News Archive - 18 May 2013

>Speaking in Syria with the newspaper Clarin, Assad said he was doubtful that mediation the United States and Russia have proposed could settle a deadly conflict that has convulsed the country for two years."There is confusion in the world between a political solution and terrorism. They think a political...

>JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Saturday that advanced weapons supplied by Russia to war-torn Syria could end up in the wrong hands and be used against the Jewish state. A Russian shipment of Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria was condemned by the United States on Friday and Israel is...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cybersecurity professionals know a myriad of ways hackers can try to wreak havoc on critical infrastructure or infiltrate corporations to steal or spy, but it is the fear of the unknown that some say keeps them up at night. U.S. security officials and private sector experts...

>BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States chided Russia for sending missiles to the Syrian government as plans for a peace conference promoted by Washington and Moscow were hit by diplomatic rifts over its scope and purpose. Sectarian bloodshed in neighboring Iraq during Friday prayers, a hacking attack on a Western...

President Bashar al-Assad's troops in Syria are gaining ground. British Middle East reporter Robert Fisk met some of them when he visited the front lines earlier this month, and told DW about he saw.

Syria's dictator, Bashar Assad, isn't the only leader who is crossing "red lines" these days. President Barack Obama has also crossed a few.

UNITED NATIONS -- In Iran, Olympic wrestling champion Jordan Burroughs felt like Justin Bieber, LeBron James and Tom Brady all rolled into one.

(Repeats story originally filed on Friday) By Paul Taylor PARIS, May 17 (Reuters) - Turkey's achievement ofinvestment-grade status crowns a decade of rapid growth,financial stability and political reform by a "tiger" economy onthe seam of Europe and Asia, but the rising power still facespitfalls in a dangerous neighbourhood. Moody's Investors...

Two arrested men suspected of killing the grandson of US civil rights leader Malcolm X have been taken to prison to await trial, Mexican officials say.

Posted May 18, 2013, at 8:32 a.m. FILE - In this Aug. 9, 1974 black-and-white file photo, President Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat Nixon are shown standing together in the East Room of the White House in Washington.

What are the new missile systems Russia is supplying to the Assad regime and how will they affect the region? Anshel Pfeffer breaks it down.

The monthly full-moon party on Ko Phangan draws tens of thousands of tourists, but there’s much more to the Thai island than hard partying - and a new airport may bring far-reaching ...

A film about baby-switching by Japan's Kore-eda Hirokazu that ponders nature versus nurture premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, joining an Iranian challenger as contenders for the top prize.

China powered past Thailand in straight sets on Saturday for their second victory at the Beilun International Women's Volleyball Tournament.The Chinese, who lost to Thailand on four occassions in the past four years, gained sweet revenge with the 15-15, 25-13, 25-9 win.However, Chinese head coach Lang Ping played...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit scheduled for May 19 to 20 in Thailand, semi-official Fars news agency reported Saturday.Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi and Vice President Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh will accompany Ahmadinejad during his visit to Thailand, according to the report.The primary themes...

Iran is tightening control of the Internet ahead of next month's presidential election, mindful of violent street protests that social networkers inspired last time around over claims of fraud, users and experts say.

PHUKET: Dr Ruangsit Netnuanyai, the psychiatric social worker who runs the drug treatment center at Vachira Phuket Hospital, is absolutely right that more needs to be done to prevent youths from falling into the potentially fatal trap of drug abuse ...

Life as a high school senior has been anything but routine for Kuvvat Jorayev. The 17-year-old Coosa Christian student is getting ready for graduation and he already has been involved in awards night and senior prom.

The BJP on Saturday alleged that Pakistan was not giving the true picture over the number of Indian prisoners lodged in jails there.        

The rising divisions may guarantee that fighting will continue even if President Bashar Assad falls, setting the stage for a civil war between Sunni, Alawite, Shiite and other militias. MARAAT NUMAN, Syria — Each morning, after saluting the Syrian flag and before the warplanes take off, soldiers at army bases...

Americans and Iranians share same sporting stage, Iranian team mysteriously leaves early.        

BEIJING – An official visit to Beijing by Israeli and Palestinian leaders last week has prompted speculation that China may finally be ready to claim its place as a world power by trying to negotiate an end to one of world's most caustic conflicts.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and...

The president who benefits from personally giving the green light to Navy SEAL Team 6 will also be held accountable for the wrongful acts of his appointees.

In a rare interview with a foreign newspaper, the Syrian president appeared to dismiss the possibility of serious progress arising from next month’s planned peace talks

By Thomas Sowell A hundred years ago, anyone who might have predicted in 1913 the monumental, man-made catastrophes that would occur in the rest of the 20th century ...

The U.S. Navy has successfully tested the powered (ER for extended range) version of the AGM-154 JSOW (Joint Stand Off Weapon) glide bomb. Earlier problems with the fuel system were fixed and this enabled the small jet engine to propel a JSOW nearly 500 kilometers.

Melissa Harris Perry blasted the GOP on her show Saturday for what she sees as their parade of politics, claiming that the real scandal is about the GOP's personal politics aimed at putting our President in the "crosshairs." Harris-Perry opened with some sarcastic satire, listing plot points from ABC's...

'I am not afraid of anything except for God and poison gas," said an Iraqi officer who had fought in the Iran-Iraq war. "It's like a ghost. You have no defence against it." Though not a target of poison gas as a member of the army using it, he...

West outraged. Russia continues to lie and mislead

Leaving aside the seriousness of lawlessness, and the corruption of our civic culture by the professionally pious, this past week has been amusing.

PARIS: Reigning champion Zhang Jike of China eased through to the last 16 of the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris on Friday after seeing off compatriot Fan Zhendong.

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he reserved the right to resort to both diplomatic and military options to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but insisted that U.S. action alone would not be enough to resolve the Syrian crisis. Taking a cautious line at a joint...

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an...

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney appeared on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno on Friday and weighed in on the barrage of controversies plaguing the White House in recent weeks. The former Massachusetts governor said he's "over" the election but is "not a fan of the president." He...

(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Omantel announced on Saturday that it inked an agreement for another submarine cable, the 'Bay of Bengal Gateway' submarine cable system (BBG). This new submarine cable will ...

Leaving aside the seriousness of lawlessness, and the corruption of our civic culture by the professionally pious, this past week has been amusing. There was the spectacle of advocates of an ever-larger regulatory government expressing shock about such government’s large capacity for misbehavior. And, entertainingly, the answer to the question...

Despite suggestions from such conservatives as Charles Krauthammer and Newt Gingrich to temper their [...]

Latest VideoMay 18th, 2013     Exciting footages of Off-Road car racing in the town of Arak Exciting footages of Off-Road car racing in the town of Arak .

This Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 file photo shows Syrian President Bashar Assad, seen, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, unseen, at the presidency in Tehran, Iran. Syrian President Bashar Assad says he won't step down before elections are held in his war-ravaged country.

The Syrian ruler said in an interview Saturday from his palace in Damascus with the Argentine newspaper Clarin , that he welcomed dialogue.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian state TV says a powerful explosion has hit the nation's capital, causing an unknown number of casualties. State TV says the blast rattled the Damascus neighborhood of Ruken al-Deen late Saturday.

In the 1980s, he was Robi Rosa, the lead singer of Menudo at the boy band's peak of popularity. Rosa went on to write hits for bandmate Ricky Martin and develop a solo career. When Rosa was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, some of the biggest names in Latin...

BUENOS AIRES — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Saturday he welcomed a US-Russian peace initiative to end Syria's civil war but had no plans to resign, in an interview with an Argentine newspaper.

Cannes: Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi leaves Iran to make "The Past," a heartbreaking tale of modern marriage        

Freestyle wrestlers Mehdi Taghavi Kermani, left, from Iran, and Kellen Russell from Ann Harbor, Mich., compete at an international wrestling exhibition at Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in New York. Kermani won the bout.

An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale has struck the southern Iranian province of Hormuzgan.

Freestyle wrestlers Mehdi Taghavi Kermani, left, from Iran, and Kellen Russell from Ann Harbor, Mich., compete at an international wrestling exhibition at Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in New York. Kermani won the bout.

Advance Options Attach image:  No JAMES Infiesto, regional director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), will be joining seminars spearheaded by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) from May 18-25 at the Midas Hotel Casino in Pasay City in a bid to strengthen chess in Davao City. Infiesto,...

As former President George W. Bush, joined by President Obama and three living former presidents, recently dedicated his library this week in Dallas, it's important to remember that presidential libraries are relatively new

Wrestling agreed a wholesale shake-up of its rules to make the sport more attractive for spectators.

WASHINGTON -- Note to GOP re Benghazi: Stop calling it Watergate, Iran-Contra, bigger than both, etc. First, it might well be, but we don't know. History will judge. Second, overhyping will only diminish the importance of the scandal if it doesn't meet presidency-breaking standards.

The leader of the Syrian opposition says the conflict engulfing the country will draw in neighboring states before international players such as the U.S. move in to help bring about its end.

Iran has dispatched one of its newest warships to shadow the world's biggest mine-hunting exercise that has been taking place over the last few days in the Gulf.        

Latest VideoMay 18th, 2013     Part1/4 -Mohsen Rafighdoust : My position toward Mousavi & Karoubi is same as Asgaroladi ! Ex minister of Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rafighdoust and one of richest figures of Islamic Republic   who served as Ayatollah Khomeyni driver while he returned to Iran , talk to Iranian...

Latest VideoMay 18th, 2013     Ayatollah Janati critic about election of Councils and Ali Larijani response While Ayatollah Khamenei try to bold  importance of election of Councils for public  , speaker of Majlis Ali Larijani respond to critics made by Ayatollah Janati in Friday Prayer . Watch related video tittled “Ayatollah...

(SEOUL ) - South Korea's May imports of Iranian crude oil fell 39.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.96 million barrels as it cuts shipments in line with a US sanctions drive, figures showed Monday.

I wonder if Peter Oborne and David Morrison know what is about to hit them. I fear that the wrath of the neocons is about to descend upon them. The authors of A Dangerous Delusion have analysed the west’s case against Iran on the nuclear issue and find it unconvincing.

The real story of Benghazi receives too many edits to reveal the truth.

May 18 (Reuters) - German Winfried Schaefer is on his way out as Thailand's head coach after a trio of key defeats, local media reported on Saturday. The 63-year-old, who has also coached Cameroon, has failed to arrest a recent dip in form since Thailand lost to Singapore in Southeast...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address the international forum on water security in Chiang Mai on Monday, an embassy official in Bangkok has confirmed.

Ban Ki-moon’s meeting with Russia’s foreign minister yesterday only highlighted the major obstacles that remain        

Paris, May 18 : Top seed and defending champion Ding Ning led five Chinese to the quarterfinals of the women's singles event at the World Table Tennis Championships here.

Addressing university students and academics in Tehran on Thursday, Rafsanjani, who is also Iran's Expediency Council chairman, expressed hope that his entry into the election would help "heat up a fair competition."

MASTER of absurdist irony Rich Hall returns to the Alban Arena next Tuesday, May 21.