News Archive - 29 November 2014

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JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's president on Tuesday canceled the appearance of a local pop star at a high-profile public event following the star's release of a new song focusing on a fictional Arab who gets his kicks by stabbing Jews.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday gave his indirect approval for a continuation of talks over its disputed nuclear program, criticizing world powers who many frustrated Iranians believe could have worked harder to reach a deal with the country.

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In eastern Ukraine over 200 people have been killed in Donbas since the September ceasefire. Over 4,000 have died there since Russia began military operations (via pro-Russian rebels or Russian soldiers) in April.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN : A Malaysian man was recently fined BND$3,600 or three months jail in default after he pleaded guilty to submitting an incorrect declaration form for goods during transit.

On most any other day, the resignation of the Secretary of Defense would have commanded headlines and dominated the national conversation. But with the nation’s attention focused on Ferguson, Missouri

VIENNA (AP) - Contentious nuclear talks between world powers and Tehran hit a new snag Friday after Iran apparently again turned down U.S. demands for concessions, leaving negotiations in limbo just three days before a deadline for a deal.

Scheduled Oral Hearing Is Ignored. On Saturday Nov 29th at 10 am in the morning I was nervously glued to my phone.

There was a time not long ago when Ben Sangari rubbed elbows with the likes of Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani.

The Saudis, the largest oil producers within Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), and Gulf states won the case for leaving output unchanged which, given the decline in international demand attributed to lower growth in Eurozone and China, would imply lower prices and consequently lower export earnings for Opec members.

There will be really no difference between this “New Congress” and the old Congress. If you listen to Mitch McConnell and John Boehner after the election, we’re back to the same tiresome rhetoric—repeal the ACA, don’t dare make an Executive Order, do what we want.

Jerusalem (AFP) Nov 28, 2014 Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested Friday that Israel should offer "economic incentives" to encourage Arab Israelis to leave the country and relocate to a future Palestinian state. Arab Israelis "who decide their identity is Palestinian can relinquish their Israeli citizenship and become citizens of the...

Syria?s government should be able to move more decisively against weakened rebels, but it lacks money.

Baghdad (AFP) Nov 29, 2014 Iraqi forces battled Islamic State (IS) group fighters Saturday in Ramadi, where a fierce jihadist offensive threatens one of the last pockets in Anbar province still under government control. "Fierce fighting pitting security forces and tribal units against IS is taking place in the Al-Hoz,...

A West starved of good news finally has some. Oil prices have dropped dramatically in recent months, and in Vienna last Thursday the oil cartel Opec acknowledged its inability to stop the slide.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) is planning a reorganization that will include hundreds of job cuts in the U.S., people familiar with the situation said. The drugmaker is poised to announce a workforce restructuring ...

The meeting of oil ministers of 12 member-states of the Organisation of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC), who account for 40 per cent of world oil production, took place in Vienna on November 27 in the background of a serious crisis facing the organisation - the dramatic decline in oil prices...

Saudi Arabia is risking the economic health of weaker oil producing nations in its fight to see off the threat of the US shale boom. Oil prices have fallen by over 30% since June and appear to be continuing their decline. On Thursday Brent fell to a four-year low of...

The Home Minister spoke on various issues including threats from terror groups like al-Qaeda and said the country was geared up to face such challenges.

Iran's health minister says some medications continue to be scarce, despite assertions by the U.S. and the European Union that international sanctions do not affect Iran's access to the pharmaceutical and medical equipment market.

The Iranian president's advisor on women's issues says the administration has proposed a bill ";to provide women with security against violence."; ISNA reported on Thursday November 27 that Shahindokht Mowlaverdi spoke at a ceremony at Mashhad University to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Whenever there’s an opportunity, this column has never reneged on the defense of our national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and our people’s well-being. On many occasions in the recent past, FVR has questioned China’s provocative moves in the South China Sea/East China Sea/West Philippine Sea which do not auger well for...

LONDON: Following OPEC’s decision to leave production unchanged, Brent crude futures experienced the first three-standard deviation down-move since the flash crash of May 2011 and before that the depths of the recession in March 2009.

With the November 24 deadline for a comprehensive deal between world powers and Iran on the country's nuclear program now behind us, the negotiating teams have returned to their capitals to debate next steps. They will reconvene in Oman in early December to continue their efforts to strike a deal...

The Princeton University Chapel was a melting pot of religions on Sunday as crowds of people of all different faiths united in the name of one shared goal: peace.

African nation was formerly a major U.S. supplier, but faces a "rough decade" because of fracking's abundant yield.

Al Houthis and Islah in rare meeting

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Sister Denise Coughlan called it the “House of Betrayal.” From the outside, there wasn’t much to see. It sat on a quiet street on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, crouching behind tangled foliage and a tall corrugated iron fence. A few years ago this inconspicuous...

Manila (AFP) - Top Asian players said they were looking forward to a "brilliant" 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Saturday despite the rows that have blown up over the tournament.

Siamak Ghaderi is an Iranian freelance journalist and a former editor and reporter for the Islamic Republic's official news agency IRNA. Ghaderi made international headlines when he chose to rebut former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim in 2007 that there were no homosexuals in Iran by publishing online his own interviews...

Condensed from Daily News movie critic Gary Thompson's reviews, unless noted otherwise.

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(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Brent crude touched fresh four-year lows yesterday, knocking down both energy-related shares and currencies after Opec's decision a day earlier not to cut ...