News Archive - 3 December 2012

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>Tehran's governor Morteza Tamadon said hospitals and banks would remain open, however, but told residents to avoid unnecessary travel, IRNA news agency reported.Levels of pollution caused mainly by vehicle fumes have risen in the past few days in Tehran and some other big cities. The problem is worst in...

>* Decision comes despite entreaty from Brussels* Swiss trading houses face mounting scrutinyBy Emma FargeGENEVA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Swiss cabinet on Monday rejected a motion that would force mining companies and private commodity trading houses to declare payments made to resource-rich countries.The decision puts the traditionally neutral...

>* U.S. sanctions target gas-for-gold trade* Erdogan says talked to relevant parties (Adds details, background)By Evrim ErginISTANBUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Turkey will continue to buy natural gas from Iran despite the prospect of tighter U.S. sanctions, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said, indicating the measures are not...

Kelantan will line up five new faces, including two import players, to beef up the team's challenge in the M-League and AFC Cup competition next year.

The opening scene-setter for the 1996 film "Independence Day" might serve as a metaphor for what Egyptians could face if a draft constitution written by a panel dominated by Islamists and based on Sharia law wins approval in a referendum: "A loud rumble is heard. Suddenly, we are covered in...

WASHINGTON (TrustLaw) - It is almost a cliche that getting more women into power is a good way to tackle corruption. Women, the argument goes, are less likely to take bribes or put personal gain before public good. But is it true? While many bristle at the suggestion that women...

By Margaret Harding, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The owner of a McKees Rocks rug business set on fire in October said he would match the $5,000 reward investigators offered Monday for information ...

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 4, the 339th day of 2012. There are 27 days left in the year. On Dec. 4, 1619, a group of settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Va., where they held a service thanking God for their safe...

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 4, the 339th day of 2012. There are 27 days left in the year. On Dec. 4, 1619, a group of settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Va., where they held a service thanking God for their safe...

Depending on which side you believed in federal court Monday, Markos Baghdasarian is either a trader or a traitor.

The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution Monday calling on Israel to quickly open its nuclear program for inspection and backing a high-level conference to ban nuclear weapons from the Middle East which was just canceled.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair participates in the forum, Global Crises: The Way Forward, at Yale University's Battell Chapel in New Haven on 12/3/2012.

Editor's note: The following is Professor Ghassan E. El-Eid response to an Oped piece by fellow Central Connecticut State University Professor Jay Bergman entitled Dinner With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran , which was published on countytimes.com and in The Litchfield County Times.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.N.'s top telecommunications overseer sought Monday to quell worries about greater Internet controls emerging from global talks in Dubai, but any attempts for major Web regulations likely will face stiff opposition from groups led by a high-powered U.S. delegation. The 11-day...

Here are my 2012 predictions, what happened and my score. Prediction : U.S. GDP will improve from 1.7% in 2011 to 2%. Actual: The most recent Dept. of Commerce report has 2012 GDP

Also: Prince William to be a father; Lindsay Lohan s bank accounts seized by IRS; Taylor Swift has new boyfriend; Brad Pitt slept with Mike Tyson s ex-wife says Tyson.

North Korea has installed the first stage of its long-range rocket on the launch pad, defying growing international warnings against what is suspected as a missile test, reports said yesterday. The .....

>The decline broke a three-day streak of gains for the S&P 500, keeping it shy of its 50-day moving average of about 1,420, a level that the index has been below since Oct. 22, and now serving as a key resistance point for investors.On Monday, the Hang Seng Index...

Hailing two decades of efforts to help the former Soviet Union secure nuclear weapons stockpiles, President Barack Obama said Monday that the world must continue to stand guard against nuclear threats - including terrorists...

A young girl with questions about her ultra-orthodox Jewish religion was sent to a respected counselor to help her back on a path of faith. Prosecutors say the girl was instead molested by the man for years behind a locked...

Read full story for latest details.

(Money Magazine) -- When you find yourself on a precipice, the standard advice for keeping calm is to not look down. Next year, don't look up. At the 30,000-foot level, the world's economy appears as stormy as it's been since the financial crisis blew over. Europe remains mired in debt.

The White House and its allies are weighing military options to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons, after U.S. intelligence reports show the Syrian regime may be readying those weapons and may be desperate enough to use them, U.S. officials said Monday.

* Kathryn Bigelow named best director for "Zero Dark Thirty" * Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field win acting nods for"Lincoln" * Rachel Weisz wins best actress for post-war British film (Adds awards, details) NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The New York Film Critics Circleon Monday picked action thriller "Zero Dark...

Telegraph View: William Hague was right to differ from Israel's government on expansion of settlements

The UN's top telecommunications overseer has sought to quell worries about greater Internet controls emerging from global talks in Dubai, but any attempts for major Web regulations will likely face stiff opposition from groups led by a high-powered US delegation.

Despite a reduced amount of carbon dioxide emissions from the United States being reported, global trends show an increase in pollution—up nearly 3 percent last year. Worldwide, this amounts to an est

BEIRUT -- Abu Ghureir al-Traboulsi spent three months in Syria fighting what he calls the "holy war." "The afterlife is the only thing that matters to me, and I can only reach it by waging jihad," he said during a recent interview.

It took more than a decade, two directors and a lawsuit before The Hobbit made it to the big screen. Hollywood executives are crossing their fingers that the culmination of that journey will help smash movie box office records this year.

It almost seems like a criterion for being Middle Eastern is thinking there is a conspiracy behind every event. As an Iranian-American, I cannot claim to have been immune to conspiracy theories. I spent some time in Washington, D.C., this fall, where conspiracies regarding "the lobby that...

2 plead guilty in Ky. to plot to ship aircraft and parts to Iran for civilian use

Results are in from the first test of Martian soil by the rover Curiosity: So far, there is no definitive evidence that the red planet has the chemical ingredients to support life.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) nuclear data has been stolen by anti-Israel hackers, possibly in response to investigations into Iran’s nuclear weapons research programs. The hacker group is calling itself Parastoo, which is the Iranian word for a swallow (as in, the bird). According to The Washington Free Beacon,...

Nations spend more than $500 billion to keep fossil fuel prices low, which is popular with voters but harms the climate. Removing fossil-fuel subsidies would lower carbon emissions by more than 10 percent by 2050, the OECD calculates. 

Congressman-elect Joe Kennedy III, the grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy, has married.

Search our Archives! Israel faced concerted criticism from Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Sen. John Kerry, the next secretary of state?

BAKU (Reuters) - Four foreign-trained Islamists were sentenced to up to 14 years in jail in Azerbaijan on Monday for plotting "terrorist attacks" on the eve of this year's Eurovision song contest in Baku, the latest crackdown on militancy in the oil-rich state.

By By TOM RAUM Associated Press Don't hold your breath waiting for a "fiscal cliff" agreement. Landmark deals between presidents and Congresses sometimes aren't struck until the final hour of the...

>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Russia and Turkey agreed to differ on Monday on strategies to end Syria's civil war, highlighting how distant the prospects of a negotiated solution to the 20-month-old conflict are. Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a one-day visit to Istanbul...

Search our Archives! Israel faced concerted criticism from Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Search our Archives! Israel faced concerted criticism from Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says unilateral sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic by Western countries cannot stop the Iranian nation from moving forward.

Search our Archives! Israel faced concerted criticism from Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood.

When I lived in San Diego and Lawton, Okla., the importance of the military to the economy was in your face and ears, from the aircraft carriers moored in San Diego Bay to the thunder of artillery in the Oklahoma night. For all Seattle’s patina of peacenik, the Puget...

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Billionaire retail tycoon Miroslav Miskovic, one of Serbia's most influential figures, was questioned by police on Monday as part of what the nationalist government says is a drive to root out graft, a key condition for joining the European Union. Related Stories Iran shuts schools, offices in...

Russian President Vladimir Putin met the Turkish PM on a trip focused on resolving differences over Syria.

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has censured political reports by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about Tehran’s nuclear energy program, saying the Islamic Republic has no plans to build a nuclear bomb.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday condemned a call by a far-right Jobbik lawmaker to draw up lists of Jews as "unworthy" of his country, promising he would protect all citizens from any kind of discrimination. Related Stories Iran shuts schools, offices in capital due to...

Oil edges over $89 as China manufacturing improves Associated Press Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 5:21 a.m., Monday, December 3, 2012 Signs of recovery in China's economy, the world's second largest, suggest energy consumption is likely...

Sasol Raises Estimated Cost of Gas-to-Liquids Plant in US

LONDON: Crude prices rose slightly on Monday, supported by positive economic data from the world's biggest energy consumer China and against a background of tensions across the oil-rich Middle East, analysts said.

Stage performances by women are not appreciated in Afghanistan, but a woman in the country has challenged the convention and performs rap in front of men in western clothes without a headscarf.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.N.'s top telecommunications overseer sought Monday to quell worries about greater Internet controls emerging from global talks in Dubai, but any attempts for major Web regulations will likely face stiff opposition from groups led by a high-powered U.S. delegation.

TEHRAN - Schools, universities and government agencies in Tehran will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to pollution, the province’s governor Morteza Tamadon said on state television.

TEHRAN, Iran—Iran s state TV says Tehran s schools, universities and government offices will be closed for two days because of high air pollution in the capital.

>Saudi Arabia maintains a powerful air force supplied primarily by equipment made in the United States and Britain.Last year Washington announced a $29.4 billion deal to sell the new F-15, made by Boeing, to the Saudi air force. Industry sources have said the Saudis will buy 84 of...

>By Mike DolanLONDON Nov 30 (Reuters) - The big "known unknowns", to borrow from former U.S. defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, are now so familiar to most global investors that they have to think long and hard about risks looming in 2013.That's not to say money managers see no...

>DUBAI Dec 3 (Reuters) - Iranian legislators are to visit Tehran's Evin prison and look into the case of an imprisoned lawyer on hunger strike there amid concerns over her deteriorating condition, Iranian media reported on Sunday. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, is serving a six-year jail...