News Archive - 17 December 2012

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>* Fears mount over prospect of Taliban return, civil war* President dismisses chaos fears once West pulls out* Unrest post-2014 a threat to foreign investmentBy Martin PettyKABUL, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Afghan father-of-four Mohammad Nasir has a secret he's been keeping from his family.The aid worker pulls a television...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Facebook - banned in Iran due to its use by activists to rally government opponents in 2009 - has an unlikely new member: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Launched a few days ago, the Facebook page "Khamenei.ir" displays photographs of the 73-year-old cleric alongside speeches and...

>NATO agreed this month to send Patriot missiles to Turkey to protect its ally against possible attack from neighboring Syria, where a 21-month-old civil war is raging. Turkey has harbored some Syrian rebels and refugees, and there have been episodes of gunfire from Syria hitting Turkish territory."I completely denounce...

>IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi told reporters on Monday that the drill would be held by the end of the current Iranian year, which ends on March 20, but gave no details on timing or what the exercise would involve."By the end of the (Iranian) year we...

>DUBAI Dec 17 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister said on Monday a way must be found to end the protracted deadlock between Iran and six world powers over Tehran's nuclear programme."The two sides have reached a conclusion that they must exit the current stalemate," Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted...

TEHRAN, Dec. 17 (MNA) -The head of Iran Presidency international affairs office reported of the cancellation of the president’s trip to Turkey due to preoccupations in job.

He was speaking at the open forum ‘Censorship in cinema’ at the Kochi International Film Festival.

FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 file photo, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, president pro temper of the Senate, and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, attends a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, where he is presented a commemorative coin marking the 150th anniversary of the creation...

Following is a summary of current odd news briefs. Mysticism, Internet fuel Mexico's Maya "Armageddon" fears CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico (Reuters) - A few words by an Americanscholar, a crumbling Mexican monument and the love of a goodyarn were all it took to spawn the belief that the world couldend this...

HOTEL Maluri Kuala Lumpur recently picked up two international awards at this year’s World Quality Commitment Convention and the Global Award for Perfection, Quality and Ideal Performance held in Paris and Rome respectively.

Editor: Paul Tait + 612 9373 1801 Picture Desk: Singapore + 65 6870 3775 Graphics queries: + 65 6870 3595 (All times GMT) TOP STORIES More pro-gun Democrats shift stance on assault weapons, NRAsilent WASHINGTON - Democratic gun-rights advocates join thegrowing number of lawmakers in their party who have started...

By The Associated Press BEIRUT — Syria’s vice president has acknowledged that the army cannot defeat the rebel forces trying to topple the regime and called for a negotiated ...

We spent a trillion dollars and almost 5,000 American lives trying to root out non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We fret about Iran getting a WMD, and we worry that North Korea already has one.

10 Things to Know for Tuesday

The following is excerpted from the introduction to Omid Memarian's new book Sketches of Iran: A Glimpse from the Front Lines of Human Rights: One day in January 2003, my friend and colleague Ali Reza Eshraghi republished an old American cartoon in the Hayat No newspaper -- a cartoon...

Syria is in free fall. Forty thousand civilians and combatants have been killed with the toll still rising; 175,000 Syrians have been wounded; half a million refugees have been sent over Syria's borders; and 1.5 million Syrians have been displaced internally.   The fate of this country, which is in the...

As Newtown, Conn., grieves the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, victims' families and residents will eventually have to decide what to do with the building and how to memorialize the fallen.

Two students who spoke English as a second language have topped the results for Canberra in the Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks.

Eight New Jersey residents who accused federal immigration officials of conducting warrantless raids of their homes will share $295,000 in a settlement.

UConn sophomore guard Ryan Boatright had the letters "SH" on his left cheek.

General Sir David Richards says Britain must have more formal alliances with countries in the Middle East and Africa Britain's most senior military officer has set out his vision for the future of the armed forces and argued the UK must have more formal alliances with countries in the Middle...

It wasn't exactly a break-up moment between Iran and ally Bashar Assad. But Tehran's whiplash diplomacy over the weekend suggested its embrace of the Syrian president could be cooling.

A year after the last American troops rumbled out of Iraq, the two countries are still trying to get comfortable with a looser, more nuanced relationship as the young democracy struggles to cope with political upheaval and the legacy of war.

By By BERNARD McGHEE Associated Press Neil Armstrong would always be taking that first step onto the moon, and Dick Clark was forever "the world's oldest teenager." Some of the notables who died in 2012...

British forces will be 'at their most vulnerable' to attack as they withdraw from Afghanistan, Chief of Defence Staff warns.

BAGHDAD — A year after the last American troops rumbled out of Iraq, the two countries are still trying to get comfortable with a looser, more nuanced relationship as the young democracy struggles to cope with political upheaval and the legacy of war.

The ninth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival wound to a close Sunday evening, with the Muhr Awards ceremony disbursing $600,000 in prize monies to filmmakers in the Arab, Asia-Africa and Emirati competitions.

* War hero lost arm in World War Two combat * Death not expected to alter Democrats' control of Senate * Served on Watergate committee, investigated Iran-Contraaffair WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic SenatorDaniel Inouye, a decorated World War Two veteran who lost an armin battle and represented...

Those who are 'violating their own dignity' by dragging index into disrepute deserve fines, says syndicated finance pioneer Amid mounting calls for the bankers who rigged Libor to be jailed, the Greek financier widely credited with inventing the benchmark interest rate has said that without the key ingredients on which...

Board Directors and Chief Executive Officers Urged to Take Notice MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) commends the U.S. Department of Justice for supporting the separation of compliance and legal departments in...

DAWLATZAI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A blast killed 10 Afghan girls as they were collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, government officials said. Related Stories Iran says it, world powers must end nuclear stalemate Royal Mail adds advisers ahead of privatisation Berlusconi sex-trial verdict may come before 2013 elections Putin...

After the Newtown massacre, assaulting gun control will be seen as a key challenge if Obama is to come close the reputation of his presidential hero, Abraham Lincoln.

Rebel fighters take part in a demonstration against the Syrian regime in Aleppo on Dec. 7. Photo by Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images Syria's Vice president Farouk al-Sharaa told a Lebanese-based newspaper in an interview published Monday that "We are not in a battle for the survival of an individual or a...

>* Boehner offers to accept tax hike for wealthiest Americans* Iran says oil revenue down by half (Updates prices)LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Oil held around $108 a barrel on Monday as investors' concerns over the progress of U.S. budget deficit reduction talks countered support from signs of a...

TEHRAN, Dec. 17 (MNA) -- Russia’s Minster of Culture Vladimir Medinsky has welcomed his Iranian counterpart’s proposal to translate his best-selling series “Myths about Russia” into Persian.

By United Press International UPI Almanac for Monday, Dec. 17, 2012.

The government of the United Arab Emirates said Monday it has signed an agreement with Russia on the development and use of civilian nuclear power, as the wealthy Gulf oil producer looks at ways to feed its growing energy consumption without eating away at its exports.

ISTANBUL, Dec 17 — Iran’s president has cancelled a trip to Turkey a day after his military chief warned the deployment of NATO missiles along its border with Syria could lead to a “world war”, Turkey’s state-run Anatolian news agency said today. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been invited by Turkish...

Despite more than a decade of international efforts to support women in Afghanistan, female entrepreneurs remain relatively rare. But one Afghan woman is trying to show the men a thing or two about making high-quality furniture in Afghanistan.

Iran is backing presidential elections in Syria as part of its six-point peace plan, outlined on Sunday, to put an end to the country's 21-month conflict.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranian media say the son of influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been released on bail. Several papers, including the pro-reform Etemad daily, say Mahdi Hashemi was released late Sunday and immediately went to his father's home.

>* White House yet to agree to Boehner's proposal* Iran nuclear talks unlikely to yield results -source (Updates prices)By Florence TanSINGAPORE, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose on Monday, staying above $108 a barrel, drawing support from a brighter economic outlook for top energy consumer China, although investors remained...