News Archive - 19 December 2012

1st Half – Highlights   2nd Half – Highlights

>* Promising German data supports sentiment (Updates prices)By Jessica JaganathanSINGAPORE, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Brent crude slipped on Thursday to trade below $110 a barrel as investors took profits after recent gains as talks to avert a U.S. fiscal crisis stalled, stoking worries about demand in the world's biggest...

The Obama-hating neocon right is trying to Swift Boat the expected nomination of Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense by making up a fantasy scare story that Hagel, former U.S. senator from Nebraska, long-respected moderate and thoughtful voice on foreign policy, and decorated Vietnam combat veteran, is...

>* Government to look into use of pre-trial detention* Broad use of anti-terror laws criticisedBy Jonathon BurchANKARA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Turkey has more jailed reporters than China, Eritrea, Iran or Syria, making it "the world's biggest prison for journalists", a leading media watchdog said on Wednesday.The report by...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - The United Nations nuclear watchdog and Iran may have made headway in talks on Tehran's disputed atomic activities but important points remain to be settled before a deal can be clinched, diplomats said on Wednesday. Both the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran said progress was achieved...

>Britain's Barclays was fined $450 million in June for rigging the rate.Three of the largest four fines ever handed out to banks have been in the last two weeks, showing that authorities are penalizing firms more heavily.HSBC last week agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion after...

Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a road trip from Reykjavík to Akureyri and back, one of the most frequently-traveled journeys on Iceland’s Ring Road.

No more Gov't Motors: US selling GM shares

A few protests are taking place, in a most scattered manner, regarding the Delhi gang-rape. I feel ashamed even to use this expression, a slur to put it mildly on human behaviour- aberrant and ...

Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has praised the “very influential” role of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in regional developments and his efforts to establish the democratic government in Iraq.

Indian refiners have problems with credit availability and if prices are not cut by Iranians, India would significantly lower import of Iranian oil.

Technology has never been more important than it is today, and it has shaped 2012 in ways that few could have imagined at the beginning.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Dec. 19 accepted the resignation of Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, and called the Chaldean bishops to Rome for a synod to elect his successor.

TIMMS 2011 Malaysia : Kalau dilihat kepada mata kejatuhan Sains & Matematik di Malaysia, sangat teruk. Data mana yang kami ambil ini? TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study). Tidak silap kami, TIMSS ini ada cara “assesment” mereka sendiri untuk melihat “standard” dan trend Sains dan Matematik bagi sesebuah...

Congressman-elect promises to use his positions to fight for smaller government and to oppose 'job-killing' policies

Did an elderly man die from stress caused by the way he was treated by Customs? His grieving family is left wondering.

President Barack Obama’s expected choice to lead the State Department after Hillary Clinton‘s departure, Democratic Senator John Kerry, has vast experience on the world stage gained through a lifetime of public service. Globetrotting and world affairs are nothing new to John Kerry, a five-term senator who is chairman of the...

Follow live updates amid continuing clashes between pro and anti Assad factions of the Yarmouk Palestinian camp in southern Damascus Matthew Weaver

Much of 2012 has seen a steady rise in tensions with regard to Iran's nuclear programme and its possible military dimensions. Iran has continued to increase its stockpile of 20%-enriched uranium, moving closer to Israel's red line for military action .

C1Bank and U.S. Century Bank have restructured their planned merger.

“Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law.” – Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791)

WASHINGTON | Almost-completed 2012 was a year when politics at times trumped economic fundamentals, from worries about a break- up of the euro zone to anxiety about U.S. budget policy. In 2013, security concerns may do the same thing.

TAWAU : The US$30 billion trade target between Malaysia and Indonesia by 2015 is achievable, said Khaeruddin Sudharmin, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Motordata Research Consortium Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” –Luke 2:14, King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) 2,000 years ago remains unfulfilled today at many levels as well as many parts of the modern world.

The Senate's rejection of Bork's nomination to the bench politicized the confirmation process and altered the direction of the high court for decades. Robert H. Bork, the conservative legal champion whose bitter defeat for a Supreme Court seat in 1987 politicized the confirmation process and changed the court's direction for...

The Syrian crisis has turned into a civil war. The Syrian Free Army, the main armed opposition in Syria, has launched consecutive attacks on the suburbs of Damascus and even plans to shell the preside .....

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP * Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange werelargely unchanged. The MSCI-Asia Pacific index, excluding Japan fell 0.22 percent. * Asian shares paused on Thursday after rallying to theirhighest in nearly 17 months the day before, as talks to avert aU.S. fiscal crisis stalled, prompting worries...

The federal government is treading carefully, saying only that it supports Egypt’s ‘transition to democracy’

Since his election victory last month, President Barack Obama has suffered a series of foreign and national security policy and personnel mishaps and embarrassments.

'So Mr Bond, you have a writ for me?' The US is planning a legal assault on the international hacking community and the companies – and governments – that use IP stolen from America.…

Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11 and the first man on the moon, died on August 27, 2012 at age 82. Photographer: NASA/Newsmakers Getty Neil Armstrong would always be taking that first step onto the moon, and Dick Clark was forever "the world's oldest teenager."

Rev. Saeed Abedini was taken by the Iranian government in July while traveling on a bus to catch a flight back to the U.S., according to the report.

Former undersecretary of Defense for policy Mich?le Flournoy would bring diversity to the Cabinet.

December 20, 2012 8:35 AM UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - A record number of countries are expected to back a UN General Assembly call for a moratorium on capital punishment on Thursday, diplomats said.

Dubai, Dec 20 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A prominent leader of the Syrian opposition abroad has called Russian and Iranian citizens "a legitimate target for opposition militants in Syria".

It is becoming increasingly likely that Senator John Kerry will become the next Secretary of State, taking over the position being vacated by Hillary Clinton . But what about the Senate vacancy ? Some pundits are predicting that Scott Brown will go for the Republican nomination, but on the Democratic side, one...

Hactivist Christopher Chaney's cameo appearance in Chapter 15 entitled "Panic Room" fueled the book's storyline of the FBI's "Operation Hackerazzi" when authorities arrested him for hacking into the personal online accounts of Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera and others. According to the Kimble Group, the new novel gained more popularity as...

US clicks on rumored Facebook site by Iran leader DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. State Department says it will keep tabs on a Facebook page purportedly created by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that includes both positive and derogatory remarks from followers. Iranian officials had...

It is helpful to compare Egypt with the region’s other large Muslim nation, Turkey, which has taken huge strides toward liberal democracy.

After nearly 18 years, retiring Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is saying goodbye. He gave his farewell address on the senate floor today thanking his colleagues.

An Iranian technology company and several of its managers and business partners have been indicted in Virginia for violating the U.S. trade embargo against Iran.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan achieved a legislative milestone this week with the final passage of his bill that seeks to counter Iran's "hostile presence" in the Western Hemisphere.

Nearly everywhere one looks in the Middle East these days, troubles are growing and new wounds are opening that seem unlikely to heal in the foreseeable future. Now all this would be academic except that most of the world’s readily exploitable oil comes from the region. Despite the hype of...

The actors vying for a nod for their supporting turns this season range from cinematic legends like Robert De Niro to first-timers like Dwight Henry.

When Mark Warner was governor, he once told the Hook the most annoying thing about Charlottesville was its belief that it is the center of the universe. Guess what? In 2012, Charlottesville was the center of the universe. During the contentious presidential campaign, President Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen, and Republican...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's possible pick of Republican Chuck Hagel to run the Pentagon raises serious concerns among some of his former Senate colleagues, who question his pronouncements on Iraq, Israel and the Middle East.

The latest in burger innovation is making its way to Greenville. Bad Daddy's Burger Bar will open its first franchise in Greenville this summer, according to the company.

A Nebraska company will create nearly 90 jobs when it builds a cold-storage warehouse in South Carolina.

# richardengel The overwhelming majority of messages I got in response to Peter Bouckaert's call for an email campaign were critical of Gawker's decision not to honor the Richard Engel media blackout. But not all of them. Somalia Report publisher Robert Young Pelton, a longtime freelance reporter, wrote me to...

Personal income growth slowed in the third quarter, including in South Carolina, but the state fared better than most of its Southeastern neighbors and ranked 18th nationally, the government said today.

Kerana didapati menggunakan pasport negara lain KOTA KINABALU: Seorang lelaki warga Iran ditahan Imigresen setelah didapati menggunakan pasport [...]

Pope Benedict has called a Synod of bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church to take place in January, 2013. The aim of the Synod will be to elect a successor to His Beatitude Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, whose resignation was accepted by the Holy...

As 2012 drew to a close, Israeli political analysts predicted that tensions between Israel and Iran over its reported nuclear weapons program are likely to rise. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in yearend remarks, reiterated the risks he sees if Iran enriches enough uranium to build a nuclear bomb. "I...

Sustainable economic growth relies on innovation, particularly for the United States and other developed nations with increasingly knowledge-based economies.

LOS ANGELES -- On Feb. 1, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially signed an order allowing Japanese-Americans to fight in the U.S. Army. Only a year earlier, the same president had signed an executive order to evacuate 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans living near the West Coast into "relocation camps"...

Swiss bank UBS has agreed to pay $US1.5 billion in fines for trying to manipulate a key interest rate that affects borrowers around the world.The settlement with US, British and Swiss regulators caps a tough year for the company...

Randy Myers picks his favorite films of 2012, which include a mix of studio and indie films.

Iran's supreme leader 'likes' Facebook despite ban

MUSCAT — Iran’s former diplomat to Jordan, Nasratallah Tajik, arrived here after Oman’s successful mediation efforts to secure his release on the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboo bin Said in response to an Iranian request for his relese from custody in Britain since 2006.

Two recent developments in the global energy dialogue require us to re-examine some old verities about the strategic dimensions of energy policy. The first is the International Energy Agency ’s (IEA’s) 2012 World Energy Outlook report , which requires a serious reconsideration of the geopolitics of the world oil economy.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Some of the Dutch troops due to man Patriot missile batteries on Turkey's border with Syria are inadequately trained in the weapon systems, largely due to spending cuts, a trade union official said on Wednesday. The Dutch Defence Ministry denied the assertion. Turkey asked NATO for Patriots,...

Yesterday, CNN Fortune published an article by Cyrus Sanati about Bitcoin entitled “Bitcoin looks primed for money laundering.” In what could be best described as an odd screed against Bitcoin and its potential financial impact on the world, it delves … Continue reading →

SACRAMENTO -- The nation's largest teachers' pension fund announced Tuesday that it was reviewing its firearms holdings after determining that its investment in a gun maker was linked to one of the weapons used in last week's Connecticut school massacre.

>* Provision may not force Iran to slow exports further* Top buyer countries running trade deficits with IranBy Osamu Tsukimori and Nidhi VermaTOKYO/NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A little-noticed provision in U.S. sanctions against Iran beginning in February is likely to trap payments abroad for its oil exports...

LONGMONT - Investigators were unable to immediately determine when a shooter purchased a gun used to kill three people, including his ex-girlfriend, who was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher when she was killed. The gunman who had just been released from jail on domestic violence charges then...

Greer played as if it had to win, and after the Yellow Jackets' 57-51 victory over fourth-ranked and previously unbeaten Berea Tuesday night, Greer coach Jeff Neely said as much.

DUBAI/KUWAIT, Dec 19 (Reuters) - When Ahmed Abdul Khaleqstarted campaigning for the rights of his fellow statelesspeople in the United Arab Emirates, he was well aware he wasrisking something most activists were not - his home. He was right. After two months in jail for what he said washis human...

Brent oil rose towards $110 abarrel on Wednesday on expectations that a budget crisis in theUnited States will be resolved, heading off a recession threatto the world's top oil consumer. World shares rose ...

A large shipment of mortar shells was intercepted at al-Mukalla port, Hadramout province, December 19, a Sana’a security source said. Approximately 170,000 mortar shells were discovered at the port late at night, said, Nagi al-Salimi, a Lieutenant Colonel at Mukalla Security.

Coal mine collapse and explosion kills 8 in eastern Iran

>* Imports next year likely capped at 160,000 bpd* U.S. requires Iran buyers to keep cutting importsBy Osamu TsukimoriTOKYO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Japan's crude oil imports from Iran may be about 15 percent lower next year, the Asian country's top refiner said on Wednesday, potentially allowing Tokyo to...