News Archive - 8 December 2012

>* Unlikely to affect Russia's stance on biggest issues* Moscow vows to respond in kind to bill to bar abusersBy Steve GuttermanMOSCOW, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate's passage of legislation to punish Russians who violate human rights is the first big test of Vladimir Putin and Barack...

>PORT SUDAN, Sudan (Reuters) - A second visit by Iranian warships to Sudan in little over a month risks widening divisions inside the African country's government and upsetting its Gulf Arab donors. Two Iranian navy ships also visited in October, days after Sudan accused Israel of bombing a weapons factory...

>GAZA (Reuters) - After receiving a hero's welcome on his return from decades in exile, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal will attend a rally in Gaza on Saturday to mark the founding of his Islamist group and celebrate "victory" over Israel. At least 200,000 Palestinians are expected to attend the outdoor...

>The ruling Al-Khalifa family, who are Sunni Muslims, used martial law and help from Gulf neighbors to put down a revolt against alleged discrimination of Bahrain's majority Shi'ite population in March last year, but violence has resumed.Protesters and police clash almost daily and the island has seen a number...

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said it may delay a much-criticized long-range rocket launch originally scheduled for as early as Monday, December 10, but gave no hint of the reasons. Scientists and technicians were "now seriously examining the issue of readjusting the launching time of the satellite for some...

ULAN BATOR (AFP) - On the streets of Ulan Bator a people renowned for their horse riding skills have to contend every day with ever more Hummers, Land Cruisers and Range Rovers.

Two Iranian navy warships arrived Saturday morning in Port Sudan, in the second such visit to Sudan within two months, eyewitnesses and officials said.

Faced with soaring demand, stagnant output at home and a need to diversify from Iranian crude imports lost to Western sanctions, Indian oil companies are hungry for deals like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's ( ONGC's) Kashagan buy that promise supplies sooner rather than later.

Today in History

TEHRAN, Dec. 9 (MNA) – The Iranian police have seized a large shipment of illicit drugs weighing 11 tons and 39 kilograms in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan after a 36-hour clash with smugglers, the commander of Iran’s National Border announced during a press conference on Saturday.

Rebels have set their sights on Damascus International Airport, the Assad regime's lifeline to its few remaining allies

Huawei and ZTE have been in the news quite a bit recently, and this week they make appearances again, but one of them definitely wishes that wasn't the case. But which one is it? Plus, who has made a trillion ...

(Changes slugs to reposition chapter in slug)SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING SPECIAL REPORTS Editors: AMERICAS: Michael Williams + 1 646 223 5462 EMEA: Simon Robinson + 44 20 75425458 ASIA: Bill Tarrant + 65 6870 3821 Picture Desk: Singapore + 65 6870 3775 *If you are not receiving the Special Reports content...

Unchecked illegal gold mining and decades of indiscriminate logging contributed to the high death toll in the Philippines' worst natural disaster this year, officials and experts said.

During his recent working visit to Turkmenistan, President Vladimir Putin expressed his content with the development of CIS, the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Communal rioting in two cities. Bricks and bottles thrown and civic buildings wrecked. Flags torn down and 15 police injured. Local politicians forced to go into hiding. It happens all over the world, but this week it happened in the United Kingdom, evidence of continuing lack of community concord in...

The Legacy of President Barack Obama does not begin or end with his first term in office, it begins now and ends four years hence. Quite what that legacy will be depends not on how Barack Obama will behave, but rather the extent to which he controls his own destiny.

Wells Fargo helps folks?I read with interest Friday's article about Wells Fargo. I predict that if the housing market begins to improve, we will see more and more articles that make it appear that banks like Wells Fargo are really helping folks and are helping to mend the housing...

Exclusive: Montreal police may hope to just nail the “torch,” the culprit who hurled a fire-bomb into the home of ex-Israeli spy Ari Ben-Menashe.

FOREIGN Secretary William Hague has warned the Syrian regime against using chemical weapons after he said there was “some evidence” they were being prepared for an attack against rebels.

Loser: It was hardly comforting to learn Friday that Iran plans to attend North Korea's test launch of a long-range missile...

WITH Scottish football starved of big-money transfer deals, it could yet turn out to be one of this season’s most talked-about signings.

The information in "For the Record" is provided by the Tom Green County justice of the peace, county and district clerk offices. The Standard-Times publishes all the records it receives from the office and does not edit them for content. Entries involving criminal cases include the defendant's name, date of...

The Taliban's recent shooting of a 15-year-old Pakistani girl for speaking out in favor of women's education is a stark reminder of the global plight of women. As the Arab Spring progresses, strong constitutional commitments to democracy and human rights are essential for the region to enjoy the peace and...

DEMOCRATS OWN IT In a recent article for "The Rat," James Carville, Democrat political consultant and campaign manager for Bill Clinton, wrote that "80 percent of Democrats are politically clueless.

The new Egyptian president's media strategy may be echoing that of his predecessor, but Egypt's media is fighting back.

WASHINGTON DC: The US Presidential Inauguration ceremony will be held in Washington DC on Monday, Jan. 21.The official theme for the 2013 inauguration is “Faith in America’s Future.”

With just three weeks to go until the end of the year, you could be forgiven for hoping that the latest annus horribilis for the banking industry was over.

Azerbaijan is using drones to carry out spying missions along its border with Iran and Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s ethnic Armenian breakaway republic, Iran’s Press TV reported on Saturday.

When acquisitions by state-owned enterprises undermine the private-sector orientation of an industrial sector, Ottawa will act

The United States has blocked a conference aimed at banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East, thus shielding Israel from criticism for keeping a rogue nuclear arsenal even as it threatens to attack Iran for the mere “capacity” to build a bomb.

Associated Press (AP) American envoys challenged assertions Saturday that Washington seeks to diminish its role in Middle East affairs, insisting U.S. political ties and …

Emily Harris follows her shot during practice while head coach Tom Esposito looks on at Whittell High School on Wednesday. Dec. 14 @ Loyalton 6 p.m. Dec. 22 vs. Silver Stage 2 p.m.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's state TV says the country's border police have confiscated over 11 tons of narcotics after fierce clashes with drug traffickers in southeastern Iran, the biggest single consignment ever seized in Iran's war against drugs.

WASHINGTON - Growing fear that civil war in Syria could unleash the world's first use of chemical weapons in nearly three decades is based on two grim scenarios and#8212; neither considered likely, but both carrying risks of civilian massacre and a major escalation of violence.

TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The newly appointed Swedish ambassador to Iran apparently upset the Iranian president by crossing his legs, an Iranian website reported.

Bahrain's Shiite opposition on Saturday welcomed a call for dialogue made by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, saying it was ready to talk in an effort to solve the Gulf kingdom's political crisis.

For decades, Agamy has been policed by well-organized bedouins and populated, mostly in the summer, by the middle and upper class.

Update: The devolution is complete as Egypt declares martial law. * * * It was only a matter of time before Egypt's US-endorsed temporary dictator resolved to what will be spun as temporary military intervention against what is increasingly looking like a permanent counterrevolution by deploying the army to crush...

Faced with soaring demand, stagnant output at home and a need to diversify from Iranian crude imports lost to Western sanctions, Indian oil companies are hungry for deals like Oil And Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC's) Kashagan buy that promise supplies sooner rather than later.

Things in Egypt are going to get a whole lot worse before they get any better. Presdient Mohamed Morsi is considering enacting martial law until the parliamentary elections in the spring,  state-owned Al-Ahram reported Saturday .  Related Stories Ahmadinejad in Fierce Diplomatic Battle with Sweden... Over Leg-Crossing Photos: Egyptian Protesters...

U.S.-Turkey relations are at their strongest in recent years, and the most significant reason for that is Turkey's decision last year to host a new NATO radar connected to the alliance's air defense system against the missile threat from Iran. That is according to two experts who spoke...

Domingo Milella, Van, Turkey, 2012. Photo: Courtesy Brancolini Grimaldi. LONDON.- Domingo Milella's solo exhibition at Brancolini Grimaldi , his first in the UK, features new images of important ancient sites in the Mediterranean, where remnants of power, culture, life and death are captured.

Textile machinery exports will swell 16.67 per cent this financial year to Rs 1,400 crore, on the back of good demand pouring for spinning machinery and components of textile machinery, according to India International Textile Machinery Exhibition (ITME). Last financial year, textile machinery exports stood at Rs 1,200 crore.

Jean François Oeben, Ormolu-mounted amaranth and burr-walnut bibliothèque en commode, circa 1760. Estimate: £1,500,000–2,500,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012.

Dr. Doron J. Lurie senior curator and chief conservator at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art carries Abraham Breughel's Still Life of Fruit with a Bird painting into the museum's vault in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Tel Aviv's Art Museum, one of Israel's premiere museums, has moved...

Two Iranian warships, the new Bushehr helicopter carrier and the Jamaran destroyer, docked Saturday, Dec. 8 in Port Sudan. DEBKAfile: This was the Bushehr’s maiden voyage outside the Persian Gulf. The new 13,000-ton vessel carries 12 Iranian strike helicopters, a crew of 200 and has a range of 8,000 nautical...

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Dis (Bernama) -- Profesor dan pensyarah universiti tempatandisaran mengolah semula tesis yang dihasilkan mereka semasa pengajian diperingkat Doktor Falsafah (PhD) dan Ijazah Sarjana untuk diterbitkan sebagaisumber bacaan dan bahan rujukan pelajar di institusi pengajian tinggi.Timbalan Menteri Pengajian Tinggi Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah berkata banyakdisertasi atau tesis di ...

TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (MNA) – The Expediency Council (EC), presided by Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, held a meeting here on Saturday with the participation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the parliament speaker, Ali Larijani.

KHARTOUM - Two Iranian warships docked in Port Sudan on Saturday, a witness said, marking the second port call by the Iranian navy in Sudan in five weeks.

BIRJAND, South Khorassan Prov., Dec. 8 (MNA) -- A 5.5 magnitude earthquake shook the city of Zohan, in South Khorassan Province on Wednesday at 8:38 p.m. local time (1708 GMT), killing eight persons, injuring dozens, and hundreds have been displaced. The earthquake caused damage to 38 villages.

AHVAZ, Khuzestan Prov., Dec. 8 (MNA) – The newly constructed zarih (outer sarcophagus enclosure) of the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and the third Shia Imam, was warmly received in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province on Friday.

Iran condemned arch foe the United States on Saturday for conducting a limited nuclear test, saying it showed Washington's "inattention to full disarmament," the state television website reported.

The most effective and notorious weapon in any arsenal of destruction was the existence and capabilities of the nerve gas sarin. That large stocks of sarin gas are held by the Syrian government is unnerving in the extreme.

TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (MNA) -- A young Iranian director said his animation “A Photo as a Souvenir” about the U.S. spy drone, which was downed by the Iranian armed forces along the eastern border in December 2011, mocks the United States’ espionage capabilities.

Three members of the University of the Pacific community have key roles in the state's highly debated same-sex marriage issue, a legal battle that is now being taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.

TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (MNA) – This week’s Friday prayers led by Ayatollah Ali Movahhedi Kermani was held at the Tehran University campus yesterday.

Today is the 343rd day of 2012. There are 23 days left in the year. 1989: Israeli army confines more than one million Arabs to their homes and deploys extra troops as Palestinians mark second anniversary of uprising in Israeli-occupied territories.