News Archive - 4 June 2012

>* Brent crude trading at lowest since Jan 2011* Eyes on monetary policy meetings later this week (Adds quotes, updates prices)By Randy FabiSINGAPORE, June 4 (Reuters) - Brent crude prices fell below $97 a barrel to a 16-month low on Monday, as weak U.S. and Chinese economic data fanned...

The Islamic Republic of Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold new round of talks on Friday to try to reach an agreement, IAEA Chief, Yukiya Amano, said on Monday. "I wish to inform the board that a meeting between Iran and the agency has been scheduled for...

Britain is reportedly planning to set up refugee camps inside Syria where to help armed rebels fighting against the government. According to a report published in Daily Star, British Special Forces would set up camps along Syria’s borders with Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon and that Special Air Service (SAS) troops...

A 9th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) Culture Ministers started work in Beijing on Tuesday morning. IRI Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Sayyed Mohammad Hosseini has attended the meeting. It is expected that the meeting approves a executive program for working of inter-governmental agreements on cultural cooperation among...

Egyptian politicians, including three of the higher-voted candidates in the first round of the presidential election, joined forces on Monday with youth groups demanding the suspension of a second-round runoff. The joint call is aimed at isolating Ahmed Shafiq, a former Hosni Mubarak premier, who is due to square off...

Prescribing supplemental iron may help women suffering from unexplained fatigue to boost their level of energy even in the absence of anemia, according to a new study by Swiss researchers. Severe iron deficiency is the most common reason of anemia that can cause weakness, tiredness and feeling faint. A recent...

A new chapter began in the Iran-IAEA cooperation, Iran's permanent IAEA envoy, Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said on Monday. Soltanieh made the remarks in interview with IRNA. “Third parties should not interfere in the Iran-IAEA technical cooperation to resolve the nuclear issue; this kind of noise and allegations are baseless,” the envoy...

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake has struck Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java, the US Geological Survey says. The quake struck 96 kilometers (59 miles) southwest of Sukabumi in western Java Island on Monday, with a depth of 67 kilometers. The earthquake was also felt in the capital Jakarta. There...

At least fifteen people killed and 50 others injured in a car bombing in the central Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police and medical sources say. The sources said the attack was carried out at a religious endowment headquarters in the Baab al-Muadham neighborhood of Baghdad at 11:00 a.m. local time...

Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister announced on Monday, Tehran and Baghdad mull expanding ties in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry. Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), Alireza Zeighami, said the two sides have reached an agreement in the fields of expanding...

>* Shell expects global LNG demand to double by 2025* LNG sales in 2011 rose 12 pct; more output in Qatar, Nigeria, RussiaKUALA LUMPUR, June 5 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said a drop in oil prices was due more to lower demand, with geopolitical issues having less of an...

>* Euro debt crisis remains a pressure point for market* Euro edges up further from last week's 2-year lowBy Randy FabiSINGAPORE, June 5 (Reuters) - Brent crude prices rebounded for a second straight session on Tuesday, rising above $99 per barrel on support from a weaker dollar and hopes that...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fast-growing Iranian mobile-phone network managed to obtain sophisticated U.S. computer equipment despite sanctions that prohibit sales of American technology to Iran, interviews and documents show. MTN Irancell, a joint venture between MTN Group Ltd of South Africa and an Iranian government-controlled consortium, sourced equipment from...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - Satellite images indicate that buildings are being demolished and soil removed at Parchin, an Iranian military site the U.N. nuclear watchdog wants to visit, its chief said on Monday. Yukiya Amano's comments will reinforce Western diplomats' suspicions that Iran is trying to remove any incriminating evidence...

>The United States and its Gulf allies are alarmed by the deteriorating security in Yemen, where al Qaeda's Arabian Peninsula wing (AQAP) took advantage of a split in the military during an uprising against then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh and seized territory in the south province of Abyan last year.Shi'ite...

>China's relatively mild reaction to the U.S. announcement highlighted its reluctance to risk outright confrontation with Washington despite friction. The Foreign Ministry also brushed aside a question about an alleged spy scandal involving the United States."At present, the grand trend and broad aspiration of the Asia-Pacific region is...

>* Israeli assent to diplomatic track may ward off war (Adds comments from Israeli official)By Dan WilliamsJERUSALEM, June 4 (Reuters) - The United States is conferring with Israel about new sanctions planned against Iran should international negotiations this month fail to curb the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme, a U.S.

Adolfo Calero, a leader of the U.S.-backed Contra rebels who fought Nicaragua's revolutionary Sandinista government, died Saturday.

I am honored to be back here, at RUSI, speaking about my favorite topic, missile defense. I particularly appreciate this year’s program where I get to speak first.

Is everything better in Texas? Well, when it comes to America’s Got Talent auditions, Austin is a tough city to live up to. Unfortunately, the Texas audition also had its fair share of duds. Keep reading to learn the juicy details surrounding tonight’s episode! The Austin auditions for America’s Got...

This past week, a Russian Internet security firm disclosed that it had found a massive malware program infecting principally computers in Iran, but one suspected of having targeted about 600 sites in the Mideast and Eastern Europe.

Pakistan is losing billions in revenue collection after striking a range of preferential trade agreements with various countries especially China that allows import of goods either duty-free or at red .....

The viability of the envisaged United States-India strategic partnership is once again under the microscope. Aziz Haniffa reports

The scale of the violence on the ground is amplifying calls for Western intervention. But, it also points to the complexity of stopping the bloodletting

The image of Cubans has been shaped with a great deal of imagination, a lot of past memories, and the stories of the exiles. As a result, it is not strange to view us as if we were living in one of those old sepia postcards, forever frozen in an...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Beijing for a regional security summit and talks with Chinese leaders expected to focus on Syria, Iran and energy cooperation.

Mobile technology from Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Cisco Systems is being used by one of Iran's largest mobile operators, says Reuters, though U.S. law forbids any sale of goods to the country. [Read more]

PTI Mr Pranab Mukherjee addresses a press conference at the AICC office in New Delhi on Monday.

PICO RIVERA Durfee school employee accused of misconduct

Almost as soon as that whole 2012 Mayan calendar end-of-the-world prediction fizzled in the face of new evidence, we learned there might be zombies on the loose.

At $3b, it can sneak up on coastlines virtually undetected but new US destroyer is being scoffed at.

As many as 38 educational assistants are being laid off from schools within the Waterloo Catholic District School Board.

By pursuing cyberattacks against Iran, is the United States protecting itself or risking far greater danger?

MIKE HAMMER: Hello, good afternoon. Welcome back to the State Department here in Washington for another session of Twitter in Spanish. I am Mike Hammer, Acting Assistant Secretary, of the Bureau of Public Affairs. We take this opportunity to answer as ...

Stock up on the ketamine and brace yourselves for a relentless new assault of PR-driven cyberwar scare stories. Barack Obama has been ramping up attacks on Iran's uranium enrichment facilities. Read more on the blog... Read more on the... Read more on the blog...

As the Flame virus wreaks havoc with Iranian computer systems, Israeli software companies say their country’s expertise with such cyber weapons has created a pool of army-trained hacking talent to hire from.

WASHINGTON D.C. - Democratic and Republican government officials warned that a United Nations summit in December will lead to a virtual takeover of the Internet if proposals from China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are adopted.

A court released Hezbollah terrorist leader Ali Musa Daqduq, without trying him on charges of organizing attacks on Iraqi and American troops in Iraq. In 2007, Daqduq was captured by U.S. troops and confessed to training terrorists as an agent for Iran. Hezbollah is a Lebanese terrorist militia founded...

  Some headlines from today - John Paulson not only wastes his investors money, he apparently also likes to waste his own: Buys Saudi Prince's Aspen Palace for a cool $49M - Goldman Sachs cuts managing director jobs - Mainstream media catching up to ZH, speculates $4bn loss at CIO...

From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific. 3:00 AM Fox Movie Channel The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964 GB): No, this isn’t a prequel to Faye Dunaway’s Eyes of Laura Mars, but a super...

Russia results since the 2010 World Cup:

PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: So, good afternoon and welcome, everybody. It is a great pleasure and privilege to welcome Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, to Stockholm and to Sweden. I must admit that yesterday we had the coldest day in Sweden since ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - When Russia opens a "billion-dollar bridge" on its Pacific coast this summer, Vladimir Putin can expect an enthusiastic audience among the 5,000 islanders whom it will connect to the mainland, at an eye-popping cost per head. But the president will be looking, too, for attention from a...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Forty-nine people from around the world became United States citizens on Monday, at a naturalization ceremony at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. District Courthouse in Charleston. The new citizens include: Jazmin Alvarez Sol...

Wisconsin is one of those states that time forgot.

Remarks at Meeting With Embassy Yerevan Staff and Families Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State U.S. Embassy Yerevan Yerevan, Armenia June 4, 2012 Well, it is such a pleasure to be back here in Yerevan. And I want thank all of you for your hard work and commitment.

WHOLESALE GAS and electricity prices fell in May as markets nervously assessed global economic uncertainty and political repercussions of the European debt crisis.

The company says in its lawsuit that the new law, scheduled to take effect July 1, is unconstitutional because only the federal government can set foreign policy.

Several readers are aghast at my criticism of President Obama for covertly deploying the…

Members of the Abilene Woman's Club have been meeting for weekly lunches for decades. Now, for the first time in the history of the club, members are inviting veterans to attend lunches with them this month for a special celebration of patriotism.

As the November elections approach, one question jumps to mind: Why does anyone want to be president? Taking the rudder of the United States has never been anything but an enormous challenge. The difficulties confronting the winner of the next election will prove no exception.

Afghanistan and China will this week announce the elevation of their relationship “to a new strategic level”, Kabul’s foreign ministry said yesterday, as Nato forces prepare to pull out of the country.

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CARACAS: If oil was a good bet at $110 a barrel, why are crude’s cheerleaders not calling on investors to load up on Brent now that it is in the bargain bin?

The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog today called on Iran to fulfil its international obligations to ensure that its nuclear programme is of an exclusively peaceful nature.

Over at Eater: Los Angeles (one of LA's most read restaurant blogs), the week started out calm enough: Associate Editor Daniela Galarza visited the yet-to-open 3rd Street eatery Duplex for a sneak peek.

As hackers and spies ramp up attacks on U.S. computer networks, government and business leaders are rushing to build better defenses — and preparing for digital battles online.

In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda: Dan Rather has a disturbing obsession with death, the BBC honors Queen Elizabeth, and "bullets of treachery" explain the massacre in Syria. We begin in Caracas.

President Obama has decided to speed up clandestine cyberattacks against Iran's nuclear facilities, and significantly expand America's use of cyberweapons, according to New York Times reporter David Sanger.

COMMENTARY | An AFP report that Israel has equipped a flotilla of German-made submarines with nuclear-equipped missiles constitutes an ominous development in the game of nuclear brinkmanship in the Middle East.

A week ago the big malware news was the code known as Flame, Flamer, or sKyWIper (detected by ESET as Win32/Flamer.A), then on June 1, this news broke: "A damaging cyberattack against Iran’s nuclear program was the work of US and Israeli experts and proceeded under the secret orders...

The historically tense relationship has warmed in recent years, leading to flourishing bilateral trade. Vladimir Putin will be in Beijing today to discuss everything from trade, to Iran's nuclear program, to Syria's bloody war.

To fight spam-bots, we need to verify you're a real human user. Please enter your answer below: Who was the first woman? EDITOR'S NOTE: BP Ledger carries items for reader information each week from various Southern Baptist-related entities and news releases of interest from other sources.

While walking along East 29th Street near Madison Avenue last Christmas, I discovered a faded fallout shelter sign mounted on the brick wall above a freight entrance. Few images better illustrate the Cold War era than these three yellow triangles against a black (or sometimes blue) background. At a time...

BAGHDAD -- Iran has played many political roles in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein: spoiler to American-crafted administrations, haven for Iraqi political outcasts and big brother to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government.

YEREVAN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern on Monday that violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan could lead to a broader regional conflict as three Armenian soldiers died in a border incident. Clinton began a trip to the South Caucasus region by calling on all sides...

Is there something fundamentally different when "parent" investors are Chinese companies? The answer is both no and yes.

VIENNA — The U.N. nuclear agency chief on Monday announced new talks with Iran and urged it to sign a deal that would relaunch his long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran worked secretly on atomic arms.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday kicked off three days of diplomacy in Europe's Caucasus, expressing concern about recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan as she hopes to mediate progress on a slew of trade and territorial disputes.

If the US, China, and others adopt hidden methods of aggression like cyberwarfare, the nature of conflict will change rapidly. So, too, must peacemaking.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in China on Tuesday for a three-day visit aimed at bolstering a crucial alliance that has seen the giant neighbours block further action against Syria. Both energy ...

The battleship Iowa fires its 16-inch guns on station in the Persian Gulf in 1987. The 887-foot long ship that is headed to Southern California to be a floating museum.

More and more people are trying more and more ways to sneak money out of countries that are buckling under the weight of the world's almost daily financial crises.

Over 80 fake domains were registered with fake identities.

The Flame malware, a sophisticated threat that appears to have targeted Iran and other Middle Eastern nations, is at least four years old, according to new research published June 4.

The so-called "Flame" computer virus, the latest to caused problems for Iran's computer networks, appears to have attacked some Windows-based PCs, Microsoft revealed, while reassuring its users that most had little to worry about.

Issue Brief - Heritage Issue Briefs give readers a concise analysis of fast-breaking policy developments and current events. The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be negotiated in July in New York. One reason to be concerned about the ATT is the risks it poses to U.S. sovereignty.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday kicked off three days of diplomacy in Europe's Caucasus, expressing concern about recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan as she hopes to mediate progress on a slew of trade and territorial disputes.

A bill denying state and local public contracts to any person or organization investing in Iran’s energy or finance sectors cleared a Senate panel

On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran called on the French shipping service, Bureau Veritas, to stop certifying Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic

YEREVAN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began a trip to the South Caucasus region on Monday calling on arch rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan to renounce violence that she warned could slip into a broader regional conflict.

NEW YORK, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: World Rubber Market http://www.reportlinker.com/p0819331/World-Rubber-Market.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Resin_and_RubberWorld ...

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Rogers, addressed national and statewide issues with a room full of local party faithful and Republican elected officials Friday during the annual Republican Party of Pope County’s (RPPC) Lincoln Day Dinner.

Iran has extended formal invitations to many senior officials of the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement for the 16th NAM summit in Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says.

Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook! Earlier this year, oil prices soared to more than $100 a barrel again, bringing back memories of the oil price spike of 2007 and 2008. That spike, which saw oil prices hit an all-time high of $147 a barrel, was primarily blamed on "speculators.

Today at Microsoft’s E3 press conference, Ubisoft announced the newest addition to the Splinter Cell franchise, Blacklist.

Israel, according to a western estimate, is the Middle East's sole, but undeclared nuclear-armed power.

World military spending remained the same last year for the first time in 14 years, yet the Swedish think tank SIPRI claims that the global nuclear threat stays strong.

TEHRAN, June 4 (MNA) – In a recent meeting, Hossein Alvandi-Behineh, Iran’s new ambassador to Vietnam, submitted his credentials to the country’s president Truong Tan Sang.

TEHRAN, Iran – Petropars expects to install the first deck of the South Pars Phase 12 development offshore Iran this summer.

Microsoft on Sunday revoked several of its own digital certificates after discovering that the makers of the Flame super-cyber spy kit figured out a way to sign their malware with the company's digital "signature."

There are 6.1 billion mobile phone subscriptions in the world, which includes 953 million smartphones. Within five years more than half of mobile phone users will be using smartphones, according to venture capitalist Mary Meeker.