News Archive - 23 June 2012

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on Saturday forming a new government, state television said, less than two months after controversial parliamentary elections boycotted by the opposition. Related Stories Last efforts in refugee boat search off Australia Mongolian dinosaur skeleton seized from US warehouse Apple vendors...

China's oil imports from Iran this year reached its highest level in May 2012. According to an IRNA report, China, which is the world's second highest crude oil consumer, imported 2,220,000 tons of crude from Iran. China's Customs Department, which issued the report, said that the figure shows an increase...

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that justice and freedom seeking nations such as Iran and Venezuela will build their countries to the pinnacles of progress free from imperialist domination in a global race for resistance. Insisting that “a resistance competition has taken shape in the world today,” Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...

A six-year-old Palestinian boy killed and two others injured in a fresh Zionist regime's aerial attack on the Tel Aviv-blockaded Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say. The attack took place early on Saturday when the regime's warplane targeted the eastern part of the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the...

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed the effectiveness of setting deadlines for the settlement of Iran's nuclear energy issue, denouncing such timetables as “artificial.” "In order to settle the issue, it is necessary to refrain from constant threats of using force, abandon scenarios aimed against Iran, and stop...

A Palestinian man has been martyred in yet another Israeli airstrike on the besieged Gaza Strip, a few hours after a 25-year-old Gazan was killed in a drone attack conducted by the Tel Aviv regime. Palestinian sources said the attack targeted a residential district in Gaza City on Saturday. The...

Syria has reportedly arrested more than 40 German nationals for attempting to smuggle arms into the country, according to a Press TV report. The report quoted a German journalist as saying that the German nationals are the employees of a "security firm." The report further said that the Germans...

IRI Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi on Saturday called on both Syria and Turkey to observe self-restraint and calm to settle dispute over downing of Turkish military plane in Syrian territorial waters. In a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday, Salehi hoped that the issue would be...

IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Caracas, Venezuela, for Tehran on Saturday, wrapping up his six-day three-nation tour of Latin America. Last Monday, President Ahmadinejad, heading a delegation, travelled to Bolivia on the first leg of his tour of Latin America. He then toured Brasilia to attend the Rio+20 session of...

Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, says enemies have hatched extensive plot to divide regional nations. Nsrallah made the remarks in a meeting with the representative of the Islamic Revolution Leader in Hajj ceremonies, Hojjatoleslam Ghazi Askar on Saturday. He said the followers of divine religions and various...

Energy ministers of Economic Cooperation Organization member states to meet in Tehran on Monday. ECO Secretary General Mohammad Yahya Ma’roofi said on Saturday the 3-day meeting ECO energy ministers plays an important role in expanding cooperation among ECO member countries in the fields of energy, trade and technology. He said...

IRI's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, on Saturday advised Bahraini government not to make conditions further complicated by taking tough and violent actions and violating human rights. Mehmanparast, voicing concern over Bahraini government forces’ armed assault and direct shooting at political leaders and personalities, condemned continued violent actions and crackdown...

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez Saturday inaugurated 384 residential units constructed by Iranian companies in Venezuela. The residential units were inaugurated via video conference on the sidelines of the talks held between the two countries' high-ranking delegations in Caracas. During the inauguration ceremony, President Ahmadinejad voiced...

The German Mayor of the East German city of Jena Albrecht Schroeter is standing firm on his call for boycotting Israeli goods amid an ongoing Zionist smear campaign accusing him of being anti-Semitic, press reports said Saturday. Schroeter has faced the wrath of Germany's Zionist lobby for signing a petition...

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey and Syria on Saturday pulled back from a possible confrontation over Syria's downing of a Turkish fighter jet that had strayed across their common border into Syrian air space Friday. As their respective navies searched for the two missing Turkish crew, both sides said Friday's clash...

>DUBAI, June 23 (Reuters) - A high-ranking Iranian general said on Saturday Israeli military action against Iran's nuclear programme would lead to the collapse of the Jewish state, Fars news agency reported. Last week's round of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Moscow failed to secure a breakthrough,...

>ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkey promised on Saturday to do "whatever necessary" in response to Syria's shooting-down of a Turkish fighter, but did not immediately contest an assertion by Damascus that the jet had been in its airspace at the time. The downing of the aircraft, at a point close to...

Gabriel Calderon, Bruno Metsu and Manuel Jose are the three candidates in the mix for the top job at the Tehran giants who endured a dismal 2011-12 domestic campaign

Robert Pera's fast climb to amass the cash to buy the Memphis Grizzlies began in Silicon Valley, in a run-down, two-story office building.

Persepolis general manager Mohammad Ruyanian said he will appoint a new coach by Sunday, following Mustafa Denizli's decision to quit.

(MENAFN) The Follow up Committee of Initiatives of the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has awarded two road construction contracts with a combined value of USD118.40 ...

Iran's Ambassador to Spain Morteza Saffari has dismissed the Israeli regime’s war rhetoric against Iran, saying Tel Aviv would bring about its own demise if it attacked the Islamic Republic.

For 50 years, her story was mostly untold, even to her own children and grandchildren. But when Cecylia Ziobro Thibault heard the president of Iran in 2005 declaring that the Holocaust was a myth, she recalled, 8220My blood boiled in me.8221

Falling oil prices means Russia will have a fiscal account deficit this year, and one greater than president Vladimir Putin predicted earlier in the month. Putin signed amendments to the 2012 budget only a couple of weeks ago, considerably increasing the projected oil price for 2012 even when oil prices...

DUBAI, June 24 (Reuters) - Here are factors that may affectMiddle East stock markets on Sunday. Reuters has not verifiedthe press reports and does not vouch for their accuracy. INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL * ...

For 50 years, her story was mostly untold, even to her own children and grandchildren. But when Cecylia Ziobro Thibault heard the president of Iran in 2005 declaring that the Holocaust was a myth, she recalled, 8220My blood boiled in me.8221

Aerosmith (rock music), Alabama (country music), Steve Allen (actor/musician), Louie Anderson (entertainer), Lynn Anderson (country music), Chet Atkins (country music).

They schmoozed with Mitt Romney at a cookout at Olympic Park in Park City, Utah, pressing him on labor regulations and the threat of a nuclear Iran. They packed the lobby bar of the Chateaux at Silver Lake, over $15 glasses of Scotch.

I have been trying to understand the details of the current dispute over the presidential powers in Egypt. It appears that the underlying cause of the issue is a lack of trust between the involved parties.

A new oil market downturn? Is the oil market heading toward another cycle of uncertainty, but on the downturn side this time? The initial signals point to that direction.

I write this week from London, where GCC-UK Strategic Dialogue meetings were concluded with a meeting on Thursday (June 21) between the British Foreign Secretary William Hague, GCC foreign ministers and the GCC secretary-general.

Although not one of Mamet's most artistic works, this broad comedy, which makes no concessions to political correctness, is a lot lighter than most other of his plays, and as directed by Elizabeth Huffman, this production certainly has its share of hefty laughs.

VENEZUELA: President Hugo Chavez criticised international sanctions on Iran when he met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Prince Ahmed was sworn in as the Kingdom’s new interior minister in the presence of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at the king's palace yesterday.

Qatar players celebrate after beating Maldives 2-0 in an under-22 Asian Cup football qualifier in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Qatar are in Group C which also includes, Iran, Bahrain and Kuwait.

1920 - The first commercial finding of oil in West Texas comes with the discovery of the Westbrook field in Mitchell County. 1923 - The famous Santa Rita No. 1 is completed in Reagan County.

MALAYSIA claimed three titles at the Asian Junior Squash Championships in Kish Island, Iran yesterday with S. Sivasangari, Nur Aliah Anis Mohammad and Ng Eain Yow victorious in their respective finals.

Turkey's foreign minister huddled with top officials Saturday after Syria shot down a Turkish military jet that had apparently entered Syrian airspace, a ministry spokesman said.

Iranian Reza Bahadorani and Sohbatollah Bahadorani part of our Broad Peak team left Skardu for Broad Peak, after Broad Peak they might consider K2, good luck...

Tehran, June 24 (IANS) Police in Iran have recovered a haul of over one ton of illicit drugs during an anti-narcotics operation in the country's southeastern region, Fars news agency has reported.

At this point, there doesn't seem to have been a change in Israeli policy: If Hamas enforces a cease-fire, Israel will hold its fire.

It's a dark January evening, and in an anonymous townhouse near Paddington station, a man is talking about how to stage a revolution.

Timing of the story's publication probably timed to coincide with the current visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Venezuela, which began Friday.

The virus can not only steal data but disrupt computers by removing critical files, says a Symantec researcher.The infamous Flame virus can delete files from a computer and is likely the cause of a cyberattack against Iran in April, according to new findings.

Iran is a much more complex country than many in the West realize. A bit of humility and nuance is needed in responding to the country’s bluster.

PETALING JAYA: Teenage squash prodigy S. Sivasangari added another feather to her growing list of accomplishments with a hard-fought win to bag the Asian Junior Under-15 title at Kish Island, Iran, yesterday.

Readers respond to recent columns about journalism and national security and the Facebook initial public offering.

Refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia, many of whom fled persecution and conflict in their home countries, say they are being driven to get on boats for Australia out of frustration with the resettlement process.

Political turmoil is nothing new to the people of Pakistan. But last week they experienced something unprecedented.

Global sea levels could rise two or even three times higher over the next century than the UN previously estimated, according to a study by the U.S. National Research Council. The Tehran Times reports that a committee of experts has taken previous UN data and evaluated it against new...

BOISE -- Saturday marked World Refugee Day and it was a perfect one for 25 refugees from all over the world. They became American citizens Saturday morning during a ceremony on the Grove Plaza.         The refugees came from across the globe from countries like Cuba, Somalia, Iran, Mexico,...

Iraq’s central bank, struggling to stem an illicit tide of dollars into sanctions-bound Iran and Syria, has had some success in steadying its own dinar by pumping dollars to Iraqis through two state-run banks, traders and officials say.

India is speeding up efforts to ensure insurance cover for tankers which bring in crude oil from Iran, about a week before the onset of European Union sanctions that will effectively cut off insurance services for oil shipments from Iran.

Pink triangle reminds Pride visitors of past The pink triangle that once was a sign of shame and persecution has been embraced by the gay community as a symbol of pride, said Patrick Carney, co-founder of the Friends of the Pink Triangle and the man who has organized the event...

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity.''

PARIS (AP) — Thousands of Iranian exiles have led a Paris rally to demand democratic change in Iran and help for Iranian resistance members in Iraq's refugee camps.

Turkey's foreign minister huddled with top officials Saturday after Syria shot down a Turkish military jet that had apparently entered Syrian airspace, a ministry spokesman said.

Gaza/Tel Aviv (dpa) - The ruling Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip would attempt a fresh Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, the group‘s spokesman, Ayman Taha, said late Saturday.Israeli officials said they had no confirmation of a ceasefire agreement. Shortly after the Hamas announcement, the Israeli military said rockets were fired on...

Berlin (dpa) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to travel to Paris next week to lay the groundwork for a planned EU summit, a German government spokesman said Saturday.The visit to France would take place Wednesday, ahead of the meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

Markets, like men, are not much good at multi-tasking. So while we've all been obsessing over every twist and turn in the eurozone saga, something extraordinary has happened to the most important number in the world - the oil price.

AFP news agency releases interactive tool showing how Twitter plays out globally.

(MENAFN) The first one million barrels of Gulf oil flowed through a new pipeline crossing the UAE to the Gulf of Oman, bypassing Strait of Hormuz controlled by Iran, Reuters reported. UAE is set ...

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has insisted the Rio sustainable development summit made some progress, as world leaders wavered between bemoaning its wishy-washy agreement and trying to put a brave face on the outcome.

PROTESTERS will gather in Sydney's CBD to call for an independent inquiry into the latest asylum seeker boat disaster and an end to mandatory detention.

Escalating violence between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces has threatened to unravel a shaky truce brokered by Egypt which had temporarily calmed violence.

The first edition of Tehran International Video Film Festival has announced its national winners during a ceremony held in the Iranian capital.

"We travel like other people, but we return to nowhere ... We have a country of words. Speak, speak so we may know the end of this travel." (Mahmud Darwish, 1942-2008.)

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says a recent meeting between Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his British counterpart William Hague in Afghanistan took place at the request of the British side’s request.

With the Obama administration’s resumption of arms sales to the ruling monarchy, Bahrainis demanding political liberties and social equality have become critical of the United States.

Microsoft's three finalists in its hacking contest successfully detected and defeated a common exploit; a winner will take the $250,000 prize.

The deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces has warned Israel against any possible military move against Iran, saying it will cause the end of the Tel Aviv regime.

Allowing Iran to get nuclear weapons could actually stabilize the Middle East, according to prominent international relations scholar Kenneth Waltz. By counterbalancing Israel's nuclear capacity, deterrence would kick in, keeping the hostilities at bay, he argues.

GENEVA U.N. envoy Kofi Annan said Friday that Iran should be involved in efforts to end the escalating violence that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

Vendors of Apple products in Iran on Saturday scoffed at US media reports that the consumer technology giant was banning US sales to customers of Iranian background, pointing out that iPads and iPhones are widely available in Tehran.

The head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, is denying earlier reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has been summoned to Parliament by his commission for having met with William Hague, his British counterpart.

Syria says it has shot down a Turkish air force jet that had flown into Syrian airspace. Syrian officials said the low-flying warplane was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea Friday. Turkish political and military leaders held a two-hour security meeting in Ankara to discuss the incident.

TEHRAN - A member of Iran's High Council of Employment has said that the council developed a package of investment plans, worth 1.96 trillion rials (some $160 billion), aimed to create 1.1 million jobs in the current calendar year.

A director plans to stage a play about the Iranian movie star Hamed Behdad in the Evin Prison in Tehran today. Zoheir Yari's troupe has performed "My Love; Hamed Behdad", which is an environmental theater play, at the cafeteria of Tehran's City Theater Complex over the past two weeks.

Thousands of Iranian exiles have led a Paris rally to demand democratic change in Iran and help for Iranian resistance members in Iraq's refugee camps.

A week after the announcement that Venezuela has built drones in a joint project with Iran, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to his country.

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 23 (UPI) -- Iran's president said he had Venezuela's back as he wrapped up a visit to Latin America with a friendly meeting with President Hugo Chavez.

Parley Pratt in the year 1830 gave up farming and started wandering around upstate New York as a preacher. He soon encountered a newly printed book called "The Book of Mormon." He read it, then . . .

The comments are an apparent response to Israel's vice-prime minister's call for tougher sanctions against Tehran and his indication that military action was still an option

American Anna meets Iranian Nouri in a bookstore in Chicago where they’re both students. Sensitive and artistic, Anna soon falls for Nouri’s reading of Iranian poetry. Meanwhile Nouri . . .

A fascinating blend of thrilling action, intriguing mystery, and curious ethical dilemmas, Douglas E. Richards’ Wired pits a retired Special Forces operative against a brilliant beautiful . . .

Today, 23 June, Chuvashia Republic day anniversary opens 20-th all-Russian folk festival “Springs of Russia”.

The anthology collects works that compose a rich portrait of the comparative-religion academic. The Huston Smith Reader

I found these books on a suggested summer reading list at The Daily Beast: Capital: A Novel - John Lanchester - Trollopian, Dickensian, Balzacian—all should spring to mind when you pick . . .

Turkey will take retaliatory steps against Syria for the downing of one of its military jets, President Abdullah Gul said Saturday, even as he suggested that the aircraft may have violated Syrian airspace.

Gunmen riding on motorcycles have shot and killed eight people at a business in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta. Pakistani police say another person was wounded in the attack on a laundry facility Saturday in a busy area of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province bordering Afghanistan and...

LONDON (AP) The biggest fight in taekwondo may be finished before the Olympics even begin.

Stuxnet infected some 130,000 computers worldwide, most of them related to Iran's nuclear fuel enrichment program. It's programmed to shut down just after midnight Sunday, but there likely are other cyber espionage systems out there.

LONDON (AP) The birthplace of judo is struggling to stay on top of the sport.

Does work ever make you want to smack your head against the wall? That's nothing. People have been flagellating themselves for ages, as a ritual of religious celebration and mourning. Even young children are often cut in some countries during the rituals, to re-enact historical and biblical events.

TEHRAN, June 23 (MNA) – Ali Bahraini has been appointed as Iran’s new ambassador to Ethiopia, the Foreign Ministry’s press office reported on Saturday.

Tehran, June 23 (Xinhua-ANI): A deputy chief of staff of Iranian Armed Forces warned Israel against any military aggression on the Islamic republic, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

The often overlooked sport of wrestling did its best to grab the spotlight when the United States and Russia staged a highly publicized exhibition in New York’s Times Square in June.