News Archive - 20 October 2012

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Saturday denied a New York Times report that said the United States and Iran had agreed for the first time to one-on-one negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, saying it remained committed to working with major powers to resolve the standoff. The Times, quoting...

WASHINGTON — The White House says it is prepared to talk one-on-one with Iran to find a diplomatic settlement to the impasse over Tehran's reported pursuit of nuclear weapons, but there's no agreement now to meet. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said Saturday that President Barack Obama has...

PFDC – LONDON, Just four days after the memorable 1-0 win over South Korea with Iran, Ashkan Dejagah again could celebrate – this time at his new club Fulham FC. The Iranian international winger had joined the London based Premier League club from Wolfsburg on the final day of the...

1st Half – Highlights   2nd Half – Highlights

>Eighteen others were injured when the bus, carrying students from the town of Borujen, flipped on the Izeh-Lordegan road, about 700 km (435 miles) southwest of the capital Tehran, Iranian media reported."Travelling at excess speeds on slippery roads was the cause of this accident," Colonel Samad Esfandiari, a highway...

>WASHINGTON Oct 20 (Reuters) - The White House on Saturday denied a report in the New York Times that said the Obama administration had agreed to one-on-one talks with Iran on its nuclear program.National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement the United States would continue to...

>Iranian officials have insisted the talks not begin until after the Nov. 6 U.S. election because they want to know which U.S. president they will be negotiating with, a senior administration official told the Times.The Times said the agreement was the result of secret exchanges between American...

There was a time in the not too distant past where no American President would think of going to the annual opening of the UN General Assembly session in September without expressing America's allegiance to core UN charter principles. This is only natural. After all, the United States is...

>* Majority Shi'ites are demanding democratic changeDUBAI Oct 20 (Reuters) - Bahrain's interior minister said on Saturday that the country had identified several suspects in a bomb attack on Thursday that killed one policeman and injured another following clashes between protesters and the security services in the U.S. ally.

>A senior Israeli official dismissed the suggestion as "beyond pathetic".The slain Lebanese official, Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan, was close to several Lebanese politicians who back the uprising in Syria and led several investigations into Syrian meddling in Lebanese affairs, including one that implicated Damascus and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah in...

>Three special forces police officers and three Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were killed when gunbattles broke out along a highway in the remote province of Hakkari bordering Iraq and Iran, security sources said.In a separate incident in Bitlis province northwest of Hakkari, three state-backed Kurdish village guards were...

>* Brahimi seeks Syrian backing for Eid ceasefire* 220 people killed on Friday, activists say* Syria condemns Beirut bombingBy Marwan MakdesiDAMASCUS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi met Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem in Damascus on Saturday, pressing for a brief ceasefire between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and...

For candidates, this is homestretch. For the rest of us, it's time either to turn off the TV or to buck up for saturation bombing by their commercials.

The Israeli navy took over a Gaza-bound ship carrying international pro-Palestinian activists Saturday, reported Xinhua citing Israel Radio.

For Greek director Babis Makridis, movie making seems to be a way to escape reality. The director, here for the 14th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF), says his movies make him lose all sense of time and space, and hopes his works have a similar effect on his audience as well.

Romney has failed to pin down the president on his obvious policy shortcomings.

Collin Klein ran for four touchdowns and threw three TD passes as No. 4 Kansas State got little resistance from No. 17 West Virginia in a 55-14 victory Saturday night that turned a matchup of Heisman Trophy contenders into...

New Delhi, Oct.21 (ANI): A journalist, Syed Mohammed Kazmi, who worked for an Iranian news agency and was accused of being involved in the bomb attack on the car of an Israeli diplomat, was released from judicial custody here late on Saturday.

Alabama may have a championship-caliber offense to go along with its best-in-the-nation defense.

A senior administration official told NBC on Saturday that there have been backchannel talks between the U.S. and Iran about meeting bilaterally on the Iranians’ nuclear program – but that no meeting has been agreed to.

An unexpected call has been made a few days ago by an Egyptian preacher, a member of the movement Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi. He called on the Arab and Muslim countries to declare a political and economic boycott of Tehran and Moscow because of the support of the Assad...

A rights group says another Tibetan has set himself on fire while shouting slogans calling for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet.

From congratulatory tweets to frustrated rants, Nova Scotians took to Twitter and Facebook on municipal election night.

Authorities say two off-duty Florida law-enforcement officers have fatally shot an armed, naked woman who confronted them at a social gathering.

Interior Minister Prince Ahmed salutes as different security forces parade in front of him during an inspection tour of Haj preparations on Saturday. (SPA)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- There is no agreement between the United States and Iran to hold one-on-one talks on Tehran's nuclear program, an Obama administration official said Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Times reported on Saturday that the United States and Iran have agreed in principle to hold one-on-one negotiations on Iran's nuclear program but the White House quickly denied that any talks had been set. The Times, quoting unnamed Obama administration officials, said earlier on...

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Iran have agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran.

Hundreds of people opposed to Panama selling state-owned land in a duty-free zone on the Panama Canal have marched through the city of Colon a day after a violent protest resulted in a death and several injuries.

Shark research Rima Jabado writes down the measurements of a shark helped by her colleagues at a fish market in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on June 12.

The shark-fin trade has devastated several species including hammerheads, oceanic white tip, blue, threshers and silky and contributed to 181 shark and ray species being listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as threatened with extinction.

The quality rather than the force of a nation’s response to challenges determines its character and prospects.

Argentina has decided to evacuate about 300 crew members from the ARA Libertad, a navy training ship seized in Ghana nearly three weeks ago in a legal dispute over debts.

At the centerpiece of Mitt Romney’s argument that President Obama has failed to maintain American strength abroad is a plan to build more military ships, but critics say his budget calculations don’t add up.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria has a long and tumultuous history of meddling into Lebanese affairs. For much of the past 30 years, the seven-times-smaller Lebanon has lived under Syrian military and political domination. Damascus has often stirred tensions within Lebanon's explosive sectarian mix of Christians and Muslims to advance its...

U.S. Rep Ted Deutch, running for his second full term in the newly configured District 21, has spent the past two years as a junior member of the Democratic minority in Congress, not exactly a position of great power on Capitol Hill.

Young demonstrators angered by the recent assassination of a top intelligence officer in Beirut gather at Martyrs’ Square in the capital and call on the government of Najib Mikati to quit.

But with Iran unwilling to talk until after the presidential elections, there is a risk the apparent breakthrough is only one more effort to buy time.

"Rust and Bone," Jacques Audiard's soaring story of love, loss and killer whales, was named best picture at the London Film Festival on Saturday.

KUCHING: Bisi 26 iku Tuai Rumah ari Sekim Pengentap Pendiau Sekuau, udah enda lantang ati enggau kontrektor ke [...]

However else Campaign 2012 is chronicled, there is little doubt it will be remembered as the Year of Debates. Never have candidate debates played as important a role, from the start of the Republican primaries through the general election, as they have in this election.

The 2009 presidential election was followed by widespread street protests over allegations of vote fraud. Basij forces were instrumental in cracking down on protesters and ending more than a year of street demonstrations.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), strongly condemns the harassment faced by Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh and, more generally, denounces the policy of subjecting jailed human rights defenders to punitive...

Iran says a guilty plea by a Texas man allegedly hired by Iran to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States was the result of "psychological and moral pressure."

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will hit President Obama during their foreign policy debate with the ancient political zinger, what did he know and when did he know it about Libya. The GOP’s attack line is that Obama botched the response to the terror attack on the American embassy in...

Concerning where the price of oil is headed in the next 12 months, my local car mechanic’s analysis here in the New York metropolitan area probably is as good as any other oil market analyst's: “The price of oil? Over the next year it’s guaranteed to be between $40 and...

No need for charters Voters have already rejected two charter school initiatives and one referendum and supporters have spent over $2.1 million to get this on the ballot again (Seattle Times, July 11). There is money to be made by education companies accepting public money. The public still has...

The Sunday Story A few months ago, Mumbai was in the eye of the storm after a research paper published by three doctors of Hinduja Hospital revealed 12 cases of Totally Drug Resistant Tuberculosis that were completely resistant to the known first-line and second-line drugs prescribed for treatment.

There's continued tension at the Turkish-Syrian border. Ankara is threatening military retaliation should Syria keep sending shells across the border. Experts don't expect a war - but also can't rule it out.

Intelligence chief had implicated Damascus in Hariri killing

Argo (M) 120 mins

Ben Affleck knows the highs and lows of the film industry better than most. Now he is relishing doing projects that matter.

CYBATI's Co-Founder and President, Matthew E. Luallen, revealed the ease of writing a Metasploit module targeting the MicroLogix line of Allen-Bradley process controllers. Mr. Luallen stated several times during his presentation at NERC's GridSecCon 2012, "I did not want to write this Metasploit module or the laboratory exercise; however, given...

>ANKARA Oct 20 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan raised its gas supply from its Shah Deniz fields to Turkey more than 50 percent on Saturday following a request by Turkish pipeline operator Botas after sabotage halted gas flow from Iran on Friday, a BP official told Reuters.The daily flow from Shah...

>* Has far-reaching investment/spending plans for next yearBy Marat GurtASHGABAT, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan's parliament has approved a $1.2 billion budget deficit for next year to help fund plans to raise salaries and pensions in the gas-rich former Soviet republic, state media reported on Saturday.The state budget...

UPPER MERION — Candidates for the state Legislature and U.S. Congress made pitches for their candidacy Monday morning to about 45 residents at the Upper Merion Senior Service Center on South Henderson Road.

Iran has held the 16th commemoration ceremony for the Persian mystic poet Hafez in the southern city of Shiraz where the poet is laid to eternal rest.

Tehran, Oct 20 (IANS) Iran's football coach Carlos Queiroz has said that the national team's goal is to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Iranian computer specialist Arash Habibi Lashkari has been awarded at the 2012 national contest of MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Awards (MSC Malaysia APICTA).

A bus carrying students overturned in western Iran, killing 26 people, Fars news agency reported Saturday.

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney calls Russia the No. 1 foe of the United States and promises to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. But if he's elected president, he might find that he'll need Moscow's help.

Iran and Egypt have agreed to resume their commercial ties for the first time after the two countries severed their relations over three decades ago.

Twenty-six people were killed when a bus carrying female students overturned in south-western Iran, state radio has reported.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese troops reinforced road junctions and official buildings in Beirut on Saturday and the government met to mull a response to the car bomb killing of a senior intelligence official opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.