News Archive - 21 October 2014

Tehran, Oct 21 (AFP) The chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the clerics who appoint and can dismiss the country's supreme leader, has died, four months after suffering a heart attack, state media reported today.

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ben Bradlee, the hard-driving editor who reigned over the Washington Post newsroom with the style of a well-dressed swashbuckler and the profane vocabulary of dockworker as the newspaper helped topple President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal, died on Tuesday at age 93. Bradlee's death at his...

>Iran and the United States have been arch-foes for decades but now share a strategic interest in reversing the territorial gains of IS that threaten to remake the Middle East map. But cooperation has been blocked in part by the fact Tehran and Washington back opposing sides in Syria's civil...

>With oil losing a quarter of its value since June, President Hassan Rouhani's administration has been scrambling for alternative sources of income to meet its forecast for revenue in the current budget based on an oil price of $100/barrel.Speaking to conservative Shi'ite Muslim clerics in their stronghold of Qom...

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has heaped praise on deceased senior cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, who headed Iran’s Assembly of Experts for three years.

>* Total's CEO a defender of Moscow's policies* Insiders Boisseau and Pouyanne long seen as potential successors* Russian investigators say snow plough driver was drunk (Clarifies judicial proceedings over Iran and Iraq)By Vladimir Soldatkin and James ReganMOSCOW/PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Christophe de Margerie, the charismatic and outspoken chief executive...

>ANKARA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iran is pushing what it portrays as a new compromise proposal in nuclear talks, but Western negotiators say it offers no viable concessions, underscoring how far apart the two sides are as they enter crunch time before a Nov. 24 deadline. In the negotiations with six major...

Brent crude futures steadied above $86 a barrel on Wednesday, clinging to gains from the previous session as buyers gradually returned to a market hammered to four-year lows by abundant supply. Expectations that oil demand may pick up in the near term have helped the crude benchmark regain ground after...

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2014. There are 70 days left in the year. On Oct. 22, 1934, bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was shot to death by federal agents and local police at a farm near East Liverpool, Ohio.

“There is no such thing as notoriety in the United States these days, let alone infamy. Celebrity is all.” — Christopher Hitchens, Anglo-American author and essayist (1949-2011)

October 21, 2014 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government Tuesday revealed contacts with rebel commanders in Darfur to arrange peace talks with them under the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD). The head of Darfur peace office Amin Hassan Omer told reporters in the Sudanese capital that some rebel commanders expressed...

Their neckties were about all that clashed Tuesday dur­ing a debate of the three congressional candidates in Indiana’s 3rd District.

New Delhi, Oct 22: Follow National and International news in brief for October 22: 9.14 am: U.S. supports PM Narendra Modi's economic vision, says envoy. 8.52 am: Pak will face more pain if it further violates ceasefire: Arun Jaitley.

With two weeks to go until the midterms, and with polls pointing to the prospect that Republicans could take control of the Senate, the stakes are high — not just for the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, but for the United States.

Iran has categorically rejected a report by Reuters alleging that the Islamic Republic has sought partial removal of the sanctions imposed on the country over its nuclear energy program.

Jerusalem (AFP) Oct 21, 2014 Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday he shared with his US counterpart his country's concerns about the direction of talks between world powers and Iran on its nuclear programme. In an audio message released by Yaalon's office after his meeting with Chuck Hagel at...

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Director General, Yukiya Amano, said last month that the agency may never reach a conclusion to its 11-year investigation into the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear work.

Protesters demand Houthi rebels leave Sanaa as deadline to form new government passes without political agreement.

TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday told Iraq's visiting premier that the Baghdad government is capable of defeating Islamic State jihadists without foreign troops being deployed. The military campaign against IS now encompasses US and other foreign air strikes in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, but more...

BAGHDAD (AP) — On the western edge of Iraq's capital, Islamic State group militants battle government forces and exchange mortar fire, only adding to the sense of siege in Baghdad despite airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition.

Millions of documents recording Britain's 350-year presence in the sub-continent reveal some exotic stories.

"The trip is certain to offer a unique opportunity not only to visit the island, but also to experience its people, politics, culture and history in a way few ever have," the ad states, promising to Cuba harder than any trip to Cuba has ever Cuba'd.

LONDON, Oct. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The economy of the Middle East countries grew from 3% to more than 5% in 2012 and the inflation rate has remained relatively constant. This gives the consumer more money in hand to spend on products from the markets. Packaging and Lifestyle issues go...

(Reuters) - A suspected radicalized Islamic convert in Quebec on Monday drove over a Canadian soldier, who died of his injuries. Below are other incidents in which Canadians have been linked to militant plots or attacks. SEPTEMBER 2014 - Naturalized Iranian Canadian Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh receives a 24-year-sentence in Ottawa...

Tehran, Oct 22 (IANS) Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Tuesday said the Islamic republic fully supports the new Iraqi government.

SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures gained for a second straight session on Wednesday as buyers returned to the market after a recent selloff that pulled prices to their lowest level since 2012. FUNDAMENTALS * U.S. crude for December delivery was up 11 cents at $82.

MURSITPINAR, Turkey – Kurdish defenders of the strategic Syrian border town of Kobane awaited reinforcements Wednesday, October 22, after weathering another onslaught by Islamic State jihadists. Fighting appeared to have diminished after a fierce attack begun by ISIS fighters almost 48 hours earlier, including suicide bombers, witnesses and monitors said.

RIMBA, Sabtu, 31 Mei: Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei (ABDB) yang telah cukup usia 53 tahun adalah satu-satunya tonggak pertahanan negara dan kerana itu, ABDB perlu lebih mantap dan hebat serta tinggi prestasi untuk menangani hambatan-hambatan semasa mahupun dalam peranannya untuk menjalin kerjasama-kerjasama serantau dan antarabangsa.

At least 20,000 people, besieged by Islamic State militants on a mountain in northern Iraq have fled to Syria and then safely returned to Iraq, Agence France-Presse reported Sunday.

WASHINGTON -- More than two dozen veterans who were severely injured and families of servicemembers who were killed in the 1983 U.S. Marine barracks terrorist attack in Beirut, Lebanon filed a lawsuit ...

His comments are the sort of thing that can increase the danger for US, or other foreign troops, working to help save Iraq's beleaguered government.

The plane crash near the Mehrabad international airport in Tehran claimed the lives of 39 people and left another 9 injured, Iran's deputy transport minister, Ahmad Majidi said on Sunday.

The U.S. is losing the war on opium-poppy production in Afghanistan, where output has grown to record levels despite about $7.6B in counter-narcotics spending

During her lifetime, tobacco heiress Doris Duke's grand passion was her 14,000-square-foot palace in Honolulu, which she called Shangri La and filled with priceless pieces of Islamic art and design. The woman, once known as "the richest girl in...

Once implemented, electronic travel authorization (ETA) will allow foreign travelers to apply for a visa and receive an online confirmation within three to five working days.

>UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday that using only military means to fight the threat of Islamic State in Syria could radicalize more Sunni armed groups and spark greater violence. "Our long-term strategic objective in Syria remains a political solution," Ban told the U.

>* Larger than life character made deals, took risks* "Russia has lost a true friend," Putin* Total faces quest for successorBy Dmitry Zhdannikov and Michel RosePARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Christophe de Margerie, the head of French oil and gas giant Total who died when his jet crashed in Moscow,...

>Iran has repeatedly cited signs of what it calls foreign plots to sabotage its nuclear program, which world powers fear could be put to developing an atomic bomb capability and are seeking to curb through high-level negotiations, with a deadline of Nov. 24 for an accord.The Islamic Republic says...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has released a new report confirming Iran's commitment to an interim nuclear deal it signed with the six world powers last year.

Al Abadi says ‘terrorist groups’ trying to create division between Shiites and Sunnis’

ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Jam Kamal Khan on Tuesday told the Senate that Foreign Ministry was consistently engaged with Iran and international partners in exploring ways and means for an early implementation of Pak-Iran gas pipeline project.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promised on Tuesday that Iran will stand by Iraq in the neighboring country's fight against the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State group.

A ruthless Indian Under-16 women's football team Tuesday routed minnows United Arab Emirates 12-0 to keep alive its hopes in the AFC Championship qualifying round.

Kani, 83, dies of heart failure, opening up vacancy near top of Iran's power structure. TEHRAN - The chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the clerics who appoint and can dismiss the country's supreme leader, has died, four months after suffering a heart attack, state media reported Tuesday.

>* Kuwait is placing restrictions on Chevron's operations - sources* Disagreements over right to operate delayed energy projectsBy Rania El Gamal and Reem ShamseddineDUBAI/KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia Oct 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's closure of an offshore oilfield it shares with Kuwait has revived speculation of renewed tensions between the two,...

>ANKARA (Reuters) - The head of Iran’s top clerical body has died after lying in a coma for months, leaving a gap in the only institution that has the authority to elect and dismiss the country's Supreme Leader. The death of 83-year-old Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, reported by Iranian...

Iran and Russia are considering possibilities of opening a new chapter in their trade relations, with experts saying the new measures could break the domination of Western currencies over bilateral exchanges, Press TV reports.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz has rejected a report that the Obama administration is trying to bypass Congress on a nuclear deal with Iran.

Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to five years in prison for culpable homicide in the Feb. 14, 2013 shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp.

China says it will work with parties involved in the negotiations over Iran's nuclear energy program to accelerate the achievement of a “win-win” final agreement.

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