News Archive - 4 December 2013

FULL MATCH: 1st Half:

>* Iraq, Iran and Libya plan to raise output* Lower US crude stocks support WTI* Coming up: US 3Q GDP data due at 1330 GMT (Adds analyst quote, updates prices)By Jacob Gronholt-PedersenSINGAPORE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Brent crude edged lower towards $111 a barrel on Thursday, after OPEC agreed to...

>Under an interim deal agreed between Iran and six world powers last month, Iran is to shelve fuel production for six months at Arak, an unfinished heavy-water research reactor which Western countries say Tehran could use to produce plutonium for atomic bombs. Iran says the reactor is for medical isotopes.

>WASHINGTON Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representatives said on Wednesday they are concerned about Iran's ability to continue enriching uranium under the interim agreement on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, an issue they are likely to press as global powers attempt to reach a final...

>European companies are sizing up the potential of an end to the economic isolation of Iran, attracted by an urgent need to overhaul its creaking infrastructure, a young population of 76 million and massive oil and gas reserves.Longtime Austrian trade ties with Iran were disrupted by sanctions imposed by...

>By Amena Bakr and Peg MackeyVIENNA Dec 4 (Reuters) - What is Saudi Arabia's bottom line for propping up oil prices before it starts to arm-twist the rest of OPEC into sharing the burden?At $112 a barrel for Brent crude, well above OPEC's preferred $100, it may not look...

>* Laqqis fought in Syria's civil war, Hezbollah source says* Israel denies killing Laqqis; previously unknown group makes claim (Adds funeral)By Laila Bassam and Dominic EvansBEIRUT, Dec 4 (Reuters) - A Hezbollah commander who fought in Syria's civil war was shot dead outside his home in Lebanon on Wednesday in...

>Across the Gulf from Iran and home to tens of thousands of Iranians, the UAE stands to benefit directly from any easing of sanctions under the nuclear deal that have dampened regional trade since they were imposed in late 2011.The UAE was Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's latest...

>RANONG, Thailand (Reuters) - One afternoon in October, in the watery no-man's land between Thailand and Myanmar, Muhammad Ismail vanished. Thai immigration officials said he was being deported to Myanmar. In fact, they sold Ismail, 23, and hundreds of other Rohingya Muslims to human traffickers, who then spirited them into...

>Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).POLITICSItaly's electoral law is unconstitutional, its top court ruled on Wednesday, piling pressure on political parties to reform a system blamed for creating parliamentary deadlock.COMPANIESTELECOM ITALIABrazil antitrust watchdog Cade ruled...

The U.S. and Mexican Men's National Teams will know its World Cup group following the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final Draw on Friday, Dec. 6 (ESPN2, WatchESPN, Univision and Univision Deportes). 0 0 read more

Whichever way you look at it there'll be no easy group for Australia as the World Cup draw is announced at 3am (AEDT) on Saturday morning.

After the British papers came out with news of three women being held captive by a couple two weeks ago, out of the blue, a close friend and London returnee called me.

The Lenin icebreaker in Murmansk, 2010. 56 years ago today, on Dec. 5, 1957, Russia launched the world's first nuclear-powered surface vessel, the Lenin icebreaker. After 30 years of service, the icebreaker was decommissioned and permanently docked in Murmansk.

On November 16th an American cruiser (USS Chancellorsville) was hit by a missile and two of the 300 sailors on board were lightly wounded. There was some damage to the port (left) side of the ship. The missile in question was an American UAV, in this case a BQM-74E Chukar...

Critics of the agreement with Iran concerning its nuclear program are right about most things but wrong about the most important things. They understand the agreement's manifest and manifold defects and its probable futility.

CHISINAU, Moldova - In a visit to Moldova, Secretary of State John Kerry pledged U.S. support Wednesday to help this former Soviet republic develop closer political and economic ties with the European Union.

"When courts imprison political dissidents who merely urge respect for China's own laws, no one in China - including Americans doing business there - can feel secure,"US National Security Advisor Susan Rice said.        

Hope springs eternal. In the wake of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme, the European Parliament is reviving plans for a visit to Tehran.

Letters to the editor for Dec. 5, 2013

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: PETALING JAYA: After the British papers came out with news of three women being held captive by a couple two weeks ago, out of the blue, a close friend and London returnee called me.

Vice President Joe Biden, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, seeks to reassure allies and avoid escalation of the conflict. BEIJING — After months of planning a trip to boost U.S. trade with Asia, Vice President Joe Biden instead is leading an urgent diplomatic mission to calm tensions between...

The events leading up to Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution are a tangled tale of chaos and mass protests that eventually led to political change. Now, a video game aims, in a sense, to recreate this complex history through entertainment. The three-season game series   1979 Revolution recounts history through the...

WASHINGTON Critics of the agreement with Iran concerning its nuclear program are right about most things but wrong about the most important things. They understand ...

Search our Archives! Hezbollah claimed that Israel assassinated its technology and weapons chief near Beirut. According to the Lebanese terror group, Hussein al-Laqis was shot at a parking lot outside his home south…

Search our Archives! Hezbollah claimed that Israel assassinated its technology and weapons chief near Beirut. According to the Lebanese terror group, Hussein al-Laqis was shot at a parking lot outside his home south…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories in another attempt to bolster their faltering peace talks. Kerry wants to give a boost to Israeli-Palestinian talks that have been rocky since they were revived four months ago. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat complained at a...

Search our Archives! Hezbollah claimed that Israel assassinated its technology and weapons chief near Beirut. According to the Lebanese terror group, Hussein al-Laqis was shot at a parking lot outside his home south…

Search our Archives! Hezbollah claimed that Israel assassinated its technology and weapons chief near Beirut. According to the Lebanese terror group, Hussein al-Laqis was shot at a parking lot outside his home south…

47 Percent Of Young Adults Would Vote To Recall Obama, Says Harvard Poll Politics A Harvard poll found 47 percent of 18 to 29 years olds would vote to recall President Barack Obama if it were an option. Harvard University’s Institute of Politics released the results of a survey on...

A senior Hezbollah commander was shot dead outside his south Beirut apartment yesterday in the biggest blow to the secretive Shia militia since its then military commander was assassinated by a car bomb in the city six years ago.

Preparing the invitation list to next month's peace conference on Syria is a ticklish matter for the UN's special envoy. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are influential, on opposite sides, in Syria's civil war. But the US has conditions for including Tehran.

A California congressman who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq said Wednesday that the U.S. should use nuclear weapons if forced into a war with Iran over its nuclear program. “I don’t think it’s inevitable but I think if you have to hit Iran, you don’t put boots on the...

Search our Archives! Hezbollah claimed that Israel assassinated its technology and weapons chief near Beirut. According to the Lebanese terror group, Hussein al-Laqis was shot at a parking lot outside his home south…

Carbon is the most important element on earth. The main element of all living things, such as human bodies and all the food we eat, is carbon. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most essential element to make plants, such as trees and grass, grow.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel on Wednesday for the first time since world powers struck a nuclear deal with Iran that angered the Jewish state, and amid renewed efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

China’s announcement of a new air defense zone has turned Vice President Joe Biden’s trip to Asia this week into a damage-control mission, underscoring how quickly the United States can… Click to Continue »

President Michel Sleiman rejected what he called reckless accusations that Saudi Arabia was behind last month’s attack on the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.

A top aide to President Barack Obama rebuked rivals China and Russia over human rights yesterday but admitted "painful" tradeoffs were sometimes necessary to ensure US security. National Security Advisor Susan Rice (pic, right) argued in a major speech that balancing human rights with other US national security priorities was...

Latest VideoDecember 4th, 2013     Social Security corruption in Majlis : Ownership of 100 companies transfered to one person ! The name of Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani was included  in  a report about corruption in Social Security ,  read by the related commission on Wednesday 5 December in Majlis . Cases  found ...

US oil prices jumped Wednesday following a surprising drop in US crude inventories, even as concerns about an oversupply of Middle Eastern oil pushed down the European benchmark. US benchmark West Texas ...

Search our Archives! Hezbollah claimed that Israel assassinated its technology and weapons chief near Beirut. According to the Lebanese terror group, Hussein al-Laqis was shot at a parking lot outside his home south…

It's a hard-to-resist headline in the wake of a new survey from Harvard's Institute of Politics: Young people are "disillusioned" with President Obama and have "abandoned" him. Skepticism is in order.        

Search our Archives! Hezbollah claimed that Israel assassinated its technology and weapons chief near Beirut. According to the Lebanese terror group, Hussein al-Laqis was shot at a parking lot outside his home south…

* EIA says U.S. crude stocks fall 5.6 million barrels * Refinery runs up 3 pct as maintenance season ends * OPEC keeps 30 mln bpd output cap for 2014 first half * Keystone XL pipeline may relieve Cushing bottleneck (Updates prices to settlement) By Anna Louie Sussman...

(AP) – Senior Hezbollah commander Hassan al-Laqis was assassinated early Wednesday in southern Beirut — a sharp blow to the Iranian-backed Shiite group. Hezbollah has no shortage of rivals eager to strike at its strongholds and leadership: — ISRAEL: Hezbollah quickly blamed Israel for al-Laqis’ assassination, saying it had tried...

The price of oil rose for a fourth straight day as the government reported the first drop in crude oil supplies in 11 weeks. Benchmark crude oil for January delivery rose $1.16 to $97.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia criticized "aggressive actions" by Ukrainian demonstrators and the Western response to the protests on Wednesday, saying outsiders should not interfere in Ukraine's affairs. President Viktor Yanukovich's decision last week to spurn a trade and cooperation pact with the European Union in favor of closer ties with...

Latest VideoDecember 4th, 2013     Iran and United States in the same pot for World Cup 2014 Brazil Iran and United States in the same pot for World Cup 2014 Brazil . Read more about the story in FiFa web site HERE .

Latest VideoDecember 4th, 2013     Reactions to Ahmadinejad call for Hassan Rohani debate about his accusations Political figures including the spokesman of the government ,comment on Ahmadinejad call for Hassan Rohani for a debate about his accusation during report of his 100 days government .

A hawkish House Republican says the United States should use tactical nuclear weapons to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities if war with the Islamic republic becomes necessary.

Rockets fired into a government-controlled district of Aleppo killed at least 17 people in the northern Syrian city on Wednesday, state media and a monitoring group said. Photographs from the incident in Meridien and Furqan, two adjacent neighbourhoods in western Aleppo, showed pools of blood on the pavements and a...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - With the ink barely dry on a nuclear deal that paves the way for warmer relations with the West, Iran's new leadership is making a push to patch up tensions with U.S. allies closer to home too.

JERUSALEM (AP) - Secretary of State John Kerry will present the outlines of a West Bank security plan in meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, stepping up American involvement in hopes of reviving faltering Mideast peace efforts, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

It didn’t take long for one prominent neocon to figure out that the Iran deal—and the prospect of ending the stalemate with Iran without recourse to war—has put the Democrats in a box.

>BOSTON (Reuters) - Young Americans are unhappy with virtually every major thing President Barack Obama has done since he was re-elected, but they would still vote for him today, according to the results of a Harvard University survey released on Wednesday. The national poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics of...

>By Alex Lawler and Peg MackeyVIENNA Dec 4 (Reuters) - Iran on Wednesday named seven Western oil companies it wants back in its vast oil and gas fields once international sanctions are lifted and said it would offer contract terms in April next year.Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh named...

Latest VideoDecember 4th, 2013     Head of judiciary react to Human Right resolution of United Nation human right commission َAyatoll Sadegh larijani ,  head of judiciary of Islamic Republic reject resolution issued in 16th meeting of Human Right commission and claimed that Ilamic Republic is following the guidance of  of...

Latest VideoDecember 4th, 2013     A look to Iranians in Israel from camera of a couple residing in Holland A look to Iranians in Israel  from camera of a couple residing in Holland...

December 4, 2013: The U.S. has finally negotiated terms for keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan once all other NATO forces have left after 2014. Some Afghan politicians played hardball with the Americans on this, refusing to agree to continue American immunity from the corrupt Afghan justice system after...

December 4, 2013: With great media fanfare Iran announced on November 20 th that it had dispatched its “28th fleet” to visit ports in India and Sri Lanka. The press releases mentioned that one of the ships was a “heavy submarine” and another was a “helicopter carrier.”

The gunning down of Hajj Hassan Hollo al-Laqqis, a high-ranking Hizballah commander and close crony of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, raised the stakes of the clandestine war running between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two weeks after two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

Tehran, Dec 4 : Iranian foreign ministry said Tuesday that if the proposed security pact between the US and Afghanistan is signed it will have negative consequences for the region.

U.S. stock index futures signaled a higher open on Wednesday, ahead of several economic indicators which could give an idea as to how Friday's non-farm payrolls number will read.

MANAMA, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- The 9th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) regional security summit or Manama Dialogue 2013 will be held from Dec 6 to 8 in Bahrain, Xinhua news agency reports local media as saying.

>* Market slowdown worsened in Q4 - finance director* Consumer banking profit down, wholesale profit flat* Shares fall 7 percent to 16-month lowBy Steve SlaterLONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered warned that 10 years of record earnings are likely to end this year, with profit set to fall because...

>By Clyde RussellLAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco's decision to raise its official selling price (OSP) for January crude cargoes to Asia to the highest premium in two years looks slightly at odds with recent market developments.The OSP for the benchmark Arab Light grade was raised to...