News Archive - 25 December 2012

First Half 2nd Half

>* Investors hope for last-minute U.S. deal, or at least a stop-gap* New Japan PM to be sworn in, promises aggressive easing (Updates prices and link for Brent 24-hour analysis)By Jessica JaganathanSINGAPORE, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Brent crude climbed above $109 per barrel on Wednesday in thin trade as...

Interior ministry claims Segeant Nargas, accused of killing Joseph Griffin, came from Iran 10 years ago An Afghan official says the policewoman who killed a US consultant in Kabul is an Iranian who came to Afghanistan 10 years ago with her husband and obtained a fake ID through him. Interior...

>KABUL (Reuters) - An Iranian-Afghan policewoman who killed a U.S. contractor at the police headquarters in Kabul may have been motivated by a personal grudge, said security officials, who were also probing possible Taliban or al Qaeda involvement. The officials said the woman named as Narges seemed wracked with...

>The "Velayat 91" drills will be held from Friday to Wednesday across an area of about 1 million square kilometres in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and northern parts of the Indian Ocean, said Habibollah Sayyari, according to Iranian media.Iranian officials have often said that Iran...

>* Bahrain says threat from Iran "quite high"* GCC plans unified military commandBy Asma AlsharifMANAMA, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Six U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states demanded on Tuesday that Iran end what they called interference in the region, reiterating a long-held mistrust of their main rival.The Islamic Republic...

>Iran, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, has tightened online security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which Tehran believes was planted by arch-adversaries Israel or the United States.The unit tasked with fighting cyber attacks, the Passive Defence Organisation, said a...

TEHRAN, Dec 26 (Bernama) -- Iranian Majlis Speaker, Ali Larijani on Tuesday called for enhanced Tehran-Hanoi economic and political ties, saying that there were a lot of opportunities available for expansion of bilateral cooperation, Iran's IRNA reported.

The police said a suicide bomber struck the base in the eastern town of Khost on Wednesday, and the Taliban claimed responsibility.

Dallas-based AT&T Inc. announced that it is terminating an agreement with Motricity, a move that sent stock in the Bellevue, Wash.-based software company reeling. GeekWire reported that Motricity ...

KHOST, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees.

A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 (Bernama) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) offers huge potential for Malaysian tea and coffee exporters venturing into the West Asia region, says the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).

AN internet virus has attacked computers at industrial sites in southern Iran in an apparent extension of a covert cyber war that initially targeted the country's nuclear facilities, an Iranian official said.

MANILA, Philippines - Naturalized player Marcus Douthit, three PBA players and eight Smart Gilas cadet members make up the Philippine team competing in the tough Dubai International Invitational Championship next month.

January 13: An Italian cruise liner carrying over 4,000 people strikes rocks and keels over off Italy's west coast. A total of 32 people die.

Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) lashed out at Iran as they concluded a two-day summit here on Tuesday, saying Tehran must immediately and completely stop its interference in their internal affairs.

There's no shortage of hot-button issues, but Israeli politicians are falling back on old debates over settlement construction and peace talks. JERUSALEM — As Israel heads toward national elections next month, there's no shortage of hot-button issues that might dominate the campaign, including Iran's nuclear program, a call to draft...

Leave it to Lake County.

Tehran (AFP) Dec 25, 2012 Iran is paying Russian women working as technicians at its sole nuclear power plant to adhere to the Islamic dress code, an Iranian lawmaker told the ISNA news agency on Tuesday. Women in Iran, regardless of their nationality or religion, are required to cover their...

Herndon, Va. (UPI) Dec 25, 2012 "The Neverending Story" is a German fantasy novel about a parallel world being destroyed by a force known as "the Nothing" - an entity representative of people's lack of imagination in the real world. The successful launch Dec. 12 by North Korea of a...

By Tribune-Review As goes Susan Rice, so goes Chuck Hagel? And hold your applause for John Kerry. e_SBlt Mr. Hagel, the former Republican U.S. senator of Nebraska, ...

An official US report warns that future terrorists could come from many different religions, including Christianity and Hinduism. "Right-wing and left-wing ideological groups - some of the oldest use .....

Tehran (FNA) Dec 26, 2012 Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) announced on Saturday that the country is preparing to put two new home-made satellites, called AUT SAT and Sharif SAT, into orbit in the near future. "The AUT SAT will be put into the 55-degree orbit after some...

Latest bout of cyberattacks come after Saudi Arabian and American targets were hit by Iranian online assault a few months ago

Tal Keinan, an Israeli fund manager, was ready for the question he’s always asked when he met with investors in New York in October: Why put your money with a manager whose country Iran has threatened to obliterate.

"It's very difficult to have surveillance on thousands of people in the police force to see who is doing what." Authorities were examining her phone records today.

Gulf Arab leaders have called on Iran to do more to show it was not trying to obtain an atom bomb, thereby saving the region from another war.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have launched a series of naval exercises in the Persian Gulf, the semi-official Fars news agency said.

SEOUL, Dec 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures edged up toaround $89 a barrel on Wednesday, but gains were capped byuncertainty over whether the United States will avoid a fiscalcrisis, which could hit demand in the world's top consumer ofoil. FUNDAMENTALS * U.S. oil had risen 40 cents...

Ben Affleck's Argo chronicles a covert operation to rescue six Americans during the Iran hostage crisis. Some of it's true, and some is just inspired by real events. Matt Baglio, co-author of the book Argo , helps NPR's Robert Siegel separate fact from fiction.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has put Iran and its nuclear program at the top of his re-election campaign.

In 1947, during a meeting at the United Nations (UN) to discuss creating a plan to partition Palestine between Jews and Arabs, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsku declared to the entire assembly that Zionism - an ideological political movement created early in the last century which asserts the existence of a...

Unspecified foreign enemy hackers were blamed for attempts at disrupting computer systems in a strategically important southern coastal province.

(AP)—An Iranian semi-official news agency says there has been another cyberattack by the sophisticated computer worm Stuxnet, this time on the industries in the country's south.

Since many of our Christian brothers and sisters are offline for the Christmas holiday, I thought this would be a good time for the pro-Obama...

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict sent a political Christmas greeting to Italians on Tuesday as they head into an election campaign expected to be brutal and bitter: think, cooperate for the common good and don't discard values when making big choices. Related Stories Egypt expected to pass constitution; currency limits...

Last year alone, the number of worldwide Web users increased by 8 percent, driven mostly by Asian countries like the Philippines and India.

A policeman in Bahrain has been arrested after a video showing him hitting a resident of a Shiite village was posted online, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

Iran on Tuesday launched naval manoeuvres in the Gulf, and announced plans for another exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz later this week, media reports said.

Israel has moved to further tighten its grip on east Jerusalem by approving another 1,242 new homes in one of the biggest Jewish settlements on Palestinian-claimed land.

Iran has denied its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has an account on Facebook.

Editor: Jon Boyle + 44 207 542 7918 Global Picture Desk: + 65 6870 3775 Global Graphics Desk: + 65 6870 3595 (All times GMT/ET) TOP STORIES Pope says hope must not die in Syria, Nigeria VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict uses his Christmas message tothe world to say people...

The "Argo" director and Massachusetts native took to Facebook to comment on speculation he might run for U.S. Senate in his home state. read more

As President Barack Obama approaches his second and final term, he will have to decide where to be ambitious, where to be cautious and where to buy time.

Volunteers from Chechnya are fighting in Syria on the Mujahideen side, lament Iranian state media. According to their reports, "another group of Chechen terrorists has recently gone to Syria through Turkey".

SANAA (Reuters) - At least five militants were killed and three soldiers wounded in Yemen on Tuesday in fighting near a damaged oil pipeline east of the capital Sanaa, a defence ministry official and residents said. Related Stories Syrian refugees face harsh winter in desperate conditions Pope's Christmas message says...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict used his Christmas message to the world on Tuesday to say people should never lose hope for peace, even in conflict-riven Syria and in Nigeria where he spoke of "terrorism" against Christians. Related Stories Syrian refugees face harsh winter in desperate conditions Iran says...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel voiced doubt on Tuesday about the accuracy of Syrian activists' reports that chemical weapons had been used against rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Related Stories Syrian refugees face harsh winter in desperate conditions Pope's Christmas message says hope mustn't die in Syria, Nigeria Iran...