News Archive - 13 April 2014

>A senior Iranian naval commander was quoted in February as saying that several warships would be sent towards U.S. maritime borders in the Atlantic although the Pentagon said at the time that it was not concerned and that many countries operated in the ocean's international waters.But on Sunday,...

Leader says recent routing of opposition near Lebanese border is a decisive moment in the three-year conflict President Bashar al-Assad has said that the country's three-year civil war is turning in the government's favour, state news agency SANA reported. "This is a turning point in the crisis, both militarily in...

If Group D is not quite the group of death, Roy Hodgson's team will do well to make the second round in Brazil next year The last time we were here, it was marked the next morning with a now-infamous front-page splash of "E-A-S-Y", which was certainly one way of...

By: Quincy J. Walters, STAFF WRITER In 2006, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill that prohibited Florida universities from funding travel to “terrorist” states, including Syria, Iran, Sudan and Cuba. ...

James Arbuthnot says nuclear deterrence is 'potential booby trap' and Britain is no longer a top-tier military power One of the Conservative party's most influential voices on defence has conceded that Britain can no longer be regarded as a "division-one military power", and raised questions over the sense of replacing...

RUSSIA'S aggression in Ukraine has had the effect of unifying the Western democracies, at least in their robust condemnation of the action. But travel further afield and one sees a variety of responses, which foreshadow the great emerging tension in 21st-century international life -- between global norms and national interests.

Islamabad (AFP) April 13, 2014 Pakistan on Sunday announced its talks with the Taliban militants to reach an accord will enter a "comprehensive" phase in days, with both sides set to put forward formal agendas, after weeks of negotiations. The announcement came from the country's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali...

President will field questions from the press corps before he hets off to Hawaii for his annual end-of-year vacation Jim Newell

Catherine Ashton has taken such care to avoid unnecessary publicity during almost five years as the EU High Representative on Foreign Policy that she will have hated the two recent mishaps that have brought her unwanted attention.        

Washington (AFP) April 13, 2014 The United States' refusal to issue a visa to Iran's pick for UN ambassador is not impacting talks over the country's disputed nuclear program, Washington's envoy to the United Nations said Sunday. Washington has said it won't issue a visa to newly appointed Hamid Aboutalebi,...

With strategic ambitions far beyond Ukraine, Putin is bent on restoring Russia to its former glory.        

Iran has struck an agreement with the US, Russia, China, Germany, France and the UK to limit aspects of its nuclear development programme. Here are the main elements

Shane Delia tells Nur Aqidah Azizi he cherishes the experience and exposure in TLC’s new show Shane Delia’s Spice Journey

America’s neocons and their allies want an escalating confrontation with Iran, not a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue. So they seek out hot buttons to anger Iran and make President Obama’s job harder, such as blocking Iran’s choice of UN ambassador, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.

The world now faces total electronic penetration, with huge power to those who control it. After Edward Snowden, we would be deluded to accept any assurances Believe it or not, journalists can keep secrets. Nor do they keep any old secrets. They keep state and security secrets. In the last...

Secretary of state has come a long way – and worked extremely hard – since losing the 2004 presidential election After three decades as a foreign policy specialist in the US Senate, secretary of state John Kerry could not be happier in his newfound role as President Barack Obama's bridge-builder...

The Iranian men’s national taekwondo team has showed an impressive performance in the 2014 Taekwondo German Open, and been crowned the world’s champion.

Flint — The Michigan family of an ex-Marine imprisoned in Iran since his 2011 arrest on spying charges says recent legal developments hold out hope of his release.

U.S. crude oil futures rose in early trade on Monday on rising geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

>TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - For two weeks now, the rifles have been silent along Syria Street in Lebanon's Tripoli, an area shot up so often that even memorial posters of men killed just a few months ago are speckled with bullet holes. Soldiers patrol quiet streets where gunmen used to...

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Hopes that US will announce short-team deal Iran nuclear plans could be frustrated by bid to impose new sanctions on Tehran Spencer Ackerman

From wildfires in Chile to a robotic football match in Iran, Al Jazeera showcases the week in images.

By Saharareporters, New York When did you retire and how are you spending your time now? I retired from the federal civil service in June 2009, and since my retirement, I have been working in the farm. I am a farmer as well as a consultant. I consult for people...

ONLY 10 local riders will hold the fort against the foreign riders but they are expected to go all out for Filipino pride and glory in the 2014 Le Tour de Filipinas that hits the road on April 21 from Clark in Pampanga and winds up in Baguio City on...

The Philippines is playing host to some of Asia’s best volleyball clubs currently battling it out for the title in the PLDT HOME Fibr 2014 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship (AMCC).

HAVING reached the quarterfinals, thanks largely to Iraq, the Power Pinoys battle Qatar today in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena, determined to prove they have what it takes.

(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) hran April 13 - An earthquake measuring 4 on Richter scale jolted today the town of Parsian in Hormozgan province Southern Iran. According to the repor...

Just days after the latest international talks aimed at securing a deal over Iran's disputed nuclear program, it says needs more uranium centrifuges.

Turkish Minister of Development Cevdet Yilmaz, who co-chairs the Iran-Turkey Joint Economic Commission, is set to pay an official visit to Iran to discuss ways to increase economic transactions and joint business ventures.

>But a three-week-old offensive by rebel fighters in the north of Latakia province, a bastion of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority, has brought the battle ever closer and shattered that sense of relative security.Rebels are now fighting in the hills overlooking the sea, bringing the country's main port of...