News Archive - 3 July 2014

>* Asian stocks, dollar rise on upbeat U.S. jobs data* Iraqi Kurds say will sue Baghdad if it blocks oil sales* Islamic State seizes oil field and towns in Syria's eastBy Manash GoswamiSINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - Brent futures held steady around $111 a barrel on Friday on signs...

>JERUSALEM, July 4 (Reuters) - A Kurdish diplomat has played down the significance of Israeli advocacy of independence for her people, saying it was not coordinated with the autonomous Kurdish government in Iraq and may be intended to served Israel's interests. While acknowledging that Israel had sway in Washington, which...

>ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) - The president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region asked its parliament on Thursday to plan a referendum on Kurdish independence, signaling his impatience with Baghdad, which is fighting to repel Sunni insurgents and struggling to form a new government. The move came despite U.S. pressure for...

>Aluminum maker Alcoa kicks off the U.S. corporate earnings season after North America markets close on Tuesday, announcing its results for the second quarter. Investors may look for comments from Alcoa executives on possible plans to diversify away from the commodity aluminum business at a time the market is...

>HAVANA, July 3 (Reuters) - Cuba on Thursday criticized as illegal the record U.S. fine against French bank BNP Paribas , saying President Barack Obama's administration has now imposed more Cuba-related penalties than that of any previous U.S. president. BNP Paribas this week pleaded guilty to two criminal...

>SEOUL (Reuters) - Hong Myung-bo will continue as coach of South Korea's national soccer team despite their early exit from the World Cup, the Korean Football Association (KFA) said on Thursday. Hong's position came under scrutiny after South Korea, who reached the semi-finals in 2002 on home soil, finished bottom...

>U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the United Nations was especially worried about executions in Iran, including the planned execution of a woman convicted of murdering her husband at the age of 17. "These very many acts of execution stemming from trials that we feel are not...

>The cost of failure could be high. If diplomacy falls short, the risk of Israeli air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites could rise, and with it the threat of a wider Middle East war. After informal contacts on Wednesday, chief negotiators from Iran, the United States, France, Germany, China, Russia...

A senior Iranian official says reports on the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges Tehran seeks to settle on as part of a final nuclear deal with the P5+1 are mere "foreign media speculations." "All the figures which are reported on the number of centrifuges are the figment of the imagination of some foreign...

Celebrate America’s independence from the World Cup by choosing a new team to support for the next ten days.

NEW YORK: The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called upon the Pakistani government to repeal a counterterrorism law that it says threatens basic freedoms and rights in violation of Pakistan's international legal obligations.

July 4, 2014, 9:35 a.m. | Ukraine — by Interfax-Ukraine Bushehr nuclear power plant, 746 miles south of Tehran, Aug. 21, 2010. © Reuters.com Moscow - The situation surrounding Ukraine will not disrupt negotiations intended to secure a solution to Iran's nuclear problem, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei...

SunTrust Mortgage Inc. has agreed to pay up to $320 million to resolve allegations that it misled customers seeking loan modifications under a government program established to help homeowners avoid f

Despite complaints by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the United States has been slow in its delivery of F-16 fighter jets, no Iraqi pilot team has qualified to fly the aircraft in combat and none will be ready before mid-August, according to an official at the US-based program where the...

Thank not just players but their fitness trainers, too. Teams prepared superbly for the heat, humidity and arduous travel between far-flung venues. Players are coping remarkably from the exertions and accumulated fatigue of a match every five or six days.

White House defends US response in Iraq, says Iran can explain its own decisions

A NSA spying tool is configured to snoop on an array of privacy programs used by journalists and dissidents, according to an analysis of never-before-seen code leaked by an unknown source. The code , published as part of investigation by two German broadcasters on Thursday, contains tracking specifications for XKeyScore,...

Is Iraq headed for national fracture? Will it, after the current vacuum created by its sectarian divide is filled, find a way around its social contradictions?

FAREWELL: Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao, sixth left, and Nepal Ambassador Udaya Raj Pandey, eight left, pose for photo at a farewell reception hosted in honor of Sibi George, minister and deputy chief of Indian mission, seventh left, in Riyadh recently.

Posted: Thursday, July 3, 2014 3:03 pm | Updated: 4:03 pm, Thu Jul 3, 2014.

Keith Meader Henderson, of Buffalo, a SUNY Buffalo State political science professor for 45 years, died June 22 in Erie County Medical Center of injuries suffered in a traffic accident. He was 80.

The ACES agency, home to 10 players tied to Biogenesis, is one of the investigations primary targets.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has consulted with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (AHN'-geh-lah MEHR'-kuhl) about how to get peace talks in Ukraine back on track.

>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi insurgents are preparing for an assault on Baghdad, with sleeper cells planted inside the capital to rise up at "Zero Hour" and aid fighters pushing in from the outskirts, according to senior Iraqi and U.S. security officials. Sunni fighters have seized wide swathes of the...

>France's largest bank has agreed to pay almost $9 billion to resolve U.S. accusations that it violated U.S. sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran, in a severe punishment aimed at sending a clear message to other financial institutions around the world.According to U.S. law, banks can...

>BRASILIA (Reuters) - One of the most powerful and enduring World Cup photographs depicts Diego Maradona in possession of the ball, confronted by a posse of six panic-stricken Belgian defenders. Thirty-two years after the picture was taken, Lionel Messi is set to sow similar terror into the Belgian defense as...

MANCHESTER — Carr Park was occupied by ham radio operators, June 28-29.

Today is Thursday, July 3, the 184th day of 2014. There are 181 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 3, 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union...

A GIANT singing sculpture has found a new permanent home on the Airbus Aerospace Park in Filton.

Good morning, it’s Thursday July 3, the forecast mentions a slight chance of rain, and it’s the anniversary of the end of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

Clive Cussler and Graham Brown bring to life this latest Kurt Austin adventure from the NUMA Files, enticing readers with a prologue set in 1909 in Durban, South Africa.

Gold Today – The gold price closed at $1,326.90 up 10 cents on Wednesday in New York. In Asia prices dropped to $1,321 ahead of the London Fix which was set at $1,322.50 down $4.25 and in the euro at €968.581 down €2.401, while the...

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Julai (Bernama) -- Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul HalimMu'adzam Shah dan Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah berangkat ke majlisberbuka puasa bersama barisan anggota Kabinet dan perwakilan asing yang beragamaIslam di Istana Negara di sini malam ini. Turut hadir Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dan...

World powers and Iran resumed talks Thursday in Vienna, Austria, aimed at reaching a permanent deal on the future of Tehran's nuclear program ahead of a looming deadline.

The White House released its annual staffer...

>By John KempLONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - "Geopolitical risk" turns out to have surprisingly little impact on the valuation of oil and most financial assets.Since the beginning of 2011, revolutions and counter-revolutions have rocked the Arab world, sanctions have slashed oil exports from Iran, and unrest has cut production...