News Archive - 8 March 2012

Contrary to mainstream global media coverage, 73 per cent of those polled see Zionist regime and the US as the two most threatening countries. Five per cent see Iran as the most threatening, a percentage that varies between countries and regions. The first of its kind - a poll conducted...

The number of hate groups has continued to grow in the US fueled by antagonism against President Barack Obama, the income gap and illegal immigration, a new report says. The new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has kept track of such groups for 30 years, recorded...

Islamic Republic of Iran's Ambassador to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the IAEA's board of governors meeting on Thursday witnessed the defeat of US' diplomacy vis-a-vis Iran's diplomacy. At the end of IAEA's meeting in Vienna, Iran's ambassador pointed out that not issuing a resolution against...

At least two people have been killed and seven others injured during a shooting at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UMPC) in the US state of Pennsylvania. The suspected shooter is believed to among the dead, according to hospital officials. However, there was no immediate information on the other...

IRI Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Thursday that Iran is a reliable friend and partner of Tajikistan and it wishes welfare and dignity for the Tajik nation and government. Talking to reporters after a joint press conference with his Tajik counterpart, Salehi said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is...

Russia wants the U.S. to respect the human rights of a soldier accused of the largest leak of information in American history, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Thursday. Konstantin Dolgov, the ministry's commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, criticized the U.S. after a...

Bahraini opposition activists have announced plans to stage a massive demonstration against the ruling Al Khalifa regime in the capital Manama on Friday. The activists have also called for anti-government rallies in other towns and villages across the country. Nationwide protests against the US-backed Manama regime continue in Bahrain as...

The secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has warned against a military strike against Iran, saying such a move will engulf the whole region in flames. I have repeatedly warned Western officials that any aggression or strike against Iran will be a kind of insanity and open...

Iranians have overwhelmingly demonstrated their trust in the Islamic system through their massive turnout in the March 2 parliamentary elections, Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said Thursday. The Experts Assembly is responsible to oversee the performance of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. “On March 2, people have...

Oil prices have rallied again in the Asian market following Iran’s move to cut oil exports to certain EU states in response to the European block’s oil embargo against the Islamic Republic. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, was up 20 cents to surpass $106, while...

>* Panetta: Pentagon weighing optionsWASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - A 30,000-pound (13,600-kg) bunker buster bomb designed to smash through some 200 feet (65 metres) of concrete before exploding is a "great weapon" that could be used by U.S. forces in a clash with Iran over its nuclear program, an...

Metals prices are climbing on signs that Greece's multi-billion dollar bond swap will go through.

>PARIS (Reuters) - Iran's envoy to France said Tehran was optimistic about new talks with world powers on its nuclear program but Iran would not negotiate on its right to enrich uranium. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who would lead future talks with Iran on behalf of six powers,...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - Six world powers demanded Iran keep its promise to let international inspectors visit a military installation where the U.N. nuclear watchdog believes explosives tests geared to developing atomic bombs may have taken place. The joint call demonstrated unusual unity among the powers on Iran before a...

>SIRKIN SPECIAL FORCES BASE, Israel (Reuters) - Fearing a surge in tunnel and bunker construction by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian militants, Israel is training its troops to hunt below ground with robot probes and sniffer dogs. Such preparations reflect concerns that should Israel or the United States carry out attacks...

>JERUSALEM, March 8 (Reuters) - Israel has asked the United States for advanced "bunker-buster" bombs and refueling planes that could improve its ability to attack Iran's underground nuclear sites, an Israeli official said on Thursday."Such a request was made" around the time of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit...

>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose above $125 a barrel on Friday, posting its sixth weekly gain in seven, as Greece successfully closed its bond swap offer for creditors, a key step towards securing an international bailout to avoid a messy default. Preliminary results of the bond swap are expected...

JERUSALEM, March 9 (UPI) -- Israel could attack Iranian nuclear facilities within months, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, adding he hopes "there won't be a war."

Osama Bin Laden spent his last days as a henpecked husband. The al-Qaeda leader succeeded in hiding from the Americans for a decade following 9/11...but apparently could not escape his warring wives.

Israeli President Shimon Peres arrived in Southern California Thursday as part of a four day visit.

By Rachel Bandler STAFF COLUMNIST If Iran were to build a nuclear weapon, the result would be catastrophic. A nuclear Iran would spur a regional nuclear arms race and Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf, embolden Iranian terror proxies like Hezbollah, and actualize the threat of a nuclear bomb being...

Under pressure from the White House, the Democratic-controlled Senate on Thursday blocked a Republican bid to speed approval of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Two Bergen County men were among six defendants charged for their alleged roles in an international ring that smuggled opium into the United States by hiding it in Persian rugs, authorities announced Thursday.

The state of presidential politics, Republican-style: consuming anger and paranoia

President Barack Obama, an avid basketball fan, is taking British Prime Minister David Cameron to an NCAA Tournament game in Ohio, showing off one of America's most popular sporting events.

LOS ANGELES: Israel does not need a “public debate”before taking military action against Iran, President Shimon Peres said Thursday, reiterating that all options remain on the table.

Yemeni protesters, including air force personnel, have staged a demonstration in the capital Sana'a to press for their revolutionary demands, Press TV reports. On Thursday, the demonstrators chanted “Mohammad Saleh al-Ahmar must leave”, demanding the dismissal of former president’s brother General Mohammad Saleh Al-Ahmar -- Commander of Yemeni Air Forces...

Tehran, March 7 (KCNA) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that Iran will turn into one of the world's major scientific hubs in ten years.

Pyongyang, March 8 (KCNA) -- An anti-war demonstration took place in Washington on March 5.

The deputy oil minister would be the highest-ranking official to abandon Bashar Assad's regime. Meanwhile, peace envoy Kofi Annan urges a political solution to the crisis. Syria's deputy oil minister reportedly defected from the government of Bashar Assad on Thursday, and a high-level international peace envoy seeking a cease-fire in...

Pyongyang, March 8 (KCNA) -- Jordanian Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh called for seeking a diplomatic settlement over the Iranian nuclear issue on March 5.

Tehran, March 7 (KCNA) -- The Staff of the General Command of Armed Forces of Iran in a statement on March 4 made clear its stand to defend the country from the U.S. and Israeli moves for a war.

The six world powers that have agreed to resume negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program issued a blunt request on Thursday that the Iranians allow international inspectors unfettered access, most notably to Parchin, a large restricted military complex that the inspectors suspect may house a testing chamber for...

By: Chad SinclairCommunity Roots event tackles birth control, Iran, presidential race Hosted by Community Roots, the event featured about 30 attendees who debated issues such as birth control, Iran's nuclear ambitions and presidential politics. ...

Activist Narges Mohammadi and journalist Nazanin Khosravani each jailed for six years in Iran So far, it has been a dreadful week for journalists and activists in Iran. According to the opposition website, Kaleme.com , a Tehran appeals court has confirmed the jailing of prominent Iranian human rights activist...

>* Says Brazil won't increase fuel prices now, but may be forced to* Petrobras strategic plans assume $100 a barrel oil price in 2012RIO DE JANEIRO, March 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices are likely to fall as political tensions fuelling the rise ease, which would make any increase in Brazilian...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama this week ordered his Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group back to work, 10 months after it was created to get to the bottom of soaring gasoline and oil prices. His administration says, however, that the panel never stopped working, an assertion seemingly at...

The potential and the pitfalls of a nuclear nonproliferation treaty for the Middle East.

The Israeli Embassy in Argentina is launching a public campaign about survivors of the 1992 attack there. Click here for the rest of the article...

Tan told The Mole “Pas is using the formation of the steering committee as an excuse to form some sort of council to take over the administrative role of Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak.” “To me it should not have been formed in the first place as...

Jerusalem (AFP) March 8, 2012 Israel is "completely unprepared" to cope with the consequences of a war, a lawmaker in charge of home front preparations has told AFP, as tensions rise over a possible confrontation with Iran. Zeev Bielsky, who heads the parliamentary committee for home front preparedness, accused the...

WASHINGTON: When Pakistan is asked to do more in the war against terror, it does not go well with the Pakistanis because “we are doing what we can”, says Ambassador Sherry Rehman.

Oil prices rose slightly to near $107 a barrel Friday in Asia ahead of a key U.S. employment report that will give insight into the strength of the world's No. 1 economy and demand for crude.

> Financials Industrials Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News...

If it looks like a duck (frightened), walks like a duck (spreading anxiety), quacks like a duck (disseminating dread), then it must be a duck (a frightened fearmonger).

(CNN) -- There are "red lines," a "window of opportunity," the risk of a "zone of immunity," and plenty of other cryptic terms about Iran's nuclear program. What does it involve? Where is it leading? How and when should it be stopped or restrained?

No one will be following the U.S. presidential campaign more closely than the man adored by Republicans nationwide as the favorite son they can never adopt, Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Barack Obama plans to expose British Prime Minister David Cameron to some live March Madness action next week, a senior White House official told FOX News Channel Thursday.

Hatred, and not only bribery, blinds the eyes of wise men and distorts the words of the righteous. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a hated man.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States paid US$10 million (S$12.5 million) in each of the past three years to informants in an effort to capture major druglords, a senior government official told lawmakers on Thursday. Related Stories Air Canada threatens to lock out pilots in labour dispute Israel asks...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - At least one gray whale is still hanging around San Francisco Bay a day after a mother and her calf were first spotted near the Golden Gate Bridge. Related Stories Air Canada threatens to lock out pilots in labour dispute Israel asks US for arms that...

The U.S. says the proposed Pakistan-Iran natural gas pipeline could trigger sanctions, but it risks severing ties with a difficult but key ally. As the U.S. and Pakistan struggle to patch up frayed ties, plans for a Pakistani-Iranian natural gas pipeline further threaten the fragile partnership.

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EVIDENTLY the Cold War ended in the final decade of the 20th century with the disappearance of the Soviet Union and the European socialist countries, but the U.S. plan of domination enshrined in the Project for the New American Century, drawn up by a group of neoconservative and Zionist...

THE United States is having a little harder time in its umpteenth attempt to eliminate another government. Once again, Washington has made use of its political arsenal – in order to later deploy its military – in Syria, under the usual pretext of defending civil rights.

The five films playing in Portland-area theaters that I'd soonest see again.

Seeking to tap into the public's concern over rising gas costs, Mitt Romney on Thursday said President Barack Obama was "in part" to blame for higher prices at the pump.

Henry Rollins (musician, poet, spoken word artist) performs March 11 at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, 1050 A1A North, in Ponte Vedra Beach. Doors open at 6 p.m. and show starts at 7 p.m. Reserved seating is $29.50 with the first three rows being $37.50. Go...

Vienna • Six world powers on Thursday urged Iran to answer questions about suspicions it is working on nuclear weapons, but stressed that diplomacy was the way forward, in a carefully worded statement that reflected Western sensitivity to Russian and Chinese concerns about being too harsh on Tehran.

Afghans use web to lampoon cleric ruling on women

>* Would sanction SWIFT work with all Iranian banks* Similar measure to be introduced in SenateBy Timothy GardnerWASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - Global companies that insure trade with Iran would be cut off from the U.S. financial system under legislation two lawmakers introduced on Thursday that aims to further...

Former Israeli intelligence chief Meir Dagan, in his first U.S. television interview, says he believes that the Iran regime is rational and that now is not the time to attack Iran. "The regime in Iran is a very rational one," the former top Israeli spymaster tells CBS' Leslie Stahl,...

The last time U.S. President Barack Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, it was obvious the two men distrusted and despised each other.[...]

Last time I wrote here about the need to say less about Iran , and here I am today, talking about the same subject again. Well, do as I say, not as I . . . never mind.

Six world powers demanded Thursday that Iran fulfill a promise to let international inspectors visit a military installation.

A frail Osama bin Laden lived out his final days in a poisonous atmosphere cooped up with two wives who suspected a third of plotting his betrayal, according to a new account of his life and death in Pakistan.

"All options are on the table" is an oft heard phrase in the recent discourse revolving around the Iranian nuclear programme.

A group of Iranian women have stripped off for a new video in a protest against sexual oppression in their native country. The ladies, who are living in exile in Europe, pose naked in front of the camera as they each deliver a defiant message.

Putin election victory: What next for Russia? THE clearest indication that in the last few months Vladimir Putin was indeed rattled by the implications of Russia’s burgeoning opposition movement came on election night on Sunday.

Exclusive: The Right’s attack machine, which these days questions President Obama’s birthplace and smears Georgetown student Sandra Fluke over contraceptives, arose in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate with young conservatives thinking they were the real victims, thus justifying whatever they did, reports Robert Parry.

The current tension between Israel and Iran, including incredibly heated rhetoric calling for preemptive actions and assassinations is eerily reminiscent of the period before the summer of 1914, when the sense of "inevitability" of war seized national leaders.

The 11th annual Tribeca Film Festival has announced its 2012 film sections for the popular Spotlight and Cinemania series. The festival, which was started by Robert DeNiro after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, takes place from April 18th to April 29th.

Hamas will not do Iran's bidding in any war with Israel, according to senior figures within the militant Islamic group.

Mehdi Eslamipour stands amid piles of bricks and abandoned furniture at a Tehran building site where his company just knocked down a three-storey villa to build an apartment block. “Everyone’s looking to build,” he says, pointing to three similar projects on the same street.

Iran's supreme leader took the unusual step of praising President Barack Obama for eschewing the language of war on Thursday, raising hopes that he may genuinely be seeking a negotiated solution to Tehran's nuclear impasse with the West.

BENGHAZI, Libya, March 8 (UPI) -- The declaration of an autonomous region in Cyrenaica in eastern Libya is the most serious threat to central authority in post-revolutionary Libya.

The United States has offered to supply Israel with the military means of destroying Iran's nuclear facilities, but only if it agrees to delay an attack until next year, an Israeli newspaper has claimed.

Mr. Netanyahu was right to point out that "the purpose of the Jewish state is to defend Jewish lives and to secure the Jewish future" -- that is what Zionism is all about. But, if that is the case, why did Mr. Netanyahu go to Washington, D.C. and plead...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum appealed Thursday for votes in Alabama, calling it the "heart of conservatism" ahead of its primary next week.

Shira Morgenstein, a 38-year-old secretary, rushed from her exercise class at the Hebrew University swimming pool in Jerusalem to pick up her daughter from preschool.

The Pentagon is preparing an array of military options for striking Iran if hard-hitting diplomatic and economic sanctions fail to persuade Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told National Journal in an interview Thursday. The Pentagon chief said that such planning had been underway “for a...

When journalists (myself included ) talk about the impact rising gas prices might have on President Obama's reelection chances, we tend to speak in terms of broad national trends. What will it do to the ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not discuss in their meetings this week an Israeli request for advanced U.S. military technology that could be used against Iran, the White House said on Thursday. "In meetings the president had there was no such...

Natural gas prices fell sharply Thursday after spring-like weather blanketed much of the country, raising expectations that demand will remain weak. At the same time, supplies have stayed well above year-ago levels.

MOSCOW, March 8 (RIA Novosti) - The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany on Thursday expressed their readiness to resume comprehensive talks with Iran, Press TV reported.

>RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A monumental wooden chair erected in Ramallah to symbolize the Palestinians' sought-after United Nations seat collapsed this week after months of wind and rain. Bulldozers quietly took away the shattered remains by night. Its collapse and stealthy removal could well serve as an emblem of...

The average price of gasoline in the Upstate remained unchanged overnight, according to AAA. The price at the pump for regular gasoline in the Greenville-Anderson-Spartanburg metro area averaged $3.514 today.

New Delhi, March 8: Iran's secretive Quds Force or West Asian terror groups may have been behind the terror bombing on an Israeli embassy car last month, investigators said Thursday, a day after an Indian freelance journalist was arrested for his alleged link to the attack.

Issue Brief - Heritage Issue Briefs give readers a concise analysis of fast-breaking policy developments and current events.

HOUSTON – The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Texas is two cents more than the average last week, according to the AAA Texas Weekend Gas Watch.

David Axelrod, the president's political strategist, indicated to journalists Wednesday that Obama's campaign will use Romney's response to the Limbaugh's misogynistic comments about Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke to further define the Republican frontrunner as someone without...

VIENNA (AP) - Three days of protracted negotiations held under the specter of war highlighted the diplomatic difficulties ahead for nations intent on ensuring that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.

By Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - In turning one of its best-known hackers into an informant and breaking open the highest profile elements of the "Anonymous" movement, authorities have dealt a serious blow to a group they found a growing irritant.