News Archive - 18 December 2012

>* Global shares, euro rally on hopes for U.S. budget deal* Brent approaching resistance at $109.02/bbl -technicals* Coming Up: EIA weekly oil inventories; 1530 GMT (Adds quotes, U.S. oil products, Iran, updates prices)By Manash Goswami and Florence TanSINGAPORE Dec 19 (Reuters) - Brent futures edged up near...

>* Washington Post says Hagel "not the right choice"* Confirmation fight looms if he is nominatedBy Matt SpetalnickWASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Pro-Israel groups, neoconservatives and even some former colleagues on Capitol Hill are confronting President Barack Obama with a growing backlash against Chuck Hagel, the ex-Republican senator tipped as...

>* Pentagon would have base budget of $527.5 billion* $88.5 billion planned for Afghanistan war, other overseas operationsBy David AlexanderWASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers merged the competing House and Senate versions of the annual defense policy bill on Tuesday, approving a measure that authorizes $633.

>BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia sent warships to the Mediterranean to prepare a potential evacuation of its citizens from Syria, a Russian news agency said on Tuesday, a sign President Bashar al-Assad's key ally is worried about rebel advances now threatening even the capital. Moscow acted a day after insurgents waging...

>Western powers want Iran to halt enrichment of uranium to a fissile concentration of 20 percent as it represents a significant step closer to the level that would be required to make nuclear bombs. Iran says it needs uranium refined to 20 percent for its medical research reactor in Tehran.

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye, a decorated World War Two veteran who lost an arm in battle and represented Hawaii in Congress since its statehood more than a half century ago, died on Monday at age 88. Inouye, who was chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and...

TEHRAN, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Eight people were killed after a coal mine collapsed in the city of Tabas, in the central Iranian Yazd Province, on Tuesday, Iran's Forensic Medicine Organisation told the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency (MNA).

President John Dramani Mahama has urged Ghana's foreign envoys to promote the country's interest and attract investments to the country. He also charged them to practise an open-door policy for all Ghanaians abroad by listening to and addressing their concerns.

Economies in the Middle East and North Africa are coping with the aftermath ofthe Arab Spring uprisings and an unstable global environment. Many have boostedfiscal spending to sustain growth and head off popular discontent, putting thegovernment finances of some under pressure, although the budgets of most Gulfoil exporters are still...

WASHINGTON - Neo-conservatives and leaders of the powerful Israel lobby are mobilizing their forces in what looks like an all-out campaign to pre-empt the nomination by President Barack Obama of an outspoken former Republican senator and decorated Vietnam War hero to replace Leon Panetta as secretary of defense.

Hastily-shot footage shows Palestinian refugees streaming out of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus. Opposition activists say inside it is a…

[AI London]2012 has been a good and a bad year for human rights. Below are some of the highlights of the past 12 months. The list is not meant to be exhaustive but gives an overview of human rights trends and events around the world.

The mass shooting in a Connecticut school has refocused much of the country on the issue of gun control, with some in Congress calling for measures to toughen the nation's laws.

Chuck Saylors, who served two years as chairman of the Greenville County School Board before becoming the first male president of the national PTA in 2009, is back in the center seat again with the school board electing him to a one-year term as chairman Tuesday.

The vacancy rate for the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson area increased from 6.6 percent in May to the current 6.8 percent due to a decline in demand. Meanwhile, construction is under way on 1,400 new units in seven communities — the highest number recorded since 2008.

TEHRAN, Dec.19 (MNA) -- The Iranian researchers have synthesized polymeric color coatings for waterproofing fabric, paper and construction materials.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday he is donating nearly $500 million in stock to a Silicon Valley charity with the aim of funding health and education issues. Zuckerberg donated 18 million Facebook shares, valued at $498.8 million based on their Tuesday closing price. The beneficiary is the Silicon...

Mike Davis remembers, at 11 years old, watching his brother, James, running for Clemson. The younger Davis was so inspired that he switched positions. 'Watching him helped me a lot,' said Davis, a freshman running back at the University of South Carolina.

Greenville families can't seem to get enough of Greenville Technical College's Ice on Main this holiday season. See photos from a group outing in the rink of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School students and family members.

Liberty 49, Landrum 25 Record: Liberty 13-2.

>By Clyde RussellLAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 19 (Reuters) - China's economic slowdown was the dominant story for the region's commodity demand this year and its re-acceleration is sure to set the tone for 2013.However, it's a good policy for any analyst to look back at what they wrote over the...

Prime Minister David Cameron agreed plans to pull out almost half of British personnel during a phone call with President Barack Obama last night.

WASHINGTON -- With Chuck Hagel, a former senator from Nebraska, emerging as a front-runner to be President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense, critics are taking aim at his record on Israel as well as remarks he made about groups that lobby on Israel's behalf.

EDITORS NOTES The president promised "meaningful action," but did not mention guns once in his response to the unthinkable killing spree in Newtown, Connecticut.

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini says the illegal US-engineered sanctions imposed on Iran have proven ineffective.

ANTAKYA, Turkey, Dec 19 — An NBC news team was freed in Syria during a firefight at an Islamic rebel checkpoint five days after being ambushed and kidnapped by 15 heavily armed gunmen, correspondent Richard Engel said yesterday. Engel, 39, who along with production crew members Ghazi Balkiz and John...

David Cameron has hinted that Britain's withdrawal from Afghanistan could be speeded up amid speculation that the force size could be nearly halved next year. Related Stories Anne visits Camp Bastion soldiers Donors replace missing family cash Iraq doctor guilty of misconduct Savile Newsnight report due out Ukip suspends Down's...

WASHINGTON, Dec 18, 2012 (AFP) - The World Bank announced Tuesday a $900 million support plan for Iraq aimed at helping the war-ravaged country better manage its human and vast oil resources.

The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran’s domestically manufactured unmanned aerial vehicles are more sophisticated than the United States’ ScanEagle drones.

How much would you pay for a barrel of Irish rainwater?

Subjected to mock executions, kidnapped Richard Engel saw his chance to flee as a gunfight broke out.

Following on the heels of Byron Wien, Morgan Stanley's Surprises , and Saxo's Outrageous Predictions , Deutsche Bank's FX strategy team has created a who's who of 13 outliers for 2013. Quite frankly, given the extreme nature of monetary (and now fiscal) policy, asset allocation decisions, and bankers' and politicians'...

Since Shelley Berkley didn’t win her race for Senate, she won’t get to formally weigh in on any of President Barack Obama’s nominees to fill Cabinet positions. But she’s making her opinion known about Obama’s rumored defense secretary pick nonetheless, and it’s scathing.

For employees at the biggest Wall Street banks, 2012 brought a humbling post-crisis reality of job cuts, lower pay and tarnished reputations. For investors, it was a happier story.

Today’s bizarre and unfair ruling gives McCaw license to retaliate against her workers and spells bad news for media workers everywhere.

NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said on Tuesday he and members of his network crew escaped unharmed after five days of captivity in Syria, where more than a dozen pro-regime gunmen dragged them from their car, killed one of their rebel escorts and subjected them to mock executions.

After Pearl Harbor, served in the U.S. Army, later broke racial barriers serving in congress for 50 years

The former Nebraska senator is anything but a favorite among many of his former GOP colleagues.

David Cameron has hinted that Britain's withdrawal from Afghanistan could be speeded up amid suggestions the force size could be nearly halved by next year....

A federal jury awarded $4.5 million to Filipino teachers who paid large fees to obtain U.S. jobs through a placement agency.

The nation's largest teachers' pension fund announced Tuesday that it was reviewing its firearms holdings after determining that its investment in a gun maker was linked to one of the weapons used in last week's Connecticut school massacre.

I would like to refer to an example of Beltway conformity to make a larger point about US foreign policy. Recently, in an academic setting, I heard a Washington think tank analyst talking about US foreign policy. Courtesy prevents me from mentioning his name or institution but his talk...

IFPTE Letters Opposing S. 3661, the Space Exploration Sustainability Act

The president's emerging second-term national-security team will likely include a longstanding cabal in place before Obama reached Washington.

The nation's largest teachers' pension fund announced Tuesday that it was reviewing all its firearms holdings after one investment with ties to last week's Connecticut school massacre slipped through the pension's own ethics review. The California State Teachers' Retirement System, which manages $155 billion in assets, was looking at whether...

NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said Tuesday he and members of his network crew escaped unharmed after five days of captivity in Syria, where more than a dozen pro-regime gunmen dragged them from their car, killed one of their rebel escorts and subjected them to mock executions.

Study puts ‘unaffiliated’ third behind Christians, Muslims by Laurie Goodstein The New York Times Published Dec 18, 2012 01:20PM MDT A global study of religious adherence released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center found that about one of every six people worldwide has no religious affiliation. This makes the “unaffiliated,”...

US journalist, Richard Engel, freed after being held hostage in Syria, said his captors were pro-regime.

___Cerberus to sell gun company that makes BushmasterThe company that makes one of the weapons used to kill elementary school children in Connecticut is being sold by its owner, which called Friday's tragedy ...

Dec 18 () - BEIRUT - Russia sent warships to theMediterranean toprepare a potential evacuation of its citizens from Syria, aRussian news agency said on Tuesday, a sign President Basharal-Assad's key ally is worried about rebel advances nowthreatening even the capital. - - - - WASHINGTON - Republicans tried to...

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said that the Government was alive to the problems being faced by the business community and industry, including energy crisis and was pursuing various corrective measures to meet the challenges.

Pentagon front-runner has strong Obama ties Associated Press Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 3:28 pm, Monday, December 17, 2012 WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel is a contrarian Republican moderate and decorated Vietnam combat veteran who...

Stylists who cut Adam Lanza's hair for years at a Newtown salon say they recall a teenager who made no eye contact, never spoke and was always with his mother.

A substitute teacher from California has been declared the sole heir to a fortune in gold coins found in the Nevada home of a cousin who died this summer.

When the Justice Department announced its record US$1.9 billion (NZ$2.3b) settlement against British bank HSBC last week, prosecutors called it a powerful blow to a dysfunctional institution accused of laundering money for Iran, Libya and Mexico's murderous drug cartels.

WASHINGTON - House and Senate negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on a $633 billion defense bill that would tighten sanctions on Iran, increase security at diplomatic missions worldwide after the deadly Sept. 11 raid in Libya and presses the military on possible options to end the bloodshed in Syria.

Former Iranian diplomat Nosratollah Tajik, who recently won a British High Court battle to avoid extradition to the United States and was set free on December 13 after six years under house arrest, will arrive in Tehran early on Wednesday.

An official figure in the Iranian National Petrochemical Company (NPC) said that world's largest ethylene producer has been launched in Asalouyeh. He also added that the West Ethylene Pipeline will begin operation.

Mohammad Reza Aref, who has been mentioned as a possible reformist candidate in the 2013 presidential election, has said that the country is in need of moderates.

"Kahrizak: Four Views", a four-episode documentary on a charity center, has won the special jury prize at the 9th Dubai International Film Festival -- Four directors of different ages and levels of experience, each present a view of the Kahrizak Charity Centre, introducing us to fascinating characters and rituals, and...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose administration has resorted to raising taxes to meet the loss of oil revenues and budget shortages, has now asked members of the Revolutionary Guards Corps and the regular military to sell their assets and real estate to meet their own budgets. -Bahram Rafiei, Rooz

For over three decades, official political antagonism between the U.S. and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has obscured the deep bonds between the two peoples. This deadlock and the mutual demonization has worked to marginalize the sizeable Iranian-American community, hindering its attempts at integrating fully into...

Four miners were killed and another four are trapped after a mine explosion near the northeastern city of Tabas on Tuesday December 18, Iranian media report.

A committee formed by prominent Iranian businessmen has nominated Dr. Hooshang Amirahmadi to contest next summer's presidential elections in Iran. A highly-regarded academic, Amirahmadi holds a Ph.D. in economic planning and international development from Cornell University and is a professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Works of art by a group of Australian-Iranians are highlighting the issue of religious persecution in Iran. A new exhibition here includes works by artists all of whom have family or friends who have faced oppression and imprisonment by the Iranian regime, in particular for their membership of the Baha'i...

Not to be outdone by the Pope's creation of a Twitter account, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has joined Facebook, a site off limits to most Iranians due to internet filters imposed by the state.

>The demonstrators were protesting against the alleged killing of Afghan migrants by Iranian police, an assertion Tehran has denied. Iran's state news agency IRNA reported on December 11 that Iran had shut the consulate."Based on the request of Afghan officials and people, Iran's consulate in Herat resumed its activities...

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>Asked after talks in Moscow about Western suggestions that Assad and his government might soon be ousted, he told Reuters through a translator: "We have serious doubts about that. The Syrian army and the state machine are working smoothly."Like Russia, Iran has been a staunch ally of Assad throughout...

>JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S.-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program have resumed since President Barack Obama's re-election and include preparation for possible military action, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday. The remarks by Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon suggested cautious optimism at prospects for an international resolution...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will not stop higher-grade uranium enrichment in response to external demands, its top nuclear energy official was quoted as saying on Tuesday, signaling a tough bargaining stance ahead of planned new talks with world powers. The West wants Iran to halt enrichment of uranium to a...

Reuters will issue this diary daily at around 0930 GMT and1700 GMT. All times in GMT unless otherwise stated. Items marked ** denote new or amended listings. Media clients will also receive around 0700 GMT a daily REUTERS WORLD NEWS OUTLOOK which highlights key events for the coming week. For...

You didn’t ask for it, you may not even have wanted it, but it would be remiss of us not to provide it anyway: yes, it’s the New Statesman ’s film awards 2012, packed with intrigue, wonder and rash or contradictory judgements. You’ve read the rest, now read… another one.

at least, for some — to a grief-stricken town as it buries 20 of its children.

When the Justice Department announced its record $1.9 billion settlement against British bank HSBC last week, prosecutors called it a powerful blow to a dysfunctional institution accused of laundering money for Iran, Libya and Mexico's murderous drug cartels.

2012 was a year when politics at times trumped economic fundamentals, from worries about a break- up of the euro zone to anxiety about U.S. budget policy. In 2013, security concerns may do the same thing.

When Scott Bruxvoort decided he wanted to transfer to a new school after one semester at Albany (N.Y.), Quincy University stood out as an obvious landing spot.

By successfully firing a rocket that put a satellite in space, North Korea let the far-flung buyers of its missiles know that it is still open for business. But Pyongyang will find that customers are hard to come by as old friends drift away and international sanctions lock down its...

Atheists, humanists and other nonreligious people face discrimination and persecution in many parts of the world, according to 'Freedom of Thought 2012,' a report by the International Humanist and Ethical Union.