News Archive - 21 March 2014

>"We are disappointed with the lack of an apology from Defense Minister Yaalon's comments," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a daily briefing. "His comments don't reflect the true nature of our relationship with Israel," she added.In a lecture at Tel Aviv University, Yaalon said Israel could not rely...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has abandoned efforts to arrange a summit with Gulf Arab leaders during President Barack Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia next week because of divisions with the group of regional U.S. allies, Obama's top national security aide said on Friday. Obama will go ahead...

>MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signed laws completing Russia's annexation of Crimea on Friday as investors took fright at a U.S. decision to slap sanctions on his inner circle of money men and security officials. Putin promised to protect a bank partly owned by an old ally, which...

>WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - U.S. sanctions this week against Russia were carefully crafted in an attempt to target President Vladimir Putin's inner circle without provoking a backlash from Moscow against U.S. businesses, senior U.S. officials said. Concerns about possible Russian retaliation "helped shape the discussions about...

>By Gerry Shih and Alexei OreskovicSAN FRANCISCO, March 21 (Reuters) - Turkey's abrupt ban on Twitter Inc stirred concerns on Friday that the country may pull the plug on other social media and Internet services as it grapples with internal turmoil.Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has in the past threatened...

>LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - The future of two big loans for oil trading firm Gunvor and petrochemicals group Sibur were thrown into doubt after Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko appeared on the US sanctions list over Russia's involvement in Crimea and Ukraine. Timchenko is one of Gunvor's founders and was...

>* Danish authorities brief 130 Danish companies on Russian situation* Visa and MasterCard halt services to clients of 2 Russian banks* Banks very cautious after getting into sanctions trouble in the past (Recasts with details of German corporate fallout, changes dateline)By Eric Matzen and Michelle MartinCOPENHAGEN/FRANKFURT, March 21 (Reuters) -...

>* On campaign trial, Erdogan vows to "wipe out" Twitter* Regulator says ban follows court orders* Twitter tells Turks how to keep tweeting* No plans to block Facebook, other social media -officialBy Orhan CoskunANKARA, March 21 (Reuters) - Turkey's courts have blocked access to Twitter days before elections as Prime...

>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian stock indexes fell sharply on Friday as investors digested the impact of U.S. sanctions over Ukraine, including possible moves by Washington to target whole sectors of Russia's economy. At 0720 GMT the ruble-denominated MICEX was down 3 percent to 1,281 points while the dollar-denominated RTS...

France’s Ex-President claims investigators who tapped his phones are worse than the East German Stasi.

Is Rand Paul the GOP's future? A quick way to make college more affordable. And the roots of the income inequality debate.

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter Inc said on Friday it hopes access to its social media service in Turkey will be restored soon, a day after it was blocked by the country's government.

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.

The largest lake in the Middle East is drying up due to a lack of rain, dam construction and poor water management.

Even though most Parsis had taken a day off from their work, there was a sense of urgency to do things. With a series of to do things lined up for the today, Parsis were in a rush. And for that matter, it was not just the Parsis Irani Zoroastrians.

Lawrence E. Walsh, the special prosecutor who spent six years investigating misconduct by President Ronald Reagan administration officials in the Iran-Contra affair, has died. He was 102.

The American President Mr. Barack Obama is gung-ho in visiting Malaysia. His reported visit intention comes in the wake of a series of national tragedies…

THIS refers to the letter ‘Electricity from India’ (March 14) by Zafar Cheema. The writer is right in demanding that the issue of import of electricity from India should be debated in parliament.

By acquiescing to the formation of a new state, Telangana, India is setting a dangerous precedent of ethnic division.

Pyongyang, March 21 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Friday sent a message of greeting to Hassan Rouhani, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the occasion of the Iranian New Year.

Pyongyang, March 21 (KCNA) -- Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, Friday sent a message of greeting to Eshaq Jahangiri, first vice-president of Iran, on the occasion of the Iranian New Year.

One of the individuals on America’s new sanctions list has apparent ties to a group of high-fliers accused by the murdered lawyer Sergei Magnitsky of Russia’s most massive fraud.

A DENIAL by the prime minister was overdue, given the misgivings expressed by the opposition and the media, besides the earnestness with which the Senate expressed its reservations and wanted to hear the government’s point of view.

THE prime minister has spoken. His statement should have silenced all those raising questions about why the Saudis are giving us large piles of cash. But the questions continue to be asked. Why?

Amid ongoing high-level diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, it's a symbol of underlying mistrust.

US sanctions this week against Russia were carefully crafted in an attempt to target President Vladimir Putin's inner circle without provoking a backlash from Moscow against US businesses, senior US officials said. Concerns about possible Russian retaliation "helped shape the discussions about appropriate sanctions" within the White House,...

News items from around the world

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. It is still a fast-unfolding story, and so I would not hasten to draw any judgments and/or conclusions that may shortly turn out to be grossly inaccurate.

As I write this on the evening of Thursday March 20, the latest Malaysian government press conference is being shown live on the round-the-clock TV news channel ABC24.

In 1919, after allied sanctions on food shipments had starved the Kaiser’s Germany into submission, President Woodrow Wilson endorsed the continued use of sanctions to settle international disputes as an “economic, peaceful, silent, deadly remedy.” Almost a century later, the weapon is more popular than ever, mostly because of...

TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader on Friday urged citizens to become more self-reliant as the country begins what is likely to be another economically trying ...

U.S. President Barack Obama is turning a European trip originally focused on nuclear security and trade into a mission to mobilize international opposition to Russia's annexation of Crimea. White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Russian President Vladimir Putin's moves to claim Crimea from Ukraine have prompted the...

WASHINGTON -- New Orleans' Mardi Gras parades attract close to a million visitors each year, but it's not all glitz and glamour -- arrests for public urination, often due to a lack of facilities, are common.

Who is to blame for the current atmosphere of crisis around the world, who is to blame for the increase of tension to fever pitch, who is to blame for taking our societies to breaking point?

Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in response to the Ukraine crisis, including the seizure of territory of a neighboring state, serves as a "game changer" in international relations with Russia, says Strobe Talbott, a former deputy Secretary of State and veteran Russia expert.

NSW Labor powerbroker Sam Dastyari has lashed his own party's asylum seeker policies and predicted Australians will one day be as embarrassed by offshore processing as they now are by the White Australia Policy.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel welcomes Prince Salman bin Sultan, deputy minister of defense of Saudi Arabia, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

Global crude steel production rose narrowly in February following a decline a month ago.

Stocks went on a wild ride Friday, but still finished the week higher. The S&P 500 hit a record high right out of the gate. The rally faded almost immediately. The index bounced around for most of the day before ending lower. The Dow Jones industrial average also closed in...

The upper house of the Russian parliament has approved Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Two almost simultaneous signatures Friday on opposite sides of Europe deepened the divide between East and West, as Russia formally annexed Crimea and the European Union pulled Ukraine closer into its orbit.

Sri Lanka is an island with a land mass of 65,610 Sq km. Around 74 percent of the Sri Lankan population is Sinhalese and about 12.55 percent Tamil; the majority who live in the North and East and the rest is represented by a few other communities (i.e.

IRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Tehran will move ahead with its uranium enrichment for its nuclear energy program whose peaceful nature has been proven to the world.

At 12:40 a.m. local time in Saturday, March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 left Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. The images were released around the same time that investigators began to widen their search parameters.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. is still waiting for Israel's defense minister to apologize for calling Washington weak on Iran's nuclear program.

The White House on Friday billed President Barack Obama's Europe trip next week as a chance to show the United States leading a campaign to isolate Russia over its annexation of Crimea. Obama will meet G7 leaders and confer with the leadership of European Union nations and NATO, as he...

By Nick Tattersall and Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's ban on Twitter ahead of bitterly contested elections brought a furious reaction at home and abroad on Friday, with users of the social networking service denouncing the move as a "digital coup" and the president expressing his disapproval. A court...

NEW YORK: Just over a year after leaving her job as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has offered views on foreign policy that analysts said seem part of an effort to distance herself from the Obama administration as she prepares a possible 2016 White House run. In appearances this month,...

With Vladimir Putin's seeming success in rolling over Crimea and pushing aside the Ukrainians, President Obama is talking tough. And, though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, Poland, the Baltic States, Hungary and the Czech Republic are. They need some shoring up. So Mr. Obama has sent Vice President...

The best images from the week's news, March 14- March 21, 2014

Correspondent peter cook. And also we have another correspondent. What is the number one we expect to hear, peter? I think it is clear from the briefing at the white house that ukraine has become rather a big topic for the resident.

Iran is building a crude mock-up of an American aircraft carrier at a ship yard on its Gulf coast and US officials said Friday the goal of the project remains a mystery. Iran has made no attempt to hide its "curious" construction effort near Bandar Abbas on the Gulf, as...

The Journal's morning rundown of the biggest news stories and exclusive features from Washington on politics, policy, financial regulation, defense and more.

The AM Roundup: Law Blog rounds up the morning's news.

If you wonder what the few Syrian film-makers have been able to achieve during the terrible conflict that is now tearing their country apart, Return to Homs is at least a partial answer. The film, given the grand jury prize for documentary at Sundance in January, is a brave effort...

In the latest round of sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea, President Obama blocked an additional 20 prominent Russians from visiting or doing business with the US. But Thursday's list largely avoids targeting a major source of Russia's revenue and influence: energy.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during an International Women's Day event at the U.N. headquarters in New York, March 7, 2014. On March 8 activists around the globe celebrate International Women's Day, which dates back to the beginning of the 20th Century and has been...

Stocks are expected to be volatile Friday as contracts expire for a variety of options Still, the major gauges are on track for a weekly gain despite changes in Fed policy, geopolitical tensions and worries about China.

Special to WorldTribune.com GAZA CITY — Iran’s leading Palestinian proxy has acquired a multiple-launch rocket system. The Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad unveiled what it termed an indigenous MLRS deployed in the Gaza Strip. Jihad said the platform was employed against Israel in the rocket war against Israel in mid-March. “We...

The tit-for-tat sanctions and travel barring for named individuals between the US and Russia have predictably prompted a sell-off in Russian stocks as nervous investors flee ahead of further restrictions on sectors of the Russian economy.

Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yatsenyuk and European leaders signed on Friday part of the political and economic association pact with the European Union that helped trigger the months-long crisis in Ukraine.

A major deal on banking union was rescued Thursday when European Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on the Single Resolution Mechanism, designed to prevent a failing bank from wrecking the economy.

Twitter is now banned in Turkey, after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promised to "root out" the social media service during an election rally this week. So naturally, Twitter use in the country is still going strong. As translated by the Guardian, Gul protested the ban on Twitter: The shutdown of an...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Mossad intelligence agency says eight Iranian Jews who disappeared while trying to leave the Islamic Republic in the 1990's were killed.

Several weeks after President Jimmy Carter lost his 1980 re-election battle, his campaign chairman, Bob Strauss, was looking ahead.

Russian stock indexes fell sharply on Friday as investors digested the impact of the sanctions on Ukraine. The rouble-denominated MICEX was down 3…        

Malaysia is seeking assistance from the United States for use of its specialist assets including remotely-operated vehicles for deep ocean salvage.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military announced Friday it has uncovered another tunnel — the biggest so far — dug from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, stretching into Israel and intended for militant attacks or abducting soldiers and civilians.

VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. says Iran is curbing its atomic activities in line with a preliminary deal made in January.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's top leader says his nation can best counter sanctions imposed by the West by strengthening its economy.

>* Feb imports at 552,613 bpd, up 6 pct on yr, down 2.1 pct on mth* Jan-Feb imports at 558,877 bpd, up 36.2 pct on yrBy Judy Hua and David StanwayBEIJING, March 21 (Reuters) - China's February crude oil imports from Iran rose 6 percent from a year...

The Note’s Must-Reads are a round-up of today’s political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com Compiled by ABC News’ Jayce Henderson, Will Cantine and Janine Elliot PRESIDENT OBAMA ABC News’ Abby D. Phillip:...

On May 13, 1985, a confrontation between Philadelphia police and members of the black liberation group MOVE at the organization's West Philly headquarters turned violent. An exchange of gunfire was followed by a police attempt to force MOVE members out with tear gas.

Russian stock indexes fell sharply today as investors digested the impact of the United States sanctions over Ukraine, including possible moves by Washington to target whole sectors of Russia's economy. At 0720 GMT the rouble-denominated MICEX was down 3% to 1,281 points while the dollar-denominated RTS index had fallen 3.

Plans for more than 2,000 West Bank units are moved forward

At least one Ukrainian politician is wondering whether his nation should have kept its nuclear arsenal after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1994 the US, UK, Russia and Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum, in which the three powers offered assurances that they would respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Pavlo...