News Archive - 24 January 2012

Latest VideoJanuary 24th, 2012     State run television report Oscar nomination of the movie “Separation” The state run Press TV published a short report about nomination of the movie “Separation of Nader and Simin”projected as “Separation” for Oscars . Watch video of report of TV program “Haft” about Golden Globe award...

Following approval of new sanctions by European Union ministerial council against Iran, Danish ambassador to Tehran was summoned to Foreign Ministry. According to Foreign Ministry Media Department on Tuesday, deputy Foreign Minister in Europe and America Affairs summoned Denmark ambassador to Foreign Ministry and declared Iran’s strong protest against EU's...

Latest VideoJanuary 24th, 2012     Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maleki : Expulsion of Mujahedin Khalgh postponed for 3 months The Iraqi premier Nouri Maleki confirmed that expulsion of Mujahedin Khalgh is postponed for 3 months due to pressure from West , specially the United Nation .

China has shown more interest in Iran's oil with hiring at least two supertankers to ship oil from the country. Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the world's largest shipbroker, announced the two supertankers were booked to carry about 2 million barrels of crude from Iran's Khark Island...

Latest VideoJanuary 24th, 2012     Ministry of oil : EU embargo will not effect us , we have already clients for sanctioned quantity ! Talking with mid day news bulletin of Iranian television on Tuesday 24 January , the spokesman of ministry of oil claimed that EU sanctions on Iranian oil...

Decade-long US-NATO military presence and occupation of Afghanistan shows that their main goal is infiltrating regional states and making situation there convulsive, IRI Minister of Interior, Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said. Speaking to Head of Russia's Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov on Tuesday, Najjar said poppy cultivation and drugs trafficking have...

Following the Arlington National Cemetery scandal, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has discovered scores of instances involving an improper handling of burials in military cemeteries across the United States. According to a report by the VA's National Cemetery Administration, at least eight people had been buried in the...

The Zionist regime's military court sentenced the elected head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Dr. Aziz Dweik, to six months detention without bringing any charges against him. On Sunday, a court was held to look into the possibility of placing him under detention, without any charges officially filed against...

Head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano has openly acknowledged to German lawmakers there was no proof whatsoever that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program, said an opposition legislator of The Left party Monday. A member of the foreign affairs committee of the German parliament, Jan van...

Latest VideoJanuary 24th, 2012     Ayatollah Sedighi :We have to fight , If we withdraw , they will take away nuclear & satellites ! Speaking on Sunday 22 January in “Mehdyeh Tehran’” Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi who is also the Imam of Friday prayer of Tehran , quote a story from Ayatollah...

IRI Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a communiqué Monday condemning European Union’s sanctions on Iranian oil, adding however that such measures would bear bitter fruits of EU. The EU Foreign Ministers Council in a Monday session decided to impose sanctions on Iran's oil as of six months later. The IRI...

Severe storms hit U.S. South on Monday, killing at least 2 and wounding over 100 people. Among the affected states, Alabama took the biggest hit, with both casualties of the storms occurred in the state. Houses flattened, windows blown out of cars, and roofs peeled back in the areas...

Thousands of Egyptian people marched on the Egyptian parliament building on Monday calling for their representatives to strive to materialize the goals for which the nation staged a revolution. The large march took place as members of the newly-elected assembly held their first session. The marchers, holding the Egyptian flags,...

Truck drivers across Italy went on strike on Monday against increased fuel prices, while taxis also held a national protest over government reforms to increase competition, causing disruptions nationwide. Truck drivers set up around 60 roadblocks, snarling traffic on the motorways, and said they intended to stay until Friday. "The...

The landmark clock tower containing Big Ben at Britain's Palace of Westminster, is tilting. The 96m tall clock tower, which houses the bell originally nicknamed Big Ben, leans about 46cm to the left of its peak. A construction expert who worked on the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy claimed...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama began and ended his State of the Union speech on Tuesday by reminding voters that he brought U.S. troops home from Iraq and dispatched the Navy Seals who killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. But he said little about the vexing challenges he...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned Iran on Tuesday the United States would keep up pressure on its disputed nuclear program with "no options off the table" but said the door remained open to talks for a peaceful resolution. In his State of the Union address, Obama said Tehran...

>Here are some key quotes from the speech:Taxes/Buffett Rule"Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes. And my Republican friend Tom Coburn is right: Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. In fact, if...

We know the GOP will attack the president if he extends an olive branch to Iran; but they will attack him regardless, so he may as well do something of significance for the greater good of our entire civilization.

>U.S. crude rose 21 cents to $99.18 a barrel by 0012 GMT, after settling at $98.95, below the front-month 50-day moving average of $99.19. Brent crude fell 55 cents to settle at $110.03 a barrel.FUNDAMENTALS* Iranian politicians said on Tuesday they expected the European...

>LONDON Jan 24 (Reuters) - Australia will follow the European Union's lead in banning oil imports and imposing a range of other sanctions on Iran, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday.Rudd said later that Australian imports of Iranian oil were already "negligible"."On the question of Iran,...

>Denmark holds the rotating presidency of the 27-member EU, which decided on Monday to ban Iranian oil imports as part of the West's efforts to put pressure on Tehran to curb its nuclear programme. (Reporting by Mitra Amiri; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Tim Pearce) Energy Industrials...

>* U.S. crude stocks show steep build as imports jump -API* Brent crude eyes $107.34/bbl -technicals* Coming Up: FOMC rate decision Dec; 1730 GMT (Adds Obama's comments on Iran, FOMC meet, updates prices)By Manash GoswamiSINGAPORE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Brent crude held above $110 on Wednesday on supply...

>Jan 24 - Fitch Ratings has said in a newly-published report that the embargo on Iranian oil imports to the European Union agreed by EU foreign ministers on 23 January 2012, and effective from 1 July 2012 will increase geopolitical risk in the Middle East region supporting high oil prices.

IRI Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said that European Union sanctions have no effect on Iran but will worsen the economic situation in European countries. On the sidelines of meeting with Head of Russian Federal Drug Control Service Victor Ivanov on Tuesday, Mohammad-Najjar told reporters: "We do not think that EU...

The Belarusian government has criticized the European Union over its imposition of sanctions on Iran, calling the measure unacceptable. Belarus regrets the EU decision to impose sanctions on Iran, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday afternoon. Belarus described the call for a...

WASHINGTON -- As the Obama administration and its European allies toughened economic sanctions against Iran on Monday -- blocking its access to the world financial system and undermining its critical oil and gas industry -- officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledge that their last-ditch effort has only a...

Oil prices pushed above $99 a barrel Wednesday, a day after Australia announced it was joining a boycott by Western nations against Iran, the world's No. 3 oil exporter, over a suspected nuclear weapons program.

Australian shares jumped to a near seven-week high, buoyed by strong Apple earnings and as a tame local inflation reading bolstered the big banks.

ADELAIDE : Australia declared their first innings at 604 for seven wickets after tea on the second day of the fourth and final test against India on Wednesday.

> Financials...

Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama delivered a populist challenge Tuesday night to shrink the gap between rich and poor, promising to tax the wealthy more and help jobless Americans get work and hang onto their homes. Seeking re-election and needing results, the president invited Republicans to...

Here are 10 instances where people combined activism and social networking to spark changes ranging from protection of ancient redwoods to the Arab Spring to playing poker online.

It was a wish list, not a to-do list.

The Port of LA released a draft environmental impact report yesterday for the plan to set up the USS Iowa battleship as a tourist attraction at Berth 87 in the North Harbor. No extra dredging will be necessary to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama called Tuesday night for a flurry of help for a hurting middle class and higher taxes on millionaires, delivering a State of the Union address packed with re-election themes. Restoring a fair shot for all, Obama said, is...

A 24-member delegation from Japan is in Washington, D.C., this week opposing the presence and new construction of U.S. military bases in Okinawa. Participating are members of the Japanese House of Councilors, of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, ...

As a net oil import er, Indonesia is poised to bear the brunt of the rising political tension between the world’s second-largest oil producer, Iran , and the US and its allies.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says "America is back" as a world power. The president gives a flag-waving defense of American power and influence as part of the State of the Union address.

>...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force has decided to scrap its Northrop Grumman Corp high-altitude unmanned surveillance plane program and keep its Cold War-vintage U-2 spy planes flying into the 2020s, according to a government official and a defense analyst. Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based...

Syria has extended the Arab League monitors' mission for a month, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi told CNN Tuesday.

(MCT) McClatchy-Tribune News Service

In reply to 'Nobody Tells This Story' : “ The Americans recognise that for 40 years they have been here without a single problem from our people who have supported them, and now they repay us by supporting the regime as it arrests and tortures us when we ask for...

Futures were little changed after dropping 0.6 percent yesterday. U.S. stockpiles increased 7.33 million barrels last week, the biggest gain in four weeks, figures from the industry- funded American Petroleum Institute showed.

HSBC Bank revised downwards its real GDP growth forecast for Lebanon to 2.3 percent in 2012 from an October estimate of 3.2 percent.

Mexico wants warnings softened express-news Copyright 2012 express-news. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 01:59 a.m., Thursday, June 9, 2011 Lumping beach resorts with cartel-plagued areas distorts reality of safe destinations, he says.

The U.S. and Europe are trying to stop Iran, the world's third-biggest oil exporter, from selling crude. Iran's response is to threaten to disrupt shipments from the entire Middle East.

Global Markets Overview - 25 January 2012

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that New York police used "terrible judgment" in showing counterterrorism trainees a documentary-style film that says Muslim extremists are masquerading as moderates to destroy America from within.

India should market the skills of its young population to emerge a winner among other competitive countries.

The U.S. is maintaining a sizable ground, air and sea force in the Persian Gulf, underscoring the need to protect oil-producing states after deposing Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and exiting a democratic Iraq in December. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region's American military commitment, would not provide...

While few Jewish critics of Barack Obama might go as far as the publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times did in a recent column that included a passage about assassinating the president, it doesn’t take much discussion in certain Jewish circles to find those who see something far more sinister...

JACK GILLUM Associated Press WASHINGTON Mitt Romney's newly released tax returns represent an extraordinary accounting of the household finances and far-reaching corporate investments of one of the richest U.S. presidential candidates in generations, with an annual income that tops $20 million. How the details of Romney's extensive wealth will...

Obama Administration quietly altering military's global presence

Britain, France and Germany accuse Iran of threatening the 'peace and security of us all'.

By Robert Gibbons NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Tuesday on revived concerns about the euro zone's debt problems and their potential to slow the global economy, but tensions between Iran and the ...

Not long ago, the government had based its revenue and spending plans on an average oil price of $75. At that level, the budget deficit was supposed to be near zero. Things have changed dramatically since then, and now an oil price of about $110 is needed to balance the...

TEHRAN, Iran—Military power near the strategic Strait of Hormuz could be bolstered by additional British forces, the country's defense secretary said Tuesday, as a defiant Iran shrugged off Europe's oil embargo and moved ahead with plans to hold naval exercises alongside the oil tanker shipping lanes it has threatened to...

Cyprus police have filed criminal charges against two former Cabinet ministers over last year's explosion of seized Iranian munitions that killed 13 people and touched off a political crisis, a senior police official said Tuesday.

Se viene la 84a noche de la historia de los Premios Óscar de la Academia el próximo domingo 26 de febrero en Hollywood, día en el que se sabrá quiénes fueron los mejores profesionales del ambiente del cine en 2011.

BEIRUT - With Arab pressure mounting to end 10 months of bloodshed, the Syrian regime vowed Tuesday to solve its own problems even if "half the universe" is conspiring against it.

Commodities news from around the world

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's foreign minister said Tuesday that "half the universe" is conspiring against his country, as Gulf Arab nations withdrew from a monitoring mission in Syria because the government has failed to stop 10 months of violence.

There's a chance the mullahs in Tehran will decide to drop a nuclear bomb on Israel

From a course on the biodiversity of the planet, to the East-meets-West music of the Bustan Quartet, to appearances by notable women with varied voices, diversity in all its forms is celebrated in this spring's attractions at UC Berkeley. New exhibits open up the worlds of Andy Warhol, reclusive artist...

With Newt Gingrich gaining ground on frontrunner Mitt Romney, the stage is set for a crucial Jan. 31 Republican presidential primary in Florida. By playing a significant role in that day’s outcome, the state’s large Jewish population might set the tone for the rest of the GOP race.

LONDON - An escalation of a dispute with Iran could see Britain sending military reinforcements to the Gulf, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has said, according to the BBC. Sending HMS Argyll as part of an international warship flotilla through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday was a “clear signal” to...

Perhaps you’ve heard of “Makin’ Thunderbirds,” a hard-bitten rock & roll song by Bob Seger that I listened to 30 years ago while in college. It’s about auto workers back in 1955 who were “young and proud” to be making Ford Thunderbirds.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states withdrew their observers from Syria on Tuesday after it rejected an Arab League peace plan stipulating that President Bashar al-Assad surrender power, and the group's chief called for U.N. help in ending Syria's bloody upheaval.

Over the last few months Western governments have been tightening the economic noose around Iran.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010, having earned more than seven times that from his investments.

A, B, C, or D?

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Corporate executives are struggling to find paths to growth as the euro zone crisis stokes fears of a return to recession and developing economies lose momentum. Leaders ...

Davos, Switzerland, is the glamorous place where about 2,600 wealthy business executives, top political leaders, central bankers and closely followed economists gather this week. They will discuss ways to hold off a potentially disastrous European financial meltdown that would threaten world growth.

Retired Lockheed Martin Senior Vice President Robert H. Trice was so incensed by the errors he saw in recent accounts of the global arms trade that he wrote this rebuttal, describing the real...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing the lessons of the Nazi Holocaust and the danger a nuclear-armed Iran, said on Tuesday that Israel must not shy from acting alone to thwart any threat to its existence.

>* Yet to finalise 2012/13 contract with Iran (Recasts lead, adds details, quotes)By Nidhi VermaNEW DELHI, Jan 24 (Reuters) - India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd may buy less oil from Iran in 2011/12, its managing director said on Tuesday citing shutdowns, but crude processing data showed the cutback may...

LONDON: A taut domestic drama from Iran is competing against a Belgian thriller, a true Polish war story and dramas from Canada and Israel in the race for the best foreign-language Oscar.

(Corrects name of movie, nominees) LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - (Corrects name of movie to "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" in best supporting actor category; Academy corrects all three names for make-up nominees for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2") The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced...

The Automobile Association of America recently pegged the national gas average at $3.32, or 22 cents more a gallon than a year ago. If the price fluctuation patterns of 2012 follow 2011 — and most oil experts believe they will — then we’ll be paying $4 or more for...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010, having earned more than seven times that from his investments. Those earnings, $21.7 million, put him among the wealthiest of American taxpayers. Romney's campaign said Tuesday he followed all tax...

Canada's recovery is being dragged down by a cascading crisis in Europe and weakening conditions elsewhere, the International Monetary Fund suggests in its latest economic outlook.

Here are the nominees in the main categories for this year's Oscars, to be handed out at the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season on February 26.

>The company, which is owed money by the Middle Eastern oil producer for the development of the South Pars project and other exploration activity conducted in the country, has received payments of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the past."There is an exception under the sanctions for payments of debts...

*After writing a very controversial column about assassinating President Barack Obama, the Atlanta Jewish Times owner and publisher resigned. Andrew Adler wrote a scathing opinion piece, supposing Israel would consider assassinating the president in a plan to head off a nuclear Iran. But the response was not positive at all.

* Greek debt worries hit U.S. stock futures * Fears for Europe's banks hurt region's shares * DuPont revenues miss expectations LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Worries about theimplications of the latest setback ...

As I warned in yesterday's newsletter the market was susceptible to a modest short covering rally and it came on a combination of a major producer ...Chesapeake indicating that they would reduce dry gas production this year due to the exceptionally low prices as well as a possibility that real ...

The EU has decided on sanctions on Iranian oil that Tehran has long said would represent a declaration of war. The question is what happens now?

1. Best Picture: “The Artist,” ”The Descendants,“ ”Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” ”The Help,“ ”Hugo,” ”Midnight in Paris,“ ”Moneyball,” ”The Tree of Life,“ ”War Horse.”

Britain could send extra military assets to the Strait of Hormuz to deter any attempt by Iran to block Persian Gulf oil tanker traffic, the country's defense secretary said Tuesday, as Tehran accused the European Union of trying to create tension with a ban on the purchase of its oil.

Syria's foreign minister said Tuesday that "half the universe" is conspiring against his country, as Gulf Arab nations withdrew from a monitoring mission in Syria because the government has failed to stop 10 months of...

Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure Hugo leads the Academy Awards with 11 nominations, among them best picture and the latest director slot for the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- President Obama delivers the State of the Union address Tuesday before a joint session of Congress, the White House said.

Mehmanparast also intimated that the EU is simply bowing to pressure from the United States,. Chinese New Year 2012 begins Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, and will usher in the Year of the Dragon. Here is a look at the meaning behind the Dragon and some predictions for 2012.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda kicked off the Diet session Tuesday by urging the opposition camp to stop playing party politics and join talks on raising the consumption tax. The biggest and most difficult task Noda has on his plate during the 150-day Diet session is to pass legislation to hike...