News Archive - 17 July 2013

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. defense officials affirmed their commitment to a $1 billion expansion of a Boeing Co ground-based missile defense system despite a test failure this month, but called for more regular testing to get a grip on nagging quality control issues. James Miller, undersecretary of defense for...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Samantha Power, President Barack Obama's nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, promised to push for action on Syria and fight what she termed "unacceptable bias" against Israel at the world body during her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. "We see the failure...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - North Korea has strong technical reasons to carry out another nuclear test but may be hesitating because it would anger China, a prominent U.S. scientist who has often visited the reclusive Asian state said on Wednesday. Stanford University's Siegfried Hecker, who was shown a previously undetected...

>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Four members of Pussy Riot danced on an oil pipeline in garish masks, tights and short dresses in a new video released on Tuesday, comparing President Vladimir Putin to an "ayatollah in Iran" and attacking his allies in Russia's rich energy sector. In their first performance in...

TEHRAN, July 17 -- Iran and Venezuela on Wednesday vowed to boost their economic cooperation.

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Six Degrees - a Project of Capitol Allies - learned that The Office of the Athens District Attorney in Greece has confirmed receipt of a criminal complaint for libel, and other criminal offenses, against a former Ambassador to...

SYDNEY, July 17: A boat carrying about 150 asylum seekers capsized in Indian Ocean waves, triggering a frantic rescue effort by Australian crews who saved nearly every passenger from the churning water, officials said on Wednesday.

The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) congratulates Ahmed Galal on his appointment as interim Finance Minister of Egypt. (PRWeb July 17, 2013) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/7/prweb10934763.htm

Members of Team DARwIn traveled to the Netherlands in order to compete against top teams from other nations. The robots are programmed to mimic human soccer players.

By Tribune-Review A newly reported secret meeting of a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps officer with Venezuelan military and security chiefs shows how wrong the State Department ...

The Saturday evening concert has doors opening at 6 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. start. Advance tickets are ¥1,500, and ¥1,800 at the door. Tickets are available at Family Mart (E-Plus) / Sugar Hall / Ganju Station in Chinen, Nanjo City.

More than 120 asylum seekers have been safely transfered to Customs and Navy boats, after issuing a distress call north-east of Christmas Island on Wednesday.        

Letters from Daily News readers.

A key U.S. senator has told NBC News that the United States should consider boycotting the upcoming Winter Games if Russian President Vladimir Putin grants leaker Edward Snowden asylum — a suggestion that a top U.S. Olympic official quickly rejected.

DUBAI: Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani said yesterday it was laughable for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say Tehran was getting close to Israel's "red line" over its nuclear programme and derided the Jewish state's ability to strike Iran.

Tony Abbott says government moves to seek changes to the UN Refugee Convention are a 'red herring'.

Michigan congressman, Dan Kildee, D-Flint, Wednesday asked Secretary of State John Kerry to push for the release of an ex-Marine held in Iran on spying charges for about two years, including 16 months in solitary confinement.

TEHRAN, Iran — Summer in Tehran can be tough on women, as temperatures rise and the Islamic Guidance Patrols are on the lookout for citizens who might be persuaded by the heat to ignore — more than usual — Iran's dress code.

(CNN) -- It was a suggestion made quickly to a reporter in a Capitol hallway. 0 read more

Jerusalem (AFP) July 12, 2013 Israel on Friday staged what it said was a planned test of a rocket propulsion system at a military base on the Mediterranean coast. Israeli media, citing analysts, said the test appeared to be of a version of the Jericho ballistic missile with a range...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The countries known to have done weapons business with North Korea make a long list, but the revelation that Cuba sent it missile parts and weapons on a ship stopped by Panama has puzzled some analysts.

The head of the military's missile defense program confirmed Wednesday that northern Maine is still being considered as a location for an "interceptor" missile facility on the East Coast.

Tehran, July 18 (IANS) Iran will resume nuclear talks with the world powers once the new president- elect, Hassan Rouhani, takes oath and announces a new negotiating team, the Islamic government said Wednesday.

Latest VideoJuly 17th, 2013     Ahmadinejad : I am moving to my house in Narmak ! After publication of a news regarding Ahmadinejad intention to remain in presidential head quarter , Ahmadinejad was asked about the issue by reporters which he answered ” We are going to move to my house...

Latest VideoJuly 17th, 2013     Dispute between genuine and government affiliated bodies for opening House Of Cinema Government affiliated members of House of Cinema prevented opening the house by its members .  ...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The state's northern region that suffered a prolonged economic setback with the closing of Loring Air Force Base is being considered for a ballistic missile defense "interceptor" site for the East Coast.        

A slew of previously secret documents from the 1960s has shed new light on how Israel managed to build nuclear bombs while publicly protesting that its nuclear program was only for peaceful purposes.

Nineteen years ago today, an Iranian-backed Hezbollah operative rammed a truck bearing 500 pounds of explosives into the primary Jewish community center (AMIA) of Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and wounding hundreds more.

For some time now we've been tracking the progress of the deployment of DNSSEC in the Internet. Its been a story of an evolution of the measurement technique, starting with a technique that attempted to guess at the behaviour of resolvers , through to techniques that explicitly pose novel DNS...

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 1:05 P.M. EDT MR. CARNEY:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Thanks for being here.  I apologize for the slight delay.  I was just rereading, for the pure enjoyment the article above the fold in The New York Times today about projected decline...

Kevin Rudd has for the first time flagged a review of Australia's obligations under the United Nations refugee convention as part of a new policy aimed at stemming the flow of asylum seeker boats.

The last time serious talk about exporting oil was heard in Washington, the Soviet Union still loomed, the Reagan Revolution had yet to take place and the National Basketball Association had an equitable distribution of talent.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba's admission that it was secretly sending aging weapons systems to North Korea has turned the global spotlight on a little-known link in a secretive network of rusting freighters and charter jets that moves weapons to and from North Korea despite U.N. sanctions.

MANILA—China and Iran, the last two teams to reign supreme in the FIBA Asia Championship, still loom as the top title contenders despite the continued influx of naturalized players in the regional cage conclave.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of Greek workers chanting anti-austerity slogans flocked outside parliament on Wednesday, hours before lawmakers inside vote on a divisive reform bill that would cut thousands of public sector jobs. Related Stories Bernanke tells Congress Fed flexible on bond buying Britain drops plans for minimum alcohol prices...

A team led by William Fenical at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has discovered a new chemical compound from an ocean microbe in a preliminary research finding that could one day set the stage for new treatments for anthrax and other ailments such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus...

Computerworld - Starting at around 8.30 a.m. ET Thursday and continuing through Friday morning, dozens of major Wall Street firms will come under a series of massive cyberattacks aimed at crippling financial services networks around the country.

Take that, Russia!

The first and most important facial reconstruction surgery in Iran which lasted for nearly 5 hours ended with successful results. Mousa Sheikh has undergone the surgery at Golestan Hospital after his face was badly damaged following hitting a guardrail.

I'm just a regular guy. Wife, small kids, a little company that still makes products here in America. Not one you would notice if you walked past me on the street. So you can say I was surprised when the Pentagon decided they wanted to pick a fight with me.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that Tehran city officials are cutting down 70-year-old trees at night on one of the city's main arteries, Vali Asr Avenue. Reports indicate that pedestrians have been shocked to find stumps and other evidence of the missing trees.

The British government has dropped its no-travel recommendation on Iran, voicing willingness to improve ties with Tehran on a "step-by-step basis." The British Foreign Office on Wednesday modified its travel advice on Iran on its website, removing a recommendation that warned against travelling to Iran.

Jailed Iranian student activist Majid Tavakoli has been denied a furlough three and a half years into his jail term. Daneshjoo News reports that the Tehran Prosecutor's office has reportedly informed the family that the Intelligence Ministry is refusing leave for Tavakoli.

On July 15, Mohammad Nourizad, a former hard-line conservative columnist turned dissident, kissed the feet of a 4-year-old Baha'i boy named Artin. Nourizad posted a photo of the scene on his blog along with an account of the meeting. "I told Artin: 'My little boy, I apologize to you on...

The Negarestan Garden, a Qajar era monument in Tehran, has been converted into a museum to display works of Qajar era painter Mohammad Qaffari (1847-1940), known as Kamalolmolk, and his students.

Miguel Angel Trevino Morales was arrested Monday. Scott Johnson on Morales’s legacy means for the bloody drug war.

A key U.S. senator has told NBC News that the United States should consider boycotting the upcoming Winter Games if Russian President Vladimir Putin grants leaker Edward Snowden asylum — even suggesting that Putin's actions should raise the specter of the pre-World War II Berlin games hosted by Adolf...

>* Russia price rebates: link.reuters.com/max69tANKARA, July 17 (Reuters) - The International Energy Agency (IEA) came out in favour of the spot gas market on Wednesday over contracts that link gas to oil prices, citing Turkey as an example of a successful renegotiation.Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom clinched...

>In a critical report, parliament's Committees on Arms Export Controls said Britain had approved licenses for weapons exports to 27 countries worth 12.3 billion pounds ($18.6 billion) highlighting the "inherent conflict" between its arms exports policy and its human rights policy."The government should apply significantly more cautious...

As Australia struggles with how to respond to a surge in arrivals of asylum seekers, the government is considering tightening rules for granting refugee visas. Critics say the changes could make it easier to reject asylum seekers from Iran, Afghanistan and Vietnam. Canberra insists that most of the thousands of...

The former vice-president's daughter has discredited herself on numerous occasions.        

President-elect Hasan Rowhani vowed for better ties with the world, and aims to reduce the West's sanctions against Iran over the country's disputed nuclear program.

WikiLeaks and its larger-than-life founder Julian Assange have always seemed destined to become Hollywood fodder. Now a trailer for the first WikiLeaks feature film is out--And WikiLeaks is not pleased.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday it was laughable for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say that Tehran was getting close to Israel's "red line" over its nuclear program and derided the Jewish state's ability to strike Iran. The election of relative moderate Rouhani last month...

Tehran, July 17 : Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani said his country will support the resistance movements in Lebanon and Syria against Israel, Iranian media reported Wednesday.

Police reported that Wali Jaan was attacked by two persons on a motorbike as he came out of a public bath. -AFP        

>AMMAN/RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will tell the PLO leadership about the U.S. push to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on Thursday in order to decide whether to take part, a Palestinian official said. The official spoke a day after Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State John...

Britain has supplied £12bn of arms to some of the world's most brutal dictatorships and human rights abusers, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, China and...

NATIONAL STORIES: CNN: From jurors' voices to civil rights: Latest developments after Zimmerman trial The George Zimmerman murder trial may be over, but details from the case continue to emerge at a dizzying pace. Several jurors have spoken out after the verdict. The prosecution's key witness has been offered a...

It doesn’t take a political genius to see how US Secretary of State John Kerry’s arrival in Amman Tuesday, July 16, for his sixth bid to bring Israelis and the Palestinians to the table, ties in with the new EU anti-Israel funding guidelines published on the same day.

The Rudd government is closer to laying out changes to its strategy on asylum seeker boat arrivals.        

Government looking at options to prevent people making the voyage

Tennis ace Martina Hingis' estranged husband, Thibault Hutin, has accused her of being a serial adulterer, insisting that she cheated on him several times during their two year marriage.

(Phys.org) —Tiny nanoribbons of carbon could be used to make a magnetic field sensor for novel electronic devices.

TEHRAN - Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday appointed four clerics to Iran's powerful Guardians Council, a body dominated by ultra-conservatives that interprets the constitution and supervises elections, media reported.

VADUZ, Liechtenstein, July 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- http://www.worldreview.info  The 'Axis of Evil' could soon become the 'Pivot of Peace' as Iran's new 'moderate' leader, Dr Hassan Rouhani prepares to take over its presidency. His inauguration on August 3 2013 as the 11th...

>* Looking for new-crop January-March shipment wheat* Chinese buying interest to underpin Australian prices* China seen buying 2-3 mln T of 13/14 Australian wheat (Adds details of expected purchases, trader's quotes)By Naveen Thukral and Colin PackhamSINGAPORE/SYDNEY, July 17 (Reuters) - Chinese importers are negotiating deals to buy at least half...