News Archive - 5 December 2012

>* 2012 full-year profit expected up mid-single-digit* Loan quality good; watchful in India, Middle EastHONG KONG, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered expects to pay $330 million to settle a case with U.S. regulators who accused the Asia-focused bank of failing to comply with sanctions against Iran, further denting...

>HONG KONG (Reuters) - Standard Chartered expects to pay $330 million to settle a case with U.S. regulators who accused the Asia-focused bank of failing to comply with sanctions against Iran, further denting profit growth this year. The settlement will be on top of the $340 million it paid...

>NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) might pay a fine of $1.8 billion as part of a settlement with U.S. law-enforcement agencies over money-laundering lapses, according to several people familiar with the matter. The settlement with Europe's biggest bank - which could be announced as...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors unveiled criminal charges on Wednesday against four defendants accused of illegally exporting goods to Iran and China, including carbon fiber, which can be used to enrich uranium. The charges were announced by the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and other investigators,...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Zero Dark Thirty," filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow's action thriller about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, was named best film of 2012 on Wednesday by the National Board of Review - the second accolade for the movie in one week. Bigelow was named best director and Jessica...

>PARIS (Reuters) - French lawmakers invited the head of a previously shunned Iranian dissident group to parliament on Wednesday, aiming to help it gain credibility as a viable opposition to Tehran's government. Speaking to members of a parliamentary committee on Iran, Maryam Rajavi, leader of the Paris-based National Council of...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to power, politics trumps business, according to a new Forbes ranking on Wednesday that found heads of state occupying six of the top 10 spots among the world's most powerful people, led by President Barack Obama. The annual list selected what Forbes said...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has material evidence to prove that it has captured an American unmanned aircraft, a prominent lawmaker in Tehran said Wednesday, rejecting US Navy statements that none of its drones in the region was missing. Tehran on Tuesday claimed to have captured a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone after...

>* Cancer, MS, blood disorder treatments seriously affected* Stockpiling compounds the lack of vital drugsBy Marcus George and Zahra HosseinianDUBAI/ZURICH, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Doctors in Iran are trying to fend off a creeping health care crisis caused by medicine shortages, due in part to Western economic sanctions but exacerbated...

>The operation was launched at the western end of Turkey's frontier with Syria, far from the main arena of conflict between Turkish government forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants further east along the borders with Iraq and Iran.Ankara has linked a surge in militant violence since the summer...

>Iran announced on Tuesday that it had captured a ScanEagle drone belonging to the United States, but Washington said there was no evidence to support the assertion.The incident has underscored tensions in the Gulf as Iran and the United States draw attention to their military capabilities in the vital...

1. The Dark Knight Rises: 2012 was the year of the blockbuster, and no box office smash soared higher than the latest and greatest entry in the Batman series. Equipped with excellent star turns from Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway, this instant classic has redefined the superhero movie genre.

By: To the Editor: I was distressed and dismayed to learn that the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies, an official ...

HOUSTON (AP) — Jack Brooks hounded government bureaucrats, drafted President Richard Nixon's articles of impeachment and supported civil rights bills in a congressional career spanning 42 years. But for most of the country the Southeast Texas politician is frozen in a photograph, standing over the left shoulder of Jacqueline Kennedy...

>* Iran and Israel worries renew supply concerns* Coming up: U.S. weekly jobless claims; 1330 GMTBy Ramya VenugopalSINGAPORE, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Brent crude held below $109 per barrel on Thursday, as niggling worries about the global economy and oil demand following subdued data from the United States and...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Occupy Wall Street protester who has waged a legal battle to keep his tweets from falling into prosecutors' hands will plead guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct on Friday, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Related Stories Four charged in U.S. over shipments to...

More than 400 asylum seekers have been flown out of Darwin to Melbourne and Sydney to begin life under a new visa system.

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Anti-virus software guru John McAfee was arrested by Guatemalan police on Wednesday, for illegally entering the country, interior minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla said. Related Stories Four charged in U.S. over shipments to Iran, China Foreign hackers targeted former U.S. military chief Mullen - report...

Afshin Marashi, OU professor of Middle-Eastern and Iranian history, culture and politics will travel to India to complete research for next two books.

Asia will remain the Obama administration's No. 1 foreign policy and national security priority, even as the United States faces a "fiscal cliff", a nuclear-happy Iran and a remorseless Al-Qaeda, acco .....

Syrian forces have mixed chemical weapons and loaded them into bombs in preparation for possible use on President Bashar Assad's own people, Fox News confirms.

After years of testy debate, Mongolia broke ground this spring for a railroad that will haul coal across the pebbled Gobi desert to China, but with one costly condition.

U.S. Drone Under Iranian Fire Provokes National Outrage, Drone Attack in Yemen Ignored Two drone attacks were reported immediately after the U.S. elections: one drone attack against humans, and an attempted attack against a drone, in which neither the drone nor, for the record, any human being,...

DUBAI, Dec 3 (Reuters) Schools, universities and government offices will be closed in Iran's capital Tehran tomorrow and Wednesday because of high air pollution, the state news agency reported today.

IT'S the moment every asylum seeker dreams of - being awarded a bridging visa

The families of Lebanese men killed in Syria last week say their relatives were more interested in nice clothes and vacations than fighting a civil war. Yet Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime branded them foreign jihadists -- and their deaths set off three days of new spillover violence.

Hoshiarpur, Dec 3 (UNI) Asian Kabaddi champions Pakistan, Iran and Italy logged full points from their respective opening pool matches on the third day of the 3rd Pearls World Cup Kabaddi-2012 being organised at the Multipurpose Outdoor Stadium here today.

BAKU, Dec 3 (Reuters) Four foreign-trained Islamists were sentenced to up to 14 years in jail in Azerbaijan today 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.

Iran’s exiled opposition Wednesday launched a campaign to have France and the European Union grant it the same recognition they have accorded to the Syrian coalition.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, the Honorable George J. Mitchell spoke to members of the Pacific Council on International Policy about tensions between Israel and Hamas, challenges posed by Iran's nuclear program, and the current crisis in Egypt. Although it has as yet been impossible to reach...

(UPDATE) An earthquake measuring 5.5 in magnitude struck eastern Iran on Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring 12 others as emergency teams scrambled to rescue others and treat the injured, Iranian media reported.

An amendment that would have penalized Palestinians for seeking non-member state status at the United Nations was not included in a defense bill that was passed by the U.S. Senate.

>* Decision on new waivers expected by Dec. 8* Turkey said has not been asked for new cuts* State Dept does not demand specific percentage cutsBy Timothy GardnerWASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The United States expects countries that buy oil from Iran to further reduce their purchases if they want...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hopes to spruce up his image through soccer boosted by last month's defeat of South Korea in a 2014 World Cup qualifier are threatened by grueling international sanctions that have sparked an exodus of foreign players from the Islamic republic. Iranian clubs strapped for cash...

LONDON -- In December 1991, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, United States Secretary of State James Baker gave a speech at Princeton University on the relationship between the U.S. and the "Newly Independent States" of the former USSR. In his remarks, Baker took aim at...

SAN FRANCISCO — A new technique using GPS and large radio telescopes can detect clandestine underground nuclear tests using waves that travel from the blast into the upper atmosphere, or ionosphere, new research suggests.

First published in Portuguese in Folha de Sao Paulo. The inauguration of Mexico's new president Enrique Pena Nieto inspired a flurry of media chatter that Mexico's moment has arrived.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. and MEXICO CITY, Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Alex Garcia and Lucas Akoskin, two of Latin America's most prolific young producers, announced today the formation of BN Films, a well-funded international production company based in Santa Monica, CA and Mexico City....

With Russia set to take over as next chair, India expects Moscow to make a more vigorous push to upgrade its status

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A moderate earthquake shook eastern Iran Wednesday, killing five people and injuring several others, Iranian TV reported.

>* Plans investment in infrastructure, energy* China, Russia plan satellite launch to curb security threatsBy Olga DzyubenkoBISHKEK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - China has invited Central Asian states to invest in road, rail and energy projects, using a $10 billion loan package that will extend Beijing's reach in the resource-rich former...

TEHRAN - Residents of Tehran were on Wednesday urged to leave the city, if possible, to escape a stagnant stew of choking air pollution that officials warned had reached "dangerous" levels.

A declassified CIA report on Iraq says numerous intelligence lessons have been learned from the search for WMD. But the political dynamic around Iran's nuclear program is a different matter.

US secretary of state tells alliance meeting in Brussels it is "crucial" for donor nations to fulfill pledges of $4.1bn.

If the U.N.’s elevation of Palestine to nonmember observer status had come at the end of the Clinton administration when Israel and the Palestinians were achingly close to a peace settlement, it might have truly meant something.

X is ready to rock for a great cause.

Residents of Tehran were on Wednesday urged to leave the city, if possible, to escape a stagnant stew of choking air pollution that officials warned had reached "dangerous" levels.

>* April-October imports from Iran averaged 109,000 bpdBy Nidhi VermaNEW DELHI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - India's Essar Oil has more than halved oil imports from Iran in November and aims to reduce purchases further, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, strengthening New Delhi's hopes of a continued...

>* Atomic weapons would turn into "longer-term vulnerability"* Says Iranian politicians don't want North Korea-style isolation* West accuses Iran of seeking nuclear bomb capabilityVIENNA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A nuclear-armed Iran would cause a regional arms race and make Tehran more isolated and vulnerable, according to a former Iranian negotiator...

Susan Rice and the Modern Secretary of State

Iran's Revolutionary Guards has told the United States to "recount" the drones in its fleet as it insists that - despite US denials - it captured a small US unmanned spy plane over Gulf waters.

Editor: Jim Loney + 1 202 789 8015 Global Picture Desk: + 65 6870 3775 Global Graphics Desk: + 65 6870 3595 (All times GMT) TOP STORIES Both sides dig in on 'fiscal cliff,' 'nothing going on' WASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats dig in on "fiscalcliff" talks, with both sides...

A prominent jailed Iranian human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has ended a hunger strike in Tehran's notorious Evin prison after 49 days, according to a lawmaker on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- A total of 1.5 million volunteers nationwide were registered under the "iVolunteer" programme as of December this year, said Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Senator Gan Ping Sieu.

>ANKARA Dec 5 (Reuters) - Turkey has not received any new request from the United States to reduce the level of its crude oil purchases from Iran and its existing level of imports is continuing, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters on Wednesday.In June, Washington exempted Turkey, along...

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>LONDON (Reuters) - In the summer of 2008, Iranian security agents arrived at the family home of Saleh Hamid, who was visiting his parents during a break from his university studies. The plain-clothes agents, he says, shackled him and drove him blindfolded to a local intelligence detention center. There, he...