News Archive - 18 March 2014

>* Iran Feb oil exports at higher than allowed levels* Coming up: EIA weekly oil inventory data due at 1430 GMT* FMOC statement on monetary policy due at 1800 GMTBy Jacob Gronholt-PedersenSINGAPORE, March 19 (Reuters) - Brent crude sat near a six-week trough below $106 a barrel on Wednesday as...

>A judiciary spokesman told Reuters that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani had been given "a leave" from prison several weeks ago for good behavior. He said, without elaborating, that the decision was a sign of "our religion's leniency towards women".There was no immediate word on whether the release was permanent or...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As talks on a nuclear deal for Iran resumed in Vienna Tuesday, a wide majority of U.S. senators urged President Barack Obama to insist that any final agreement state that Iran "has no inherent right to enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." That lack of...

>The powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - began a new round of talks on Iran's contested nuclear work on Tuesday in Vienna, a day after Washington and the EU imposed sanctions on Russian officials."I haven't seen any negative effect," spokesman Michael Mann told...

>* U.S. may increase pressure on buyers to cut purchases* Iran oil exports up steadily after landmark Nov. deal (Adds comments from U.S. senators, background)By Osamu TsukimoriTOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - Iran exported oil at levels higher than allowed under Western sanctions for a fourth straight month in...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers will try to make headway toward resolving their nuclear dispute in talks starting in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western officials hoping the uphill challenge will not be made even more difficult by the Ukraine crisis. So far, diplomats say, there is little...

As talks on a nuclear deal for Iran resumed in Vienna yesterday, a wide majority of US senators urged President Barack Obama to insist that any final agreement state that Iran "has no inherent right to enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty". That lack of entitlement was one of several...

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - While online safety is nothing new - it may surprise you how easy it is for criminals or even your children, to hide their tracks on the world wide web.

Pelosi's Houston visit included a stop Tuesday evening at Rice University's Baker Institute to discuss issues ranging from health care and education to foreign policy. Last July, Pelosi and House Democrats unveiled their women's advocacy plan for pay equity and increased wages, paid family and sick leave as well as...

WASHINGTON (Mar 19): US President Barack Obama's threats of "costs" did not sway Vladimir Putin's calculations on Crimea.Now he must...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A top member of Iran’s judiciary said Tuesday it is taking unspecified legal action against two opposition leaders held under house arrest without charge since 2011 — a possible tentative step toward meeting their supporters’ demands that they be given a fair trial to resolve their...

What happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may eventually be discovered, but there is something else that has been missing for much longer and its "disappearance" has far greater implications for America. It is our foreign policy.

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A team from The Associated Press has won the 2014 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics for a story that revealed the CIA ties of an American who...

March 19, 2014, 1 a.m. A man who always had time to help others, a loved and loving family man, and a careful planner are just some of the ways Peter Schnackenberg is described.

OTTAWA—In many Canadians’ eyes, it would have been a bizarre sight. To Stephan Hashemi, who was 26 when his mother Zahra Kazemi was tortured to death by her Iranian jailors, it was close to unbearable. The Canadian government, which railed against Iran as a rogue state and the most dangerous...

WASHINGTON — A majority of senators on Tuesday urged President Obama to insist a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program contains a measure to prevent ...

SARTAZ Aziz’s reassurance to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday that Pakistan will not tilt to either side and will maintain a balance in relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia should serve to remove misunderstandings on this score.

IT is indeed a very generous ‘gift’ from a friendly Muslim country — $1.5 billion is not a small sum of money especially in these times of desperation and insolvency.

HOW serious a problem air pollution in cities has become is illustrated by the desperate measures Parisian authorities resorted to on Monday, when they banned from the roads all vehicles with number plates ending in even numbers.

RAISED BY FOREIGN PRESS: We did not link disappearance of MH370 with opposition, says Hishammuddin

Vienna, March 19 (IANS) The talks between Iran and six world powers in Vienna is "substantive and useful", a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday. The comment was made after Tuesday's talks between Iran and the P5+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia, the US plus...

PGS Entertainment announces a raft of international sales across Europe, Canada, and the Middle East of The Jungle Bunch to the Rescue!.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A team from The Associated Press has won the 2014 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics for a story that revealed the CIA ties of an American who vanished in Iran.        

A majority of American senators have threatened Iran with “dramatic sanctions” while Tehran and six word powers are negotiating to reach a final nuclear agreement.

What could Vladimir Putin’s seizure of Crimea possibly have to do with the upcoming midterm elections in the United States? Indirectly, a very great deal. But only indirectly. It has...

Israel’s minister for military affairs says Tel Aviv must go it alone in taking action against Iran over its nuclear energy program.

SINGAPORE, March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude slipped to trade below the $100 per barrel mark in early Asian trade on Wednesday amid expectations of another build in supplies and ahead of a Federal Reserve policy review. The contract rose by more than $1 on Tuesday to its highest...

The United Nations strongly condemned a deadly suicide attack that occurred today in the northern Afghan province of Faryab, killing 15 civilians and injuring nearly 50 others.

The inaugural edition of ‘AnonyWatch,’ an effort to point out some of the more regrettable examples of anonymous quotations in The Times.        

The United Nations mission in Libya has strongly condemned the terrorist bombing in Benghazion Monday that targeted members of the military, and called on the country’s citizens to rally around their national institutions.

OAKLAND -- Stuck for 26 months in a grim Iranian prison, Shane Bauer often let his mind drift to the shores of Lake Merritt. He would daydream of jogging around Oakland's bustling urban lake on a sunny day.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians forced to flee the bloodshed in their homeland and now living in Jordan, are struggling to make lives for themselves outside that country’s protective umbrella of refugee camps, a study co-led by the United Nations refugees ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is banking on its good relations to engage with 25 countries in the search for an airliner that has been missing for 11 days now, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said yesterday.

>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday defended her talks with human rights activists during a recent visit to Iran, saying meeting dissidents is a central part of her official travels. Speaking on the sidelines of talks in Vienna between Iran and six world powers...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran appears ready to help allay international concerns that a planned research reactor could yield nuclear bomb material, raising hope for a compromise on a tough sticking point in negotiations with world powers. How to deal with the Arak plant is expected to be among several thorny...

Russian companies have made $180 billion in deals globally in the past two years, providing steady profits to London bankers, lawyers, and image crafters as the city has become a hub for such transactions. The potential fallout highlights the web of connections linking Russia to the global financial system. Since...

The prime minister, David Cameron, holds a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, during a visit to Israel

The White House may have frozen the assets of nearly a dozen allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but in the fight for Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, some in Washington say it's not enough.        

IMAGINE THE FACE of a little boy walking while holding his father’s hand, when suddenly the father plunges onto the ground with a bullet in his head. “Oh my God,” the boy screams, “God, please Baba don’t leave me, no, no please, please don’t leave me this way.”

More than eight months have passed since the eventful coup in Egypt, which toppled the elected president Mohammad Morsi after a one year in office. The coup shattered the enthusiasm (which had accompanied the Arab Spring two years earlier) for a future democratic Arab world.

Pic from livescapeasia.com/rukes.com KUALA LUMPUR — The police freed 14 of 29 revellers who were remanded for allegedly taking drugs while attending a concert at the Bukit Jalil Stadium here early Saturday.

What in the World: MH370 disappearance prompts calls for transponder fixes, Vladimir Putin's strategic error in Ukraine, and Western meddling in Uganda.

>GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations human rights investigators have added to their list of suspected war criminals from both sides in the Syrian civil war after a new round of atrocities in recent weeks, its head said on Tuesday. The U.N. inquiry has identified military units and security agencies...

>Moshe Yaalon, whose remarks were reported in the Haaretz daily on Tuesday, caused friction with the United States only two months ago when he described Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.His latest comments, confirmed by an Israeli official who was present at...

>Both issues are expected to be on the agenda during a March 18-19 meeting between Iran and six world powers - the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia - in Vienna. Iran says its nuclear work is peaceful.The aim is to reach a comprehensive agreement by late...

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says there is good reason to hope that the new round of the nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers will bring about progress.

Billionaire Alisher Usmanov sold shares in Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc., focusing on technology investments in China such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and may expand stakes in Russian assets, an executive said. "Chinese companies account for about 70 percent to 80 percent of the portfolio of our foreign...

The president of the United States on ABC's "Scandal" is a killer. But he's not alone: the two people running against him in his bid for re-election also have committed murder.        

CIA Headquarters at Langley, Va. The CIA's chief of Iran operations, Jonathan Bank, 46 a veteran of the service, was sent home on paid leave over disarray in his department, US, Russian and Iranian media reported Tuesday, March 18. The department was notified of this step last week at CIA...

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2011 file photo, Iran's heavy water nuclear facility is backdropped by mountains near the central city of Arak, Iran. A senior Iranian official said Monday, March 17, 2014, that an alleged attempt to sabotage one of Tehran's nuclear facilities, the nuclear reactor at Arak...

Sarah Shourd sat at a Manhattan cafe on a recent afternoon, sipping hot apple cider and describing the hellish Iranian prison where she spent more than a year of her life in solitary confinement.        

President Barack Obama pauses while speaking about Ukraine, Monday, March 17, 2014, in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington.

Iranian negotiators arrived in Vienna on Monday. Zarif and Ashton will preside over the talks. Seyyed Abbas Araqchi , who is a top Iranian nuclear negotiator and Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, met with Helga Schmid, a deputy to Ashton, on Monday.

>* U.S. crude pressured by expectations of inventory build* Brent's premium to U.S. crude to narrow in medium term - analyst (Adds quotes, updates prices)By Keith WallisSINGAPORE, March 18 (Reuters) - Brent edged higher above $106 a barrel on Tuesday, with bargain-hunting kicking in after the benchmark fell...

>INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks gain, yen retreats as Ukraine worries ease* Brent oil falls $2 as Crimea threat eases, global demand wanes* Gold off six-month high as equities gain* MIDEAST STOCKS-Property, banks lift UAE bourses after Dubai debt rollover* Lebanese army blows up suspect car close to Syrian border* Iran, six...