News Archive - 13 January 2015

>INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Copper cracks under pressure, euro on defensive* Oil prices extend slide as growing glut triggers floating storage* MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets edge up as oil link weakens; Egypt surges* PRECIOUS-Gold dips on strong dollar; holds losses after Fed minutes* 'Five Eyes' countries to meet on anti-terrorism fight -Canada* Obama...

PARIS - A defiant Charlie Hebdo cover of a crying Prophet Mohammed above the slogan "All is Forgiven" was reproduced by media around the world Tuesday but was seen by many Muslims as an unnecessary provocation. RELATED STORIES Paris Terror Attack The front page of the French satirical newspaper -...

>Moody's cut the rating to Caa3 from Caa1 while raising its outlook to "stable" from "negative" on the view that even if the oil prices drop further, the losses to bondholders would be consistent with the current Caa3 rating. "The dramatic oil price drop, which we expect will be sustained,...

>Faced with a deepening economic crisis at home, Maduro was due to meet with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika during a two-day visit to Algiers after failing to win support for his initiative from Saudi Arabia and Qatar over the previous 48 hours.Venezuela depends on oil for 96 percent of its...

>By Maha El Dahan and Rania El GamalABU DHABI Jan 13 (Reuters) - OPEC will not cut its oil output to support prices but expects higher-cost producers to do so, the United Arab Emirates energy minister insisted on Tuesday as oil plunged near six-year lows.While Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui...

>By Michelle MoghtaderDUBAI Jan 13 (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that countries behind the fall in global oil prices would regret their decision and warned that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would suffer alongside Iran from the price drop."Those that have planned to decrease the prices...

THE competition watchdog is taking a look at Woodside's $US2.75 billion purchase of LNG asset.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has ignored the complaints of players and coaches about the standard of officiating at the Asian Cup and praised the work of the referees. The Bahraini, accompanied by Asian Football Confederation general secretary Alex Soosay, met with officials in...

US Secretary of State John Kerry is due to meet his Iranian counterpart in Geneva in a bid to revive stalled talks over Iran's nuclear programme. Mr Kerry says his meeting with Mohammad Javad Zarif is to "take stock" ahead of a new round of talks on Thursday.

A work by an Iranian playwright challenges actors like Brian Mani and Michael Herold in an unusual fundraiser for Oconomowoc drama students.

Student, faculty and staff scholarly work is saved and shared around the world for free, thanks to the library’s digital repository.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on key decisions, said in a Jan. 7 speech that Iran should develop an “economy of resistance” in which it increases local production of strategic goods and reduces its reliance on oil exports, which would make the sanctions less painful.

In Syria the civil war has left nearly 40,000 dead in 2014. Some 60 percent were civilians (most of them pro-rebel) and 20 percent were rebel fighters. The rest were pro-government forces. About three percent of the 2014 dead were cause by Western and Arab air strikes against ISIL targets...

JOHN McGrath, property guru turned TV personality, expects Sydney real estate prices to jump by as much as 20 per cent in the next few years.

President Obama and Republican lawmakers are renewing efforts to officially authorize the fight against Islamic State terrorists, an issue that could become one of the earliest areas of cooperation between the White House and the new GOP-led Congress.

WASHINGTON — Calling it a dangerous policy of weakness and capitulation, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton called Tuesday for an end to what he described as “sham negotiations” the Obama administration is conducting with Iran over its nuclear program.

Iran is gaining momentum on the international stage after the U.S. extended relief from economic sanctions against the country until June 30 during talks over its nuclear program, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey said Tuesday.

The US secretary of state is to meet his Iranian counterpart in Geneva in a bid to revive stalled talks over Iran's nuclear programme.

Ivan Sen is to make another film about Jay Swan, Selma is snubbed at the Directors Guild awards and Boyhood is likely to be screened in more cinemas in Australia.

ISLAMABAD: A meeting convened on Tuesday to review the implementation of the National Action Plan against terrorism and extremism was confronted by the mammoth challenge of checking the funding of seminaries that is mainly channelled through unconventional means.

THE takeover on Tuesday of the Iraqi city of Mosul by Sunni extremists, who spilled over the Syrian border, underscores the clash of world views that is under way in the whole Eastern Mediterranean, which I saw close up during my visit to Kurdistan a few days ago. And, it's...

Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) US President Barack Obama Tuesday met for the first time with leaders of the country's 114th Congress, vowing to find common ground with the Republican-controlled Congress on economic and national security issues including trade, cybersecurity as well as the legal basis for attacks against Islamic State...

LAST autumn, half a year after assuming office, Chinese President Xi Jinping invoked the ancient Silk Road of the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago and called for the forging of contemporary trading routes.

Disagreement over the recording of a pre-Asian Cup football friendly leads to cancellation

As I spoke with Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, I could hear his dogs barking in the background. Being a dog lover — some Muslims believe dogs are impure — is one of the least of the supposed offenses that has made the UCLA professor the subject of denunciation and...

Defense Stock Roundup: Boeing Beats Airbus in 2014 Deliveries; Raytheon-General Dynamics JV Steals Billion Dollar Deal - Analyst Blog

The United States and its allies will make another attempt this week to reach an agreement with Iran that prevents it from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, but sealing such a deal isn't likely to be easy, some experts say. U.S. Secretary of...

A former CIA officer unnecessarily exposed one of the US agency's top assets by leaking details of a covert operation in Iran to a New York Times reporter, prosecutors have told a jury.The long-delayed trial of former officer...

Rumours Ezequiel Lavezzi could be on his way out of Paris Saint-Germain continue to gather steam, and according to the latest reports, Liverpool could bring the experienced winger in during the January transfer window at a discount. According to the Daily Express ' David Wright , Les Parisiens have highlighted...

Asylum seekers at the Manus Island Detention Centre are staging a protest but authorities have denied claims by a refugee advocacy group that they are hunger striking.

Sepideh, Reaching For The Stars is an engaging documentary about an Iranian teenage girl with a passion for astronomy and Albert Einstein.

15 for ‘15. The most significant trends Omnicom Media Group (MENA) CEO Elie Khouri is watching are all about speed.

UN report ranks Qatar, UAE 5th and 6th most affordable; GCC states also have among highest internet penetration rates

2014 saw a variety of human rights crises occur all around the world. The background to these crises – politics, corruption, ethnic and religious strife, and outright war – are varied and complicated. Although the human rights aspects of these instabilities may no longer be on the front page of...

BINTANGOR: Iran ati enggau sekeda ulah raban pengereja pengawa ba sebengkah opis perintah di pelilih Simunjan, Edward Unin ari Rumah Tambi, Kampung Sual, Simunjan minta penerang ari opis ti bekaul kebuah iya suah baka ke dikeduan ngalih lisin senapang niang apai iya pulai ngagai nama iya.

President Maduro of Venezuela has recently been on a visit to China where he attended the 1st Forum China-CELAC - New directions in the relations of Venezuela and China have been opened by the recent visit to Beijing of President Nicolas Maduro, which resulted in a $ 20 billion funding...

Here's how West Texas crude got its swagger back—well at least relative to its more worldly cousin Brent—explains John Kilduff.

John Stroud, commander-in-chief of the National VFW, and Neil Prochnow, N.D. VFW commander, met Friday at the Mantador VFW and Community Center to kick-start the midwinter convention for North Dakota VFW officers.

President Barack Obama’s absence from the great gathering in Paris of national leaders from other countries, to show their solidarity with France in its opposition to Islamic terrorists, was another sign of the Obama administration’s continuing irresolution in the face of terror. Even the recent courageous message of Egypt’s president,...

In his annual âstate-of-the-kingdomâ address on Jan. 6, Saudi Arabiaâs King Abdullah hoped to reassure the world that his country is prepared to absorb the economic shock of plummeting oil prices and to deal with the worsening conflict in its two neighbors, Iraq and Yemen.

Ann Curry has found a new home. More than two years after she tearfully left the Today show, the for[...]

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Exxon Mobil shares closed trading down 0.37% to $90 in trading on Tuesday as the multinational oil company suffered along with the rest of the oil sector as oil prices continue to fall to multi-year lows in trading today. West Texas crude for February delivery did...

Beyond sanctions, U.S. officials are hoping to further target and isolate North Korea's international finance machine.

Everything is going to be terrible in 2015. That's the message that I came away with after listening to Time's Rana Foroohar interview economist Nouriel Roubini and geopolitics expert Ian Bremmer. The three discussed global risk in the coming year. There are major risks in China, Russia, Europe, the Middle...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former CIA officer unnecessarily exposed one of the agency's top assets by leaking details of a covert operation in Iran to a New York Times reporter, prosecutors told a jury Tuesday.

If there’s one thing British writers do vastly better than we Americans, it’s using subtle but cutting wit to ridicule others’ complete stupidity. Now the United Kingdom’s own prime minister David Cameron has given them quite an opportunity to use their talents after he said he wanted to prevent mobile apps such...

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The energy minister for the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday there are no plans for OPEC to curb production to shore up falling crude prices, and instead put the onus ...

BAGHDAD — In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country’s best ally in the war against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the coalition air campaign against the militants. It’s Iran, which is credited with stopping the extremists’ march on Baghdad.

Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian lawyer and human rights activist, was jailed in Iran from 2010 to 2013 for the charge of ";acting against national security";. During her imprisonment, she went on several hunger strikes to force the authorities to accept her legitimate demands.

The impressive show of solidarity in Paris over the weekend was, at least in the mind of this observer, one of the greatest open exhibitions of mass hypocrisy anywhere. No, I am not in any way condoning the terrorist acts by some extremist elements against the publishers of some silly,...

Who will suffer more from plummeting oil prices? Rouhani says Iran would withstand economic pain of plummeting oil prices, with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait likely to suffer more.

Haleh Esfandiari: It's a start that Arab and Muslim governments have condemned the Paris killings as terrorism, but condemning terrorism is not enough.

House Republican calls for stiffer sanctions on North Korea over security, cyber threats

From Russia and China back to America

NOONG NAKARAANG January 11, Linggo, bandang 3:00 am ay niyanig ang Metro Manila ng isang lindol na may bahagyang kalakasan na aabot sa mahigit kumulang sa magnitude 4. Ang lindol na yumanig sa Luzon ay … Read More The post Banta Ng Lindol appeared first on Pinoy Parazzi .

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait said Tuesday that the sharp fall in world oil prices is unjustified but that the market may not improve before the second half of this year.

>* Ports delay giving documents for loaded ships* State restocking programme still lags forecast (Adds details, context, analyst reaction)MOSCOW, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Russia has strengthened informal curbs on grain exports since the start of the year, further complicating trading before the introduction of an export tax, a Russian grain...

>But the accused' s wife and local rights activists say the charges against Hamed Merza Kamali Serostani are part of Yemen's wider persecution of its Baha'i community and aim to distract from charges that he was abused by interrogators after his December 2013 arrest.Baha'is regard their faith's 19th-century founder...

The Islamic State’s elite unit wiped out the forward command group of the a commando force belonging to Iran’s Al Qods Brigades early Monday, Jan. 12, killing its commander, Gen. Mehdi Norouzi, at Hashimiyah north of Baghdad.

Tehran, Jan 13 (IANS): Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Tuesday said it would be against the interests of Western nuclear negotiators if they failed to pursue a reasonable and quick approach towards Iran.

The Islamic State’s elite unit wiped out the forward command group of the a commando force belonging to Iran’s Al Qods Brigades early Monday, Jan. 12, killing its commander, Gen. Mehdi Norouzi, debka file ’s exclusive counterterrorism and military sources report.

For the last seven years, New York Times journalist James Risen has been embroiled in a legal battle with the Obama administration over his refusal to reveal an inside government source. It turns out he will not be called to testify at a leak trial scheduled to begin this week.

U.S. officials look on economic penalties as a weapon that can build pressure on foreign governments to stop doing things Washington doesn't like. But as the U.S. has used sanctions more, some European leaders have complained that the sanctions directed at opponents have begun to cause problems for...

It is so tempting to get carried away and declare the Socceroos as the team to beat in this Asian Cup. But maybe, just maybe, they actually are.

The message to fans wanting to attend Asian Cup matches is to get to the ground early or pre-purchase tickets following farcical scenes outside AAMI Park before and during the Iran-Bahrain match on Sunday night.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Pakistan's fight against militants in the country's northwestern tribal region has produced "significant results," but cautioned that the battle against terror groups is not over. Kerry said Tuesday after strategic talks in Islamabad that groups like the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, the...

Melbourne (AFP) - As the big guns flex their muscles at the Asian Cup, refereeing controversies are leaving players and coaches hopping mad with the tournament barely five days old.

BAGHDAD — In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country's best ally in the war against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the coalition air campaign against the militants.

WASHINGTON – For 32 years I've been advocating a major tax on petroleum. I've got as much ch ...

Japan's Keisuke Honda has warned the Asian Cup holders not to take their foot off the gas following Monday's 4-0 thrashing of Palestine in their tournament opener.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ongoing nuclear talks with Iran and about the Palestinian move to become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the White House said.

US President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that America was committed to a "comprehensive" nuclear deal with Iran, and said that Palestinian ICC membership was not "constructive," officials said.

In his phone call to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday night, President Barack Obama touched on the Iranian nuclear and Palestinian issues.