News Archive - 9 July 2012

>An Interior Ministry spokesman said the deaths followed a protest in the village of Awamiya over the arrest on sedition accusations of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. According to Saudi authorities Nimr was shot in the leg after police came under fire on trying to stop his car.Nimr, seen as a...

>The European Union banned Iranian oil imports as well as providing insurance for vessels carrying Iranian oil on July 1, and the United States has new economic sanctions that have curbed Iranian oil imports by most other major nations.Reflagging ships masks their ownership, which could make it easier for...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped 2 percent on Monday, with Brent futures rising back above $100 a barrel as a strike by workers and a planned lockout by companies threatened to completely shut Norway's crude oil production. Prices were off session highs in post-settlement trading on news that...

Syrian Expatriates Organization rejects the recent attempts by the UN & Arab league Envoy, Kofi Annan, to involve Iran in the efforts to end the escalating violence in Syria. SEO urges the international community represented by the UN to stop Iran's interference in Syria, and to help assure the termination...

>DAMASCUS (Reuters) - U.N. peace envoy Kofi Annan said he and President Bashar al-Assad agreed on Monday on an approach to Syria's conflict that he would now take to the opposition, and flew on to Iran for talks with the main regional ally of Damascus. The former U.N.

>* New York penthouse up for sale for $65 million* Wrote songs for Aretha Franklin, Jessica SimpsonBy Lynnley BrowningJuly 9 (Reuters) - Denise Rich, the wealthy socialite and former wife of pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich, has given up her U.S. citizenship - and, with it, much of her...

>DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Kofi Annan said he had constructive talks in Damascus on Monday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who said the U.N. peace envoy's plan to end 16 months of bloodshed was being undermined by U.S. political support for "terrorists". Within hours, Annan was due to head...

>ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's bark seems worse than its bite. Ask the Syrians, who shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet on June 22 and got away with it.Turkish leaders shrilled up their rhetoric. They sent anti-aircraft missiles to the border and repeatedly scrambled F-16 fighters when Syrian helicopters flew...

>Iran remains one of Assad's main allies as his international isolation grows. Syria is in the 16th month of a crackdown by Assad's forces against a militant opposition in which more than 15,000 people have been killed.(Reporting by Marwan Makdesi; Editing by Louise Ireland) World...

>* Norway govt halts strike, prevent full output shutdown* Coming Up: API weekly petroleum data 2030 GMT (Adds details, updates prices)By Florence TanSINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters) - Brent crude fell below $99 a barrel on Tuesday over concerns about demand growth after Chinese crude imports weakened in June, while worries...

The average cost of gas went up last week, which could mark the end of a steady decline in price since early April, according to AAA, The Auto Club Group.

Seven-time Qatari champions Al Gharafa are ready to launch a bid for Osasuna 's Iran international Javad Nekounam according to reports.

Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith hopes to help guide Team USA in London

Absent diplomatic relations with the United States, Iran is using its embassy in Canada to recruit ethnic Iranians to “be of service” to Tehran — causing U.S. terrorism experts to warn of a possible attack from north of the border.

SIR – What marvellous system the administrators of Chase Farm have hit on to save money? Why not go the whole hog and close the entire place down? That way it could even possibly make a profit. Just think of the savings, no nurses, cleaners or maintenance

David Cameron is due to welcome Francois Hollande to Downing Street as the French president makes his first visit to Britain since taking office.

Russia will cease deliveries of arms and fighter planes to Syria until the situation in the country stabilises, an official revealed, a move that would ratchet up pressure significantly on Bashar al-Assad's regime.The announcement...

ATTENTION NEW YORK PHOTO DESK - In this Sunday, July 8, 2012 photo released by Syria's official news agency SANA, Syrian troops participate in a live fire exercise in an undisclosed location in Syria.

Press Statement Victoria Nuland Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC July 9, 2012

Kofi Annan says he has agreed with President Bashar al-Assad on a new 'approach' to end Syria's conflict.

NEW DELHI : Intra-trade among the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is progressing well as the trade share among member countries has touched 18 per cent, Islamic Centre for Development of Trade Director-General, Dr El Hassane Hzaine, said.

He lacks the toned physique of an Olympian but "dear respected" leader Kim Jong-Un will be the inspiration when North Korea's athletes go for gold at the London Olympics.

Kofi Annan said he had constructive talks in Damascus yesterday with Syrian President Bashar al Assad, who said the UN peace envoy's plan to end 16 months of bloodshed was being undermined by US political support for "terrorists".

Kofi Annan UN envoy Iran Syria

Iran was just appointed by the United Nations to sit on the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty conference.

Why refugees make the perilous voyage to Australia

The Bremerton-based aircraft carrier will leave in late August for eight months, sailors are told.

A Palestinian minister said on Monday evening that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected an offer by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release security prisoners in exchange for the renewal of peace talks. Click here for the rest of the article...

The significance to Syria of Manaf Tlas's defection

A family of Iranian-Canadians in Vancouver says TD Bank Group is discriminating against the community by abruptly closing bank accounts for mysterious reasons.

Ismael Azadi's crimes never made local headlines or even warranted a mention from the lips of Winnipeg law-enforcement officials.

WHEN I first began as a journalist, a veteran in the field told me that when ideologues, vocal mobs, Islamists or liberals applaud you, this can be a dangerous sign.

WHEN Kofi Annan was appointed as a special UN envoy to Syria, I had hastened to warn about him. I claimed that Annan was brought in to prolong the tenure of Assad regime. I said that this was the last comic act in the theater of the Arab League and...

Sam Hazewinkel and Jared Frayer seized the opportunity after careers of coming up just short to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Independent high-level commission finds that an epidemic of bad laws and human rights abuses is stifling the global AIDS response

WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) — Syrian rebels are growing more effective as they have increasingly turned to roadside bombs and other guerrilla tactics to topple the regime of Bashar Assad, according to analysts and military statistics.

TEHRAN — As Iran struggles with a plummeting exchange rate and soaring prices, the currency bazaar in Tehran’s old city center has become the focus of a debate about how to solve the country’s financial woes. Read full article >>

It appears that Pakistan may finally be in a position to sell the exportable surplus of wheat, as an upward trend is being witnessed in the commoditys export prices.

“I don’t think the common person is getting it.” "You're either good or you ain't." Ranked!

Gir, July 9: A peacock shrieks. A monkey scrambles higher into the fire-coloured canopy of a kesudo (palash) tree. And an Asiatic lion pads across the dusty earth of Gujarat’s Gir sanctuary, its only refuge from the modern world and where it has been rescued from near-extinction.

The US Should Protect Not Trample Upon the Rights of Residents of Camps Ashraf & Liberty

WASHINGTON (AP) - Facing sagging jobs numbers, President Barack Obama sought to recast the November election as a fight over tax fairness on Monday, urging tax cut extensions for all families earning less than $250,000 but denying them to households making more than that.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Ahmet Davutoglu assured Speaker Nabih Berri Monday that the case of the 11 pilgrims kidnapped in Syria two months ago is still active.

Russia will not deliver new weapons to Syria so long as the situation in that country is unstable, an official at the body in charge of monitoring Russia's arms trade said Monday, state media reported. "Russia, as well as other countries, is concerned...

[Note: This release is a response to http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1207/S00271/coordinator-for-counterterrorism-ambassador-daniel-benjamin.htm - Ed.]

Russia will not deliver new weapons to Syria so long as the situation in that country is unstable, an official at the body in charge of monitoring Russia's arms trade said Monday, state media reported.

International envoy Kofi Annan said he agreed with President Bashar al-Assad yesterday on a new political “approach” to end Syria’s 16-month-old conflict that he would put to the rebels.

>"The price of oil is going to stabilize around $100 per barrel. Everything seems to indicate that," Chavez told a news conference. Venezuela is a member of OPEC.International reserves were dropping, Chavez said, except in a few countries like Venezuela, Iran and Saudi Arabia. "And the needs are going...

The chief of Russia's Armed Forces General Staff, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, will arrive on Tuesday to the United States on a three-day working visit focusing on U.S. missile defense plans

AFP/Ulan Bator US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday urged Asian nations still loathe to embrace democracy to look to the example set by some emerging countries, praising Mongolia as a model.

The ASX 200's second best performing stock for 2011 has published possibly the second most comprehensive profit downgrade so far this millennium. Use of these RSS feeds and headlines is governed by our terms of use . Enquire about licensing these feeds here .

In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda: China pooh-poohs democracy, the BBC gets in the hacking business and Syria flexes its muscles. We begin in China.

Retired US politicians, generals, and officials have been lobbying on behalf of the Iranian group MEK, listed as a terrorist group by the State Department. 

LONDON, July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) crude output dipped by 30,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 31.72 million b/d in June from 31.75 million b/d ...

7/5/2012 - Kinetic Energy Technology Could Save Fleets Fuel Volvo Trucks says it's developed technology that uses kinetic energy to help propel a truck. Volvo's I-See technology operates like an autopilot, taking over gearchanging and using gradients to save fuel.

Critics are putting pressure on blunt-talking Maine Gov. Paul LePage to apologize for referring to the Internal Revenue Service as "the new Gestapo."

The head of the NAACP says the group's fight against conservative-backed voter ID laws that have been passed in several states is akin to the great civil rights battles of the 1960s.

The death of a woman shot in the chest after she hugged an off-duty police officer from behind during a party is a tragic, unfathomable accident, Detroit's police chief said Monday.

UN peace envoy Kofi Annan said he and Syria President Bashar al-Assad agreed on Monday on an approach to the country's conflict that he would now take to the opposition.

The Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel has conceded almost two weeks after a closely-contested primary race in New York City.

The state of Texas and the Justice Department gave opening statements Monday in a trial over Texas' new voter ID law, setting the stage for a legal battle over the federal Voting Rights Act.

Authorities made a rare disclosure Monday linked to the botched gun-smuggling investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious, revealing the identities of four men accused of involvement in …

In a July 7 story about fatal summer storms in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, The Associated Press misidentified the gender of a person who died in a swimming hole. The victim was a woma…

Inflation figures, showing CPI at a 29-month low and PPI in deflationary territory, suggest China's economic slowdown is deeper than expected, but Nomura's economics team expects policy easing and public investment to help growth rebound into the second half of the year.

>ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The Syrian people should be left to choose their leader in elections due in 2014 and until then countries should avoid aggravating the bloodshed by interfering on the ground, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Monday. Iran has supported President Bashar al-Assad throughout the...

A House panel launched an investigation Monday into whether a U.N. agency sent computers and other technology to Iran and North Korea in possible violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

The family of Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, who was a senior adviser to Al Qaeda, confirmed that he was released from prison over the weekend.

The complete set of PowerPoint slides that Iran used during a meeting with world powers are now public.

Brussels (dpa) - Eurozone finance ministers have agreed that the governor of the Luxembourg Central Bank, Yves Mersch, should be the new member of the European Central Bank (ECB)‘s executive board, diplomats said Monday.The decision was due to be formalized by EU finance ministers on Tuesday, and - in...

ANKARA [MENL] -- Turkey has determined that Iraq's prime minister was working with Iran to destabilize the region. Officials said the Turkish intelligence community has concluded that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki was beholden to the Teheran regime.

MOSCOW [MENL] -- Iran has sued Russia for $4 billion for the cancellation of the S-300PMU1 air defense system in 2010. Copyrights 2008, Middle East Newsline.

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Iran has reported the introduction of an anti-tank guided missile. Copyrights 2008, Middle East Newsline. All rights reserved.

>* Negotiations downgraded amid deep divisions in atom rowBRUSSELS, July 9 (Reuters) - Senior diplomats from the European Union and Iran will meet on July 24 for technical talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme to try to salvage diplomatic efforts to resolve the decade-long standoff, EU officials said on Monday.

On Saturday 23 June 2012, over 100,000 Iranian exiles and supporters of the Iranian resistance from five continents gathered in a historical rally at the convention centre in the northern suburb of Villepinte, Paris, to demand democratic change in Iran and immediate international measures to guarantee basic rights of...

While the mainstream news is filled with stories about Syria and the expected downfall of the Assad regime or the new government in Egypt, the alternative press has been talking about Iran invasion.

Morning Crude Oil Market Report

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, July 9 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron has unveiled a major sales push for the Eurofighter Typhoon armed with new weapons systems, with the Persian Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates and Oman as key targets.

Panelist Biographies: Ms. Ruth Smith read more

Dozens of Jewish and Muslim student leaders are meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia to promote inter-religious dialogue through backdoor channels. Click here for the rest of the article...

Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed concern Monday about the flow of sophisticated hardware from Syria to Hizballa which, together with Iran, is making every effort to keep Bashar Assad in power.

> Utilities...

Where can you eat and sleep on an airplane without paying for a ticket? At airports, retired hangars, rural farmlands, and on bustling city streets, dining and sleeping are elevated to new heights with airplane restaurants and hotels across the world.

WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- A decision by Italian energy company Edison International to leave the Iranian energy sector gives it an exemption from U.S. sanctions, a spokeswoman said.

In “The Obamians,” James Mann argues that the president’s view of America’s role on the world stage is “more modest and downbeat” than the views held by his predecessors.

(MENAFN) Iranian Oil Minister, Rostam Qasemi, stated that USD20 billion were invested in the country's Yadavaran and Azadegan oil fields, reported Tehran Times. Qasemi said that the investments ...

TEHRAN, July 9 (MNA) – Ammar al-Hakim, the leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, held a meeting with the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, in Tehran on Monday.

WASHINGTON - Laws that criminalize gay behavior are among a host of legal tangles that waste resources and hinder an effective response to HIV/AIDS worldwide, an independent commission reported on Monday.

In any other country, we'd wager that the late Dr. Abdus Salam would be a national hero: he's a Noble laureate in physics and laid the groundwork for the biggest physics discovery in the past 30 years--the Higgs boson. That isn't the case in Pakistan, where he's been wiped from...

BERLIN—State prosecutors in Frankfurt confirmed Monday they are investigating a 10-year-old girl's allegations she was inappropriately touched by an Iranian diplomat—a case that Tehran claims is part of a smear campaign by an Iranian opposition group.

Imagine if you had been assigned the unpleasant duty of having to execute someone you believed was innocent. Then imagine that, just before you and your regiment of soldiers are about to shoot this condemned person, you confess your feelings to the prisoner that you don't want to carry...

European leaders lean toward Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, but the differences between both contenders may turn out to be much less significant than they think.

DAMASCUS, Syria — International envoy Kofi Annan tried to breathe new life Monday into his moribund peace efforts in Syria, saying he has reached a new framework with President Bashar Assad and would discuss it soon with rebel leaders. Opposition activists raised the death toll in the conflict to more...

The international envoy to Syria Kofi Annan said he had held a "frank" and "constructive" meeting Monday in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, two days after admitting the failure of his mission.

He also rejected any comparisons with Libya, where rebels helped by NATO air strikes toppled the regime, killing Muammar Gaddafi while he fled the opposition