to get £36m golden hello' Syria denies it was behind attack Iran to build new nuclear plants Two spectators...

Letters discovered by Salon show even deeper Cold War ties between the Paris Review and a U.S. propaganda front

A Bahrain court sentenced eight people to prison terms of up to 15 years Sunday after they were accused of plotting with suspected Iranian agents to topple the Gulf kingdom's ruling system, a defense lawyer said.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is interviewed

Islamabad, May 27: Pakistan is in talks with India to import electricity, Power Minister Naveed Qamar has said.

From Pilot and wire reports SAN FRANCISCO Twenty-three years after enduring an on-board explosion that killed 47 Norfolk-based sailors, the battleship Iowa traveled along the California coast Sunday - on its final voyage before converting to a floating museum.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged the country's newly-elected parliament on Sunday to stand with him against "evil ones" who he says have encircled the nation.

Love is in the air at the Cannes Film Festival, as the jury sits down Sunday to choose its prizewinners.

TEHRAN, May 27 (MNA) - Tehran City Councilor Masoumeh Ebtekar says the problem of dust storms can only be resolved through long-term plans and diplomatic efforts.

Sindh, May 27 (ANI): Pakistan's Federal Minister for Water and Power, Naveed Qamar, has said talks are underway for the import of electricity from India, adding that headway was expected on the project soon.

By Manish Chand, New Delhi, May 27: India will pitch for a greater role in the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and an expanded partnership with it in stabilising Afghanistan when External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna goes to Beijing to participate in the grouping's 12th summit June 6-7.

A senior American international relations expert says the talks between Iran and the P5+1 in Baghdad did not “achieve a breakthrough” due to the hardline and arrogant position adopted by the West.

Western powers have stepped up its sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme. As a result, Tehran's been forced to expand trade agreements with traditional backers, such as export powerhouse China