News Archive - 1 June 2013

>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 1,000 people were killed in violence in Iraq in May, making it the deadliest month since the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07, the United Nations reported on Saturday, stoking fears of a return to civil war. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in the last two...

Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) May 31, 2013 Nigerian authorities have arrested three Lebanese, who reportedly confessed they were Hezbollah operatives, after uncovering an arms cache amid what seems to be a surge of covert activity by the Iran-backed Lebanese movement. The Nigerians announced the arrests Thursday, the day after Argentina's state...

This citizen journalism image provided by the Local Council of Barzeh, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows destroyed homes from government airstrikes and shelling, in the Barzeh district of Damascus, Syria, Saturday, June 1, 2013. More than a dozen rockets and mortar rounds...

Brussels (UPI) May 31, 2013 EU governments are increasingly split as British-French pressure grows for a stepped up supply of weapons to the Syrian opposition to help it topple President Bashar Assad. At issue is not Assad's rule or his government's human rights excesses, which have made his presidency illegal...

Vienna (AFP) May 30, 2013 An important recent development in Iran's nuclear programme, if it continues, might help to ease international fears that Tehran wants the bomb, but serious questions still remain, analysts and diplomats said. This potentially positive step, as highlighted in recent quarterly reports by the International Atomic...

Damascus (AFP) June 01, 2013 US Secretary of State John Kerry has strongly condemned Russia's pledge to sell an advanced missile system to Damascus, questioning Moscow's commitment to end the Syrian conflict, as concern grew for civilians trapped in the battle for a key Syrian town. Speaking from Washington, Kerry...

The Woolwich murder of Lee Rigby (pictured) shows that the seeds of major conflict are being sown, argues our former Prime Minister TONY BLAIR.

The show will be produced by Ora TV, an online broadcaster founded by King and Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim last year, and recorded in RT America's Washington, DC, studio and Ora TV's Los Angeles studio.

OPEC to meet amid Iran-Saudi tensions Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 1:32 pm, Thursday, May 30, 2013 VIENNA (AP) — Once the symbol of oil dominance, OPEC faces new challenges as its members gather for a...

BAGHDAD — More than 1,000 people were killed in violence in Iraq in May, making it the deadliest month since the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07, the United Nations said on Saturday, as fears mounted of a return to civil war.

Main Street was filled with flavor Saturday — tangy chicken, saucy barbecue, lobster bisque, and heart-shaped sugar cookies to name a few. At this year’s Taste of the Albemarle, sweet, salty and savory samples offered ticket-buyers a chance to nibble something new or munch on a long-time favorite.

IBF President Daryl Peoples will be honored at the 2nd Annual All-Star Boxing Legends Gala this weekend in Atlantic City, NJ. The list of honorees for this event includes referee and long-time IBF member Randy Neumann, Iran Barkley, Marlon Starling, Jackie Kallen, Ivan Robinson, Chuck Wepner, Cedric Kushner, Keith Holmes...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - It's a warning as familiar as a daily prayer for Tornado Alley residents: When a twister approaches, take shelter in a basement or low-level interior room or closet, away from windows and exterior walls.

June 1 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the Meeting Eugene Men/Women on Saturday Men's 100m1. Justin Gatlin (U.S.) 9.88 2. Michael Rodgers (U.S.) 9.94 3. Ryan Bailey (U.S.) 10.00 4. Nesta Carter (Jamaica) 10.03 5. Derrick Atkins (Bahamas) 10.08...

NINFA (June 2, 2013) : Rare plants, enchanting ruins and the tinkle of waterfalls: the English-style botanical oasis of Ninfa near Rome is a secret idyll billed as "the world's most romantic garden".

Saudi Arabia exported nearly 1.06 billion barrels of oil in the first five months of the current year that yielded SR 428.6 billion, an economic expert was quoted by the local media.

100 — 1, Justin Gatlin , United States, 9.88. 2, Michael Rodgers , United States, 9.94. 3, Ryan Bailey , United States, 10.00. 4, Nesta Carter, Jamaica, 10.03. 5, Derrick Atkins, Bahamas, 10.08. 6, Keston Bledman, Trinidad and Tobago, 10.10. 7, Richard Thompson ,...

The United States hopes the dialogue can help set norms to end to what it says is a daily barrage of computer break-ins and theft of corporate and government secrets by Chinese hackers.

TEHRAN, IRAN—Six Iranians have died and 348 have been sickened after drinking poisonous alcohol in the southeastern Kerman province. The semi-official ISNA news agency on Saturday quoted a medical official, Dr. Hamid Najmeddin, as saying that three people remained in critical condition at the hospital’s intensive care unit. Najmeddin says...

Police retreated from more violent clashes with protestors in Turkey's Taksim Square on Saturday as the protest over a public park's fate turned into something bigger: a protest against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry hit the nail on the head on Friday when he said that Russia's plans to deliver S-300 air defence missiles to President Bashar Assad in Syria were "not helpful" to peace efforts.

Iranian presidential candidate Saeed Jalili says the West has frequently acknowledged that regional issues, especially the Syria unrest, cannot be settled without Iran’s help.

President Barack Obama last week spoke at the National Defense University, laying out his justification for such War on Terror tactics as the use of drone assassinations, but also calling for the war to be wrapped up. Republicans criticized the president. Is it time to wrap up the war? Or...

“The New Digital Age” proselytizes the role of technology in reshaping the world’s people and nations into likenesses of the world’s dominant superpower, whether they want to be reshaped or not.

Mother's Mass: 11 a.m., Christ the King Catholic Church, 2623 Perez St. In honor of the departed. Talk about seven Baha'i leaders held in Iran. drjohnabdo@yahoo.com. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 386 N. Castell Ave. in New Braunfels, ecumenical prayer for Christian churches in Syria under attack.

Iranian lawmaker Moayyed Hosseini Sadr says Iran will lodge a complaint with international bodies against the US over Washington's latest sanctions imposed on the country’s petrochemical companies.

TEHRAN - Iran’s first debate between candidates for the presidency degenerated into acrimony live on state television on Friday when, instead of discussing the economy, some of the hopefuls resorted to sniping over the questions and format.

At least four banks from Iran are interested in setting up shop in India, but they are facing difficulties due to regulations. said a top Iranian diplomat here. Speaking at a function organised by the All India Association of Industries (AIAI) here, Iranian Consul General Masood E Khaleghi said: "Four...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - It's a warning as familiar as a daily prayer for Tornado Alley residents: When a twister approaches, take shelter in a basement or low-level interior room or closet, away from windows and exterior walls.

FIFA chief Sepp Blatter to seek political solution to plight of Palestinian players.

A semi-official Iranian news agency says Tehran has hosted a delegation of the Afghan Taliban, the radical Sunni group that has long been a sworn enemy of Iran's ruling Shiite clerics.        

Exclusive: For several decades, mainstream U.S. journalists have fled from the career-threatening label “liberal,” even to the point of destroying honest colleagues who got in the crosshairs of the Right.

Syrian rebels braced on Saturday for a new assault on their beleaguered stronghold of Qusayr by the army and its Hezbollah allies, who were bolstering positions north of the town, a watchdog said.

TEHRAN, Iran - Candidates in Iran's June 14 presidential election all agree that rampant inflation is the most pressing problem, but commentators Saturday, June 1, bemoaned that in a first television debate none proposed real solutions. Press commentators accepted the complaints of several candidates that the Friday (May 31) debate's...

BAGHDAD — More than a year after the U.S. military left Iraq, the country is reeling from its most sustained violence since 2008. Over the last two months more than 1,700 people have been killed, raising fears the country is sliding back into chaos. The current mayhem began with...

The Sunday Conversation: The Iranian American actress has a memoir, 'The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines,' coming out and talks about the diversity of the roles she is offered. Iranian American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in "House of Sand and Fog" (2003),...

Destroyed homes from government airstrikes and shelling, in the Barzeh district of Damascus, Syria. / Local Council of Barzeh, AP BEIRUT (AP) - Eighteen rockets and mortars rounds from Syria slammed into Lebanon on Saturday, the largest cross-border salvo to hit a Hezbollah stronghold since Syrian rebels threatened to retaliate...

By Dr. Peregrino Brimah You probably thought I misspelled or you misread. Sadly, that is the title. Location: Borno Temperature: 40C/104F degrees scorching hot days and 12C/54F freezing cold nights. Time: 2am approximately, some day in 2009 Two 9-year-old almajiri boys were in bed; well, on the floor actually, inside...

Russia insisted Tuesday it would deliver anti-aircraft missiles to Syria despite international criticism, as fears of spillover from the conflict grew after three Lebanese soldiers were killed in a border-area attack.

Congressman Mike Pompeo said ideas that may have sounded good coming out of politicians’ mouths have been chipping away at freedom in America.

Four people died after drinking home-made alcohol in southern Iran and 298 others were poisoned, a local

Iranian newspapers and experts on Saturday give a resounding thumbs down to the first of three televised debates between the eight approved candidates in this month's presidential election.

US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed fresh doubt that Iran’s presidential elections would change Tehran’s controversial nuclear policy. “I do not have high expectations that the election is going to change the fundamental calculus of Iran,” Kerry told reporters.

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DOHA (AFP) - Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has called on Sunni Muslims to join the rebels fighting the Syrian regime, as he lashed out at Shiite group Hezbollah for sending its men to fight the mostly-Sunni insurgents in Syria.

TEHRAN, Iran—Iranians have seen it before: A youngish presidential candidate firing up crowds with fist-waving rants against the West, then displaying his Islamist bona fides with courtesy calls to hard-line clerics.

A look at Iran's voters, presidents and election procedures        

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Zaw Zaw, one of Myanmar's most successful and notorious businessmen, likes to pick his way at odd hours around the hulking skeleton of his new hotel, rising beside Yangon's main airport road. EDITOR'S NOTE _ This story is part of "Portraits of Change," a yearlong series...

Readers offer their tips and advice for visiting the world's most fascinating mountain landscapes.        

IRANIAN Canadians on the North Shore are expressing mixed views as the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has announced it will ban all imports and exports between Canada and Iran.

LONDON -- Iraq is due to start pumping crude from two of its largest oil fields within weeks, creating a possible obstacle to future efforts by OPEC to curb supplies in the event of a drop in prices.

"This war, like all wars, must end. That's what history advises ..." WASHINGTON — Nice thought. But much as Obama would like to close his eyes, click his heels three times and declare the war on terror over, war is a two-way street.

In his 6,000-word speech on national security at the National Defense University last week, President Barack Obama devoted only one paragraph to the ideology of those who proclaim themselves America’s enemies. But those 92 words are worth a closer look.