News Archive - 28 June 2012

Massive wildfires raging across Colorado have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands to flee. Summer wildfires are common in the mountains of arid Colorado but rarely burst into residential areas, as the Waldo Canyon Fire did earlier this week, forcing the evacuation of 36,000 people from the...

>TOKYO (Reuters) - Asia's top buyers of Iranian oil cut imports by more than a quarter of a million barrels per day in the first five months of the year as they prepared for U.S. sanctions that take effect on Thursday and EU curbs that bite from Sunday. Most...

Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei has censured the prolonged presence of foreign military forces in Afghanistan, which is bound to escalate insecurity in the war-wracked country. “We believe the long-term international forces’ presence in Afghanistan should not lead to persistent presence of the foreign forces and the...

Secretary of IRI Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili warned the G5+1 group against adopting any unconstructive moves during talks with the Islamic Republic. In a letter addressed to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday, Mr. Jalili said the Islamic Republic of Iran is always ready to...

Two of abducted Iranian engineers in Syria arrived in Iran on Friday morning. The two, named Sajjad Amirian and Kioumars Qobadi were abducted by terrorist bands inside Syria. Two other Iranian engineers of the total seven kidnapped, named Majid Qanbari Bidarouni and Ahmad Sohrabi Kartabad were released several weeks ago...

Bahrain’s senior female human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja has been injured after regime forces shot her in the leg with a tear gas canister. A member of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said he saw police fire the canister at Khawaja at close range after anti-government protesters gathered on...

Official figures show the British economy shrank 0.3 percent over the first quarter of 2012, leaving the British people in a deeper recession than was earlier reported. Official figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show Britain's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 0.3 percent during...

At least 27 people have died and 900,000 others have been forced to leave their homes as monsoon rains swamp wide areas of the northeastern Indian state of Assam, officials said on Thursday. A state government spokesman said 21 of Assam's 27 districts were hit by flash floods which began...

Several more Israeli-related terrorists invloved in the recent assassinations of IRI nuclear scientists have been nabbed, the IRI Intelligence Ministry said in a statement Thursday. The newly-arrested operatives have been behind the assassination of Masoud Alimohammadi, the statement said, adding that all the perpetrators involved were arrested in the intelligence...

Eurozone consumer and business confidence fell in June to the lowest level since October 2009, AFP quoted official data as showing on Thursday. The European Commission's confidence index for the 17-nation Eurozone lost 0.6 points to 89.9 points, a statement said, marking its third fall in a row.

Spokesman of the IRI Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast strongly condemned a recent terrorist attack targeting Syria's Al-Ikhbaria TV which killed a number of the channel's staffers. On Wednesday, terrorist groups attacked the headquarters of Al-Ikhbaria TV in a suburban area of the Syrian capital of Damascus. Syrian Information Minister Omran...

Three-in-four Pakistanis consider the United States an enemy country, a new survey conducted by the Washington-based Pew Global Attitudes Project indicates. The Pew survey, which was published on its website on Wednesday, said that last year 69 percent used to hate the US but in 2012 the figure jumped to...

Saudi King Abdullah has reportedly ordered the security forces to be on a state of high alert due to what Riyadh considers the tense situation in the Middle East. Reports say King Abdullah has issued the order over what he claims to be “foreign or terrorist attacks.” The decree...

Iran has extended an official invitation to Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to take part in the forthcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran. In a meeting in Nouakchott on Wednesday, Iran's Vice President Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini extended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s invitation to his Mauritanian counterpart to attend...

>* Norway strike cuts oil output by 290,000 bpd - union* Coming up: CFTC weekly traders data at 1930 GMTBy Florence TanSINGAPORE, June 29 (Reuters) - Brent oil rose more than a dollar to above $92 per barrel on Friday after European leaders agreed on steps to tackle the region's...

>The order came from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C., who has been overseeing the separate $298 million settlement by Barclays of claims it violated U.S. trade sanctions. Sullivan gave both sides until July 11 to address his question.The 2010 deferred prosecution agreement...

President Barack Obama is a stronger president overseas today than he was yesterday. His victory on health care reform is very good for American national security. We often look at the presidents of other nations and judge them as strong or weak depending on their support domestically. Are they...

As diplomacy with Iran has so far failed to yield a breakthrough, the heat is rising in the debate over Iran in both American politics and the Jewish community. Politically conservative operatives looking to paint Barack Obama as weak on foreign policy insist "we've had enough talk" with Iran...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is expected to extend exceptions on Iran sanctions to China and Singapore, perhaps as early as Thursday, two U.S. government sources said. "There should be an announcement today," on China, Iran's top buyer of crude, and Singapore which buys fuel oil from the...

>LONDON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Iran's attempts to secure millions of tons of wheat via sanction-beating barter deals with India and Pakistan are failing, and Tehran is poised to pay premium prices on international markets to secure food and stave off unrest. Food is not targeted under Western sanctions aimed at deterring...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - An explosion has cut off gas flow in a natural gas pipeline running from Iran to Turkey within the Turkish section of the line, a Turkish Energy Ministry official said on Thursday. The official said Turkey's gendarmerie security forces were investigating the reason for the explosion, which...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has reopened an old oil pipeline built by Iraq to bypass Gulf shipping lanes, giving Riyadh scope to export more of its crude from Red Sea terminals should Iran try to block the Strait of Hormuz, industry sources say. The Iraqi Pipeline in Saudi Arabia...

>SINGAPORE, June 28 (Reuters) - Singapore's fuel oil imports from Iran fell nearly 60 percent from their 2012 peak in June, as the city state applies pressure to oil firms to reduce trade with the Islamic Republic to win an exemption from U.S. sanctions. The U.S. has granted...

>BEIRUT/ISKENDERUN, Turkey (Reuters) - Rebel forces attacked Syria's main court in central Damascus on Thursday, state television said, while Turkey deployed troops and anti-aircraft rocket launchers to the Syrian border, building pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. A loud explosion echoed through the streets and a column of black smoke rose...

At least 10 people are dead after a bus carrying Shi'ite pilgrims in Pakistan was attacked with a bomb.

Federal funds will help with emergency work and rehabilitation efforts By Summit Voice SUMMIT COUNTY — Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Thursday evening that Colorado’s request for an expedited major disaster declaration has been received, reviewed and accepted by the White House. “This evening we learned from the White House that...

Large West Slope fire burning near active gas wells SUMMIT COUNTY — The Pine Ridge Fire, burning about 10 miles northeast of Grand Junction, grew rapidly Thursday, reaching an estimated 10,000 acres in size and threatening the town of De Beque, according to a late-evening update at www.inicweb.org.

“Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has said he will do ‘the opposite’ of Barack Obama when it comes to Israel.” — The Guardian, June 17

The US gave China a six-month reprieve from Iran financial sanctions last night, avoiding a diplomatic spat with a country whose support it needs to try to quell violence in Syria and rein in Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The Russian Federation yesterday informed Pakistan of its interest to invest US$500 million in the CASA-1000 projects for the establishment of power transmssion system from Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikis .....

Refusing to let go can have serious consequences. Stick-to-itiveness is admirable; obstinacy is not. Recognizing the difference is priceless.

Disaster brings out the best in us — our bravery, our resolve, our heart. Tragedy also brings us together.

Brussels (dpa) - Italy insisted on the eurozone creating a new mechanism to help fiscally-righteous countries reduce their borrowing costs, but has no plans "at the moment" to make use of it, Prime Minister Mario Monti said."Italy has worked a lot. It put a lot of pressure at the...

Iran offered to supply oil to South Korea on its own tankers as the European Union moves to stop shippers from getting insurance for cargoes from the Persian Gulf nation, according to a government official in Seoul.

A recent column I wrote detailed the warm relations between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. It's been a wonderful love affair that has been financially and strategically beneficial for both countries. Here's the downside.

At the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster, earlier this month, Brian Sharp, stranding coordinator for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouthport, told a full auditorium that the mass stranding of common dolphins last winter came in two waves.

A heat wave can push the senses of apartment residents, in particular, to the max.

Brussels (dpa) - Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker will not serve another full two-and-a-half-year term if he is confirmed as the head of the Eurogroup panel of eurozone finance ministers, he said Friday."This will be decided (later) Friday," he said after European Union and eurozone summit talks which started...

Qatar Airways’ first flight between Perth and Doha lands on July 3. Stephen Scourfield visits Doha as a 48-hour stopover.

The Syrian president dismisses the idea of outside intervention and vows to "eliminate terrorists" in a rare interview.

Editor: This summer will be a long one for those hoping jobs and the economy will be the only focus of the presidential candidates and thus absorb all their interests, because there is a good chance the candidates will be side-tracked as reports of foreign developments intercede on our front...

Deadly violence raged across Syria with a twin bombing in Damascus two days before a crucial international meeting that looked threatened late in the day by Russian objections.

Russian activist Igor Yurgens talks about the future of the council on human rights and the return to office of President Vladimir Putin. MOSCOW — For four years, Igor Yurgens was one of the closest advisors of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The 59-year-old businessman reportedly was one of the main...

A Toronto businessman hasn’t shown his face in town since last weekend when the roof of the poorly-built shopping centre he owns collapsed killing two women.

DUBAI, June 29 — Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili warned world major powers yesterday against adopting “unconstructive measures” that harm negotiations over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, state television reported. In a letter to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Jalili said “continuing successful talks is ...

Spurt in rebel activity within the capital suggests the armed revolution may be gathering strength, as peace negotiations remain weak

TEHRAN — Iran's vice president used the podium of an international conference on drugs held here Tuesday to deliver a bald anti-Semitic speech, blaming Judaism's holiest book, the Talmud, for teaching how to suck blood from people and causing the spread of illegal drugs around the world. The speech seemed...

>HeadlinesBOSTOCK POISED TO LEAVE M&S -LIBOR FIRESTORM ENGULFS DIAMOND -SPLIT NOT FOR FAMILY OR SCANDAL, SAYS MURDOCH -IRAN DISGUISES TANKERS IN SANCTIONS GAME -ITALY'S DEMANDS HOLD UP GROWTH PACKAGE -JP MORGAN TO ANNOUNCE $5 BILLION 'WHALE' LOSS -UK RECOVERY PROVES SLOW AND LONG -VIVENDI PARTS COMPANY WITH CEO -OverviewBOSTOCK POISED...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy and Spain, battling searing market pressure in the euro zone's widening debt crisis, held up agreement on measures to promote growth at a European Union summit on Thursday to demand urgent action to bring down their borrowing costs. Related Stories U.S. grants Iran sanctions exceptions...

Brussels (dpa) - Non-eurozone leaders left summit talks early Friday in Brussels, leaving the currency zone countries to sort out their differences as Spain and Italy were threatening to veto pro-growth measures unless they got help with borrowing costs.Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said "a eurozone meeting" was planned...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq questions the continued presence of large numbers of Americans on its soil, U.S. lawmakers were warned on Thursday, even as the State Department plans to shrink the size of its mission by almost a third over the next 16 months.

(Staff writer) Military fakers scored a major victory at the U.S. Supreme Court when the justices struck down the Stolen Valor Act, the 2006 law that made it a federal crime to lie about receiving military medals.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will expose on Friday a second scandal involving the country's banks in as many days, as Barclays boss Bob Diamond clings to his job after regulators slapped a record fine on the lender for rigging interest rates. Related Stories U.S. grants Iran sanctions exceptions to...

>UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia proposed changes on Thursday to international mediator Kofi Annan's plan for a national unity government in Syria, despite initially supporting it, but the United States, Britain and France rejected the amendments, Western diplomats said. The suggested changes are related to Moscow's refusal to support the...

A "xenophobic" ad campaign in Egypt caught my eye during this past week of presidential election drama, but was quickly overshadowed by news of the military regime's power grab. Last night, however, I was transfixed as I read a British journalist named Natasha Smith's account of being sexually assaulted...

Iran said it has agreed with Britain to formalise the closure of diplomatic offices in each other’s capitals.

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria may last longer than his opponents believe – and with the tacit acceptance of Western leaders anxious to secure new oil routes to Europe via Syria before the fall of the regime. According to a source closely involved in the possible transition from Ba'ath party...

The second half of 2012 has just begun. But seeing that the first six months have passed off without calamity, we can be sure that the world won't be ending.

What’s that in the sky? It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… a unmanned military drone that’s been hijacked by a group of college students? Yes, some smart young folks from the University of Texas at Austin managed to take control of an aerial drone’s course, and disturbingly, it was...

Be it heroin or hashish, Pakistan is amongst the top countries that use and abuse them. Where the country faces many other social issues, use of illicit drugs is the rise in the country, dismantling the leftover hopes for social and economic development.

The 11-member delegation also meets U.S. officials

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. I just spoke to the General Assembly about the outcome of Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

Are armed drones the answer to Turkey's continuing fight against the militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)? That certainly seems to be the signal coming out of Ankara, which has been pushing Washington to provide it with American-made Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, which can be armed with air-to-ground missiles.

Hava Hershkovitz, right, a Holocaust survivor and winner of a beauty pageant is congratulated by another participant, in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Fourteen women who lived through the horrors of World War II paraded on stage Thursday night in an unusual pageant, vying for...

The election of a Muslim Brotherhood leader to the presidency of Egypt arrived in Israel like delayed thunder after a burst of lightning: It was not a surprise, but it still provoked nervous attention.

A Salafist Sunni cleric yesterday led a sit-in in the south Lebanon port city of Sidon to demand the disarmament of Hezbollah. Supporters of Sheikh Ahmed Assir had on Wednesday night blocked the highway at Sidon’s northern entrance and prevented cars from passing.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke ended a three-day visit to Brazil, saying the country is making progress in its preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

The Muslim Brotherhood has stopped talking about its longtime dream of an Islamic Egypt and expelling Israel's ambassador to Cairo. Instead, President-elect Mohammed Morsi is hurriedly building a diverse alliance with...

Before the sun climbed above the hills around this central Mexican town, Saul Garcia and his family awoke to the sound of bullets piercing the front gate. A masked motorcyclist had opened fire on their brick home, leaving...

UNITED NATIONS—International officials are condemning statements made by Iran's vice president at a U.N.-sponsored drug conference in Tehran

Authorities in Chicago on Thursday showed off eight tons of marijuana they found in a tractor-trailer, saying the drug seizure will help with efforts to combat gang violence in the nation's third-largest city.

NEW YORK: Oil prices tumbled on Thursday as European Union leaders held a two-day summit on the eurozone sovereign debt crisis that few in the markets expect will deliver significant measures to contain it.

Twin bombs exploded outside the Palace of Justice in Damascus as deadly violence raged across the country.

>DUBAI, June 28 (Reuters) - Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi warned South Korea on Thursday that Tehran would reconsider ties with Seoul if the country stopped importing oil from Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.South Korea said on Monday it would halt imports of Iranian crude from July...

The world's leading states -- the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Russia, and China -- stand at an impasse in dealing with Iran and its nuclear potential. Iran has been a major contributor to the survival of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and Al-Assad's unrestrained bloodshed in Syria.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin successfully took control of a government-owned drone using just $1,000 in equipment.

An Ohio teen accused of fatally stabbing his stepfather on Father's Day has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. More >>

A medical examiner says an 11-year-old New York girl was electrocuted while trying to retrieve a ball from a pond at a time-share resort's miniature golf course near Orlando.

By The Associated Press A look at the Middle East's most notable "first wives."

Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson has confirmed that he and his family were the targets of an extortion scheme.

An Ohio teen accused of fatally stabbing his stepfather on Father's Day has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. More >>

Gas prices in South Carolina are already at $2.98 a gallon, while the national average on Wednesday was $3.38. A decade-high number of travelers could hit the road for the Fourth of July holiday.

This is why pencils have erasers.

(TEHRAN ) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, warned the EU in a letter on Thursday that new sanctions will have "repercussions" on talks over his country's atomic activities.

#1: ChemRecovery _ money in waste Onehunga business ChemRecovery Industries is a 9-year-old company that extracts heavy metals from those waste materials.Its greatest success to date has been in the recovery of copper, the metal...

LONDON -- European Union sanctions on Iran’s oil industry go into full effect on Sunday, adding to the pressure on Iranian leaders to negotiate a settlement of the international concerns about their nuclear program. The world runs on oil, much of it transported on ships from countries in the Middle...

A senior Iranian official has denounced Washington’s support for the United Arab Emirates in its dispute with Iran over the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, describing it as flagrant interference in Iran's domestic affairs.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili warned world major powers on Thursday against adopting "unconstructive measures" that harm negotiations over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme, state television reported. Related Stories At least 10 killed in Pakistan attack: police Exclusive: U.S. expected to grant Iran sanction exceptions to...

Turkey won’t go to war with Syria, if only because that would tip the domestic balance of power back toward the military.

The Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed reports by the Zionist-affiliated media that the Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi was detained in Cyprus during a recent visit.

Over the next few days, Western governments will launch their toughest sanctions yet against Iran. The steps are designed to eviscerate the oil-based economy, and to test Tehran’s determination to keep enriching uranium in defiance of U.N. resolutions.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry says all the Israeli-linked elements behind the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists have been apprehended.

FIDE Master (FM) Austin Jacob Literatus of Davao City dropped to share the fifth to 10th place after losing his third and drawing the fourth round matches of the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2012 at Hotel Chaya, Hikkaduwa in Sri Lanka as of Thursday.

If there was any doubt before, there is none now: No one, no country, is coming to the aid of Syrian rebels fighting to rescue themselves from the harsh dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad.

At least 15 people are killed in two separate attacks in Pakistan.