News Archive - 19 February 2013

55kg: - Mohsen Hajipour - Saman Abdevali 60kg: - Abdolmohammad Papi - Hamid Zare 66kg: - Afshin Biabangard - Ali Mohammadi 74kg: - Farshad Alizadeh - Hadi Alizadeh 84kg: - Taleb Nematpour - Ali Gheitasi 96kg: - Davoud GilNeirang - Mehdi Aliyari 120kg: - Bashir Babajanzadeh - Amir Ghasemi-Monjazi

>Kerry will travel to London, Berlin, Paris and Rome, where he is expected to attend a gathering of senior officials from nations supporting the Syrian opposition and to meet with opposition members.He then heads to Turkey, which has taken in an estimated 180,000 refugees fleeing the violence in Syria,...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has complained to the organizers of the Berlin film festival for giving Iranian director Jafar Panahi an award for an allegorical movie made in defiance of a 20-year state ban. Panahi shared the best script prize at Berlin on Saturday for "Closed Curtain" with co-director Kamboziya...

>* Day-Lewis swept awards in role as revered U.S. President* Praised for bringing quiet humanity to Abraham LincolnBy Jill SerjeantLOS ANGELES, Feb 19 (Reuters) - If there is one sure bet in this roller coaster movie awards season, it is that Daniel Day-Lewis will take home the Best Actor...

>* Pursuing high-technology ventures* Strategy includes JVs with foreign firms* Gulf Arabs tired of strings attached to defence imports* Issue in spotlight at biennial defence fair in Abu DhabiBy Stanley Carvalho and Raissa KasolowskyABU DHABI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is at the forefront of a...

>* Opposition party alleges fraud, holds protest* International observers see lack of genuine competitionBy Hasmik MkrtchyanYEREVAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan promised on Tuesday to make the country secure and stable after cruising to victory in an election which international vote monitors said lacked real competition.But...

Slimming product seized by airports across the UK after sparking security alerts

Posted Feb. 19, 2013, at 4:47 p.m. It was with considerable disappointment that I read the wildly inaccurate OpEd by Fred Hill in the BDN on Feb. 19 criticizing my position on the confirmation of Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary.

In his February 12 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama outlined the beginning of the end of American participation in Afghanistan's now decades long civil war.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Rebel fighters in Damascus are disciplined, skilled and brave. In a month on the frontline, I saw them defend a swathe of suburbs in the Syrian capital, mount complex mass attacks, manage logistics, treat their wounded - and die before my eyes. But as constant, punishingly accurate,...

Many great countries nowadays, like Russia, China, Venezuela and Iran are labelled undemocratic in the West. But is it evil? Is it such a flaw? Let us analyze the situation and that perilous insult.

The Pakistani government announced a security operation against those responsible for the bombing that killed at least 89 people over the weekend and set off three days of protests. 

In a sold-out event, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaee, will be speaking Wednesday evening at the Asia Society in New York, starring in a “conversation” titled: “The U.S. and Iran: Road to War or Path to Peace?” With tensions high over Iran’s nuclear program, and...

Letters from Daily News readers.

Three fact-based films nominated for this year's best-picture Oscar — "Argo," "Lincoln," and "Zero Dark Thirty," — take liberties with historical fact. Read more

OTTAWA, Canada - Canada's prime minister unveiled on Tuesday, February 19, an office of religious freedom tasked with protecting and advocating on behalf of religious minorities under threat around the world. Housed in Canada's foreign affairs ministry, the new office will oppose religious hatred and intolerance and promote pluralism ...

While keeping good on a promise to fight for the continued right to bear arms, U.S Senator Ted Cruz found himself at the center of media scrutiny Tuesday as he toured a Leander firearm manufacturer.

WATSONVILLE -- Santa Cruz County Supervisor Greg Caput and county staff will hold a summit on Salsipuedes Creek 7-9 p.m. Thursday at the Pajaro Village Clubhouse, 739 Bronte Ave.

>The sport's governing body selected Las Vegas over bids from several other cities including Tehran, New Delhi, Panama City, and Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics."Hosting the World Championships in Las Vegas is certainly a positive step forward in our quest to show the world the relevance of...

>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Voting for Sunday's Oscars, the highest honors in the movie industry, closed on Tuesday evening after a big spending campaign by Hollywood studios and the first online balloting system in the 85-year history of the Academy Awards. More than 5,800 movie industry professionals who are members...

I have recently been in touch with Orkideh Daroodi, a native of Iran who returned home several years ago after attending high school and college in California. Orkideh serves as the gallery manager of the Assar Gallery, one of Tehran's leading galleries in the field of contemporary art. I...

Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International Inc. chairman convicted in 2007 on fraud and obstruction charges, lost a bid to void that verdict on grounds he was blocked from hiring the defense lawyers he wanted.

Now that the dust has settled—literally and figuratively—from Israel’s Jan. 29 air attack on Syria, the question is, why?

A prominent Lebanese organ transplant surgeon is facing charges of ethical misconduct for using unrelated living organ donors in three studies that were retracted from an international medical journal earlier this month.

Throwing an epic Oscar-watching party? Serve cocktails inspired by your favorite nominee -- a tiger-striped Richard Parker for 'Life of Pi,' perhaps, or a 'Zero Dark Thirty' or 'Diplomatic Escape'.

WASHINGTON: The United States and China traded charges Tuesday over cyberattacks after a security firm alleged that Beijing controled hackers who have penetrated the US government, companies and media.

For a split second, topping the list as the least expensive place to live in the world, Karachi might seem to be the place for the bargain hunters. But the next second, all of it seems delusional as another dozen are gunned down leaving the city to continue bleeding.

Speaker Nabih Berri condemned caricatures insulting Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz that were distributed on flyers in several Beirut neighborhoods and hanged in a banner on a pedestrian bridge in Jal alDib Tuesday.

After three decades of frosty relations, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a historic visit to Cairo on February 5, 2012, making him the only post-revolutionary Iranian leader to set foot in the Arab heartland. His trip marked the culmination of at least three years of gradual warming up between the...

A report tying the Chinese military to computer attacks against American interests has sent a chill through cyber-security experts, who worry that the very lifelines of the United States — its energy pipelines, its water supply, its banks — are increasingly at risk.

The U.S. economic recovery already winded by higher payroll taxes and potential budget cuts has a new challenge – higher prices at the gas pump.

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian missile strike leveled a block of buildings in an impoverished district of northern Syria Tuesday, killing at least 33 people, almost half of them children, and trapping many others under the rubble of destroyed houses and piles of concrete, anti-regime activists said.

One ton of wheat requires one thousand tons of water ; watering the world's golf courses requires 2.5 billion gallons per day , and 650 gallons only gets you either a pound of rice or one cotton shirt.)

* Israel's right-wing leader partners with centrist moderate * Former minister Livni to handle Palestinian diplomacy (Recasts with Netanyahu, Livni statements, quotes and details,byline) JERUSALEM, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu took a first step in forming a new governmenton Tuesday, announcing a coalition deal with former ForeignMinister...

Posted: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 1:37 pm | Updated: 1:50 pm, Tue Feb 19, 2013. DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two mortars exploded near one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's palaces in Damascus on Tuesday but caused only material damage, Syria's state news service said.

The CIA thrillers Argo and Zero Dark Thirty have won top screenplay honours from the Writers Guild of America. The guild’s adapted screenplay award Sunday went to Chris Terrio for Argo, director Ben Affleck’s tale of the CIA’s daring masquerade [...]

Two low-budget films, one from Romania and the other from Bosnia, take top prizes for portrayals of post-communist life Eastern European film-makers basked in the limelight at the weekend after two low-budget pictures snapped up the top prizes at Berlin's international film festival. The Berlinale's first prize, the Golden Bear,...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Arch foes Iran and the U.S. have found some common ground in the fight to save wrestling as an Olympic sport.

We forgive sleight-of-hand in books as in cinema, but can we forgive Truman Capote for insisting In Cold Blood was factual? As Oscar night approaches, it's impossible to forget how deeply stories and storytelling are coded into the DNA of our stone-age consciousness. How naturally, moreover, we look to stories...

(BRUSSELS ) - The European Union and Russia called on Iran on Tuesday to be flexible at much-anticipated talks next week over its disputed nuclear programme.

Ironical as it may sound, in the stand-off between the West and Iran, more than anyone else, it is India that cannot afford to blink. Continued oil shipments not only underpin the country’s energy security but also its broader economy.

For much of the past year, Americans have been pounded by an incessant political drumbeat that accompanied the run up to the November elections and their aftermath.

BAGHDAD : Iraq on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for a framework agreement to be signed for the construction of pipelines through Iraqi territory that would deliver Iranian gas to Syria .

(Rome) - Pope Benedict surprised the world on Monday by saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to cope with the demands of his ministry, becoming the first pontiff to step down since the Middle Ages and leaving his aides "incredulous".

U.S. freestyle wrestling team members prepare to leave Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport in Iran after their arrival on early Tuesday morning, Feb. 19, 2013, to attend World Cup tournament. USA Wrestling has formalized plans for a committee charged with restoring Olympic wrestling.

Turkey imprisoned the Kurdish politician Leyla Zana for 10 years, but she continues her activism on behalf of the Kurds and is hopeful that eventually, their fate as an independent people will be resolved.

Good morning, it’s Tuesday February 19 and it’s chilly outside this morning.

The renewed EU arms embargo imposed on the warring factions in Syria is nothing if not controversial. Those opposed want to help the rebels and those in favor want to prevent an escalation of the conflict.

Oil prices slid on Tuesday as data showed a drop in crude exports from Saudi Arabia and as US traders returned to work after a long holiday weekend.

TEHRAN, Iran - The caretakers of the Olympics may have inadvertently accomplished what has eluded diplomats: Galvanizing Iran and the U.S. on a common goal. Wrestling officials from the arch foes appeared to be in bonding mode Tuesday on the sidelines of a Tehran tournament less than a week...

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New Delhi, Feb 19 (PTI) With the Israeli diplomat attack case hitting a roadblock a year after the incident, Delhi Police has sent a reminder to five countries including Iran seeking urgent cooperation in unravelling the plot.

UPDATE : PROTESTERS have tried to stop controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders from speaking at a public meeting in Melbourne.

A synopsis of the nine Oscar nominees for best picture.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian Tuesday celebrated a crushing victory in elections for a second five-year mandate but his rival alleged violations and observers complained the polls lacked competition.

According to the report, Zygier was involved in exporting communications technology via a Mossad front company to Iran and other Middle Eastern states, raising the possibility he was involved in cyber warfare.

The West believes that Assad’s fall will serve Israel by cutting Syria off from Iran and Hezbollah. But regardless of the outcome, those ties could remain.

Argentina’s foreign minister, Hector Timerman, defended himself against accusations that he betrayed his Judaism by signing an agreement with Iran.

Turkey is defying Washington and Baghdad in developing a broad energy partnership with Iraqi Kurds as it pushes to secure affordable oil and gas supplies to fuel its rapid economic growth.

Iran can ease western states’ concern over its nuclear activities if they fully recognize its right to operate a civilian nuclear program, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, days before international talks in Kazakhstan.

>* Seaway pipeline to operate below capacity* U.S. stockpiles of crude to rise, those of refined products to fall -poll* Coming Up: API weekly oil stocks data; 2130 GMTBy Florence TanSINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Brent crude fell toward $117 a barrel on Wednesday on the prospect of more...