News Archive - 29 July 2014

>KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 (Reuters) - Muslim tourists have long chosen Malaysia, its beaches and its malls as a holiday destination thanks to cultural affinity. Now the Southeast Asian country, where Muslims make up about 60 percent of the population, wants to parlay its visitor dividend into a bid to...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lead U.S. nuclear negotiator declined to give a final deadline on Tuesday for negotiating a final nuclear agreement with Iran, but said participants mean to finish the international talks at the end of the current four-month extension. "Our intent is absolutely to end this on...

>The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday called for the immediate release of the four journalists, three of whom it said hold U.S.-Iranian citizenship.Two of the detainees are Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post's Tehran correspondent, and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian citizen and a correspondent for...

>HOUSTON/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq scrambled to gain control of a cargo of Kurdish oil worth $100 million off the Texas coast on Tuesday after a U.S. judge ordered its seizure in a bid by Baghdad to halt oil sales by the autonomous region of Kurdistan. A U.S. magistrate...

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Tuesday accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and called on the Islamic world to arm Palestinians fighting "the Zionist regime". In a speech marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, Khamenei said Israel was acting like a "rabid dog" and "a wild wolf"...

Washington, July 30 (IANS) The chief US negotiator in Iran nuclear talks Tuesday cited "significant and steady" progress over the past six months, but would not say whether the negotiations would be further extended. "I cannot tell you today that our diplomacy will succeed because I am not sure that...

Nearly 69 years ago, Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk navigated a U.S. B-29 Superfortress called the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, Japan, on a sunny August day. Once over its target, the Enola Gay unloaded the first atomic bomb dropped in war.

Detroit police say they've arrested a man and a woman in the fatal shooting of a Michigan National Guard soldier during a carjacking on the city's west side.

The Muslim caliphate now being established in the northern halves of Syria and Iraq has its origins in the partitioning of the Middle East by the retreating European colonialists of the beginning 20th century.

Pictures of the day from The Huffington Post brings you the very best news and sports images, from around the world chosen and created by our own photo editors, Elliot Wagland , Tahira Mirza and Michael Cripps.

Nearly 69 years ago, Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk navigated a U.S. B-29 Superfortress called the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, Japan, on a sunny August day. Once over its target, the Enola Gay unloaded the first atomic bomb dropped in war.

John Kerry fought in Vietnam, threw his medals away, served decades in the Senate, ran for president, did some windsurfing and then became secretary of state of the most powerful...

A North Korean missile is fired at a patrolling US Navy ship in the Sea of Japan. But a nearby Japanese destroyer spots it early and shoots it down. In another part of the world, Filipino soldiers on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in some troubled country are ambushed by ...

The current round of fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, in Gaza has been raging for over three weeks. Both sides have suffered casualties -- the numbers are much higher on the Palestinian side, as they always are.

When you visit a country, you're actually inside 'the travel bubble'.

Poll shows majority of Israelis back military operation

Growing global crises around the world could turn what is seen as one of Hillary Clinton's assets into a liability.

A crisis like the Gaza conflict or the surge of immigrants can be an opportunity for a lame duck president, writes Julian Zelizer

JOSH HONG A Palestinian man once asked me, how would you, as a Christian, feel if it was the Christians that were being persecuted today? I replied, “First of all, Christians are indeed being persecuted, in Iraq, Iran and perhaps in Syria right now. So there is no ‘were’ but...

No matter how long it takes or how difficult the process turns out to be, those responsible for the deaths of 298 people on board MH17 must be identified and brought to justice.

>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States faces an awkward rival in its first attempts in 40 years to export crude oil - Iran. Iran, whose economy has been throttled by Western sanctions that have halved its crude shipments, is now selling higher quality and cheaper oil to China that leaves...

And then there were nine. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday that Turkmenistan has joined the State Department's list of worst religious freedom offenders.

The Islamic State, like many shady and not-so-shady groups before it, are apparently getting into the oil business. And it seems to suit them as they reportedly are making millions of dollars a day off of it.

An Obama administration official has declined to commit to an absolute end date for nuclear negotiations with Iran, but says the United States remains committed to a verifiable accord preventing Tehran from building an atomic weapon. In the Senate, lawmakers of both parties voiced strong skepticism about international talks with...

House Armed Services Committee members voted Tuesday to condemn President Obama for failing to consult with congressional leaders before swapping five Taliban prisoners for prisoner of war Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The Department of Defense has taken the unusual step of overseeing a plagiarism investigation being conducted by the U.S. Army War College against Sen. John Walsh of Montana, the college's provost said Tuesday.

One month after a third-straight defeat, the only active-duty service member in the world's top mixed martial arts circuit has been released from his contract.

Spurred to action by the downing of the Malaysian airliner, the European Union approved dramatically tougher economic sanctions Tuesday against Russia, followed swiftly by a new round of U.S. penalties targeting key sectors of the Russian economy.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court ordered that 11 more police officers be kept in custody pending trial over accusations that they used wiretaps to spy on Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his inner circle, a defense lawyer said on Wednesday.

Five Iranian screen productions are slated to take part in the 15th edition of Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Japan.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic and Republican members of Congress scrambled Tuesday to seal a $225 million boost to Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system before they break this week for a month-long recess.

Mashid Rezai, now 36, from Arak in Iran, set herself on fire aged 11 in a bid to avoid marriage to a man more than 20 years her senior.

The home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been hit by an Israeli missile, during the heaviest night of bombardment in three weeks of fighting. An Israeli aircraft struck at Mr Haniyeh's house early this morning causing damage but no casualties, Gaza's Interior Ministry said. Mr Haniyeh's son confirmed the strike on his Facebook...

Ashkan Dejagah has left Fulham for Qatari club Al Arabi after an undisclosed fee was agreed for the Iran winger.

>* Stage brings flavours of Iran, Sweden, Cyprus to festivalgoers* Audience take part in live Q&A on music, culture, foodBy Jan HarveyCHARLTON PARK, England, July 29 (Reuters) - In their native Iran, Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat are best known for their soaring voices, flawless harmonies and dedication to the art...

The Renault booth is pictured at the Geneva Motor Show on March 3, 2014

French carmaker delivers a 25 percent increase in first-half operating profit depsite currency and stock worries.

Gaza sees one of its heaviest nights of bombardment, by air, sea and land, after Israel's prime minister warns of a long conflict ahead.

By United Press International UPI Almanac for Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Leon McCarron, from Northern Ireland, walked, kayaked and biked along the waterway - from the mountainous headwaters of the south west to the Persian Gulf.

(AP Photo/File). FILE - In this July 24, 2014, file photo, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, talks with the media on Capitol Hill in Washington. WASHINGTON (AP) - Members of Congress are falling over one another to show their support for Israel.

The home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been hit by an Israeli missile, during the heaviest night of bombardment in three weeks of fighting. An Israeli aircraft struck at Mr Haniyeh's house early this morning causing damage but no casualties, Gaza's Interior Ministry said. Mr Haniyeh's son confirmed the strike on his Facebook...