News Archive - 21 April 2014

>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The authors of a new study say that manipulating alcohol drinkers' sense of control can counteract the negative feelings that motivate them to drink. People who have a strong sense of control believe their lives are controlled by their own choices rather than the actions...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will start cutting gasoline subsidies this week, an official said on Monday, a move that will test President Hassan Rouhani's public support as higher petrol prices add to inflation in a country already squeezed by economic sanctions. The amount of the subsidy cut - and the...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani's government confirmed rumors on Monday it had reshuffled the leadership of Iran's atomic agency to sideline nuclear experts opposed to talks on its atomic program with the West. Rouhani and his negotiators have been under intense pressure from Islamic hardliners opposed to the talks...

>* Gasoline futures rise after report of refinery shutdown* Eyes on Ukraine peace deal, Libyan ports reopening (Adds gasoline prices, updates oil prices, adds analyst)By Sabina ZawadzkiLONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Crude oil strengthened slightly on Monday, with U.S. crude futures supported by positive economic data, but prices were...

>Yildiz also said Turkey would hold talks with Russia on a new contract for the private sector to buy natural gas at a 'reasonable' price and that it may import electricity from Iran, Georgia and Bulgaria in the summer if there was a problem with electricity production due to drought.

Suleiman Abu Ghaith is the highest-ranking al-Qaida official to stand trial in the US following September 11 terror attacks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton's upcoming book will be called "Hard Choices," a title that reflects how the potential 2016 presidential candidate may try to define her record as President Barack Obama's secretary of state while she considers another White House campaign.

The government of Pakistan has provided compensation to the family of a Nepali citizen Sona Sherpa who was killed in an attack by Islamist fundamentalists in Pakistan last June. The bereaved family received one million rupees in compensation from the Pakistan government at an initiative Nepal's Ambassador to Pakistan Bharat...

BAKU (Azerbaijan), April 22 (Bernama) -- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has left Iran's oil projects as an ultimatum over its continuous delays has expired, Azerbaijan's Trend news agency reported.

On the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, Gen. James Mattis admonished the 1st Marine Division to “(d)emonstrate to the world there is ‘No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy.’ ” That motto could serve as a guiding principle for sound national security policy.

Republican politicians are at war over the world.

IN IRAQ, mafiosi already run almost the entire oil output of the south of the country. Saudi Arabia is giving $3bn to the Pakistan government of Nawaz Sharif. But what is it for? Pakistani journalists have been told not to ask this question.

>INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares supported on Wall St gains, Ukraine a risk* Oil futures range-bound in low volumes, eyes on Ukraine* Gold extends losses to 4th session; fund outflows continue* MIDEAST STOCKS-Dubai surges on Emaar, Arabtec dividend speculation* Pakistan's MCB drops plans to buy Islamic bank, to set up own...

>* U.S. crude stocks seen up, gasoline down - poll* Iran nuclear agency reshuffle may pave way for talks* Brent to escape $109.17-$110.40 range - technicalsBy Manash GoswamiSINGAPORE, April 22 (Reuters) - Brent futures held near a six-week high above $110 a barrel on Tuesday on worries...

PNG nationals employed as security guards at the detention centre have attacked asylum seekers.

LAHORE: Usman, 10, has developed asthma and has to use an inhaler when the situation becomes unbearable. The doctor, his mother says, has told them that the condition has more to do with his surroundings rather than any other factor.

The FTSE 100 is within touching distance of its dizzy 1999 heights. But the years since then remain a cautionary tale Cast your mind back to the end of the last millennium and the dotcom boom. Companies were floating on the stock market left, right and centre, often with very...

EXCLUSIVE It was hatched in a hurry, driven by anger and frustration. And doomed to fail.

At least five people killed in the latest in a series of bombings that mark a sharp deterioration in security across Lebanon A powerful car bomb exploded near a Hezbollah security zone in southern Beirut on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding dozens more in the fifth such...

THE 55th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) kicks-off in Bulawayo Tuesday with a number of local and foreign exhibitors participating.

Syria called a presidential election for June 3, aiming to give President Bashar Assad a veneer of electoral legitimacy in the midst of a civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people and driven a third of the population from...

Traders set to increasingly feel the pinch from flare-ups in petro-statesFOR ANY traders not paying close attention to energy markets, recent events will have come as a rude awakening. Brent crude shot ...

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

President Hassan Rouhani's government confirmed rumours yesterday it had reshuffled the leadership of Iran's atomic agency to sideline nuclear experts opposed to talks on its atomic programme with the West. Rouhani and his negotiators have been under intense pressure from Islamic hardliners opposed to the talks with the United States...

An Iranian deputy oil minister says the Islamic Republic plans to launch four petrochemical plants in the current Iranian calendar year (began March 21).

After Vladimir Putin, how many more leaders will risk their nation's security and economy for an IOC mega-event? An army of 30,000 is deployed. A further 40,000 police and internal security troops lie in reserve. Missile launchers and tracking devices are commissioned. Air and naval units stand ready. On Tuesday this...

The man who takes wayward children to therapy camp

Opposition activist says rebels accept Bashar al-Assad will remain in power for forseeable future and could regain control of most of the country

Questions are swirling around a science journal's decision last year to publish a description of a newly-discovered botulinum toxin while omitting key genetic details that researchers would normally disclose. The unusual case highlights important unresolved issues in ho read more

Wildlife experts hail success of UN-backed initiative to protect Asiatic cheetahs from extinction despite sanctions Asiatic cheetahs, a subspecies of the fastest animal on earth, are extinct globally except in Iran where they are considered to be critically endangered. But marking a rare success, conservationists at the Persian wildlife heritage...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, left, and Oman's leader Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said review the honour guard during a welcome ceremony in Muscat on March 12, 2014.

TORONTO - Alice Cooper, George Takei, The Iron Sheik and the man behind Big Bird are among the high-profile guests headed to this year's Hot Docs festival. The annual non-fiction marathon will unspool 197 films from 43 countries starting Thursday. Here's a look at some of the homegrown films...

Would you get paid to act as a third passenger in a vehicle so the car could drive into a congestion-restricted area? How about signing up to pack people into crowded subway cars? Dress up as a zebra and walk the streets, preventing cars from running red lights? Read more...

From Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal bundle of joy — third in line of succession to the British throne — to 98-year-old David Rockefeller, the oldest billionaire alive, it's evident that authority transcends shape, size, and age.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is naming a prominent white collar defense attorney and veteran of president Bill Clinton's White House as his new top lawyer. Neil Eggleston will replace Obama's long-time counsel Kathryn Ruemmler who is leaving after three years in the job.

Syrian opposition sources says rebels are only agreeing to regime-led local cease-fires because the alternative is starvation.

Here's why Obamacare is not just one number.

The household cleaning agent chlorine, in heavy concentration is purchased by Iran and and fitted with detonators, to provide President Bashar Assad with a vehicle for cheating on his undertaking to surrender Syria’s chemical arsenal under the year-old US-Russian chemical disarmament accord.

Islamabad, April 21 (IANS) Pakistan's Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights approved a resolution Monday to lift a ban on video-sharing website Youtube, a media report said. A meeting of the standing committee was chaired by the panel's chief Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Dawn online reported. YouTube was first banned in...

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Gms adhiban of india maghami of iran and yangyi of china score victories gm ehsan ghaem maghami gm pentala harikrishna yu yangyi tan zhongyi harika dr...

(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) hran April 21 - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs and Senior Nuclear Negotiator Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who has pledged to create equal work opportunities for women, said their increased involvement in society needn’t come at the expense of their roles as wives and mothers.

(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) hran April 21 - An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale rocked town of Qarebill along borders of North Khorasan and Golestan provinces in nort...