News Archive - 18 January 2013

>The IMF forecast in October that Iran's economy was likely to contract in 2012 and inflation would likely increase to 25 percent.Masood Ahmed, IMF director for the Middle East and North Africa, said those projections were made before the sharp depreciation of Iran's currency, the rial, at the end...

>* China's economy rebounds in Q4; signals hope for 2013* Global supply tighter on China growth, Saudi cuts - IEA* Coming Up: U.S. Reuters/UMich consumer sentiment; 1455 GMT (Updates prices, adds detail on hostages)By Jessica DonatiLONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped below $111 a barrel on Friday...

>* Iran again refuses access to Parchin military site* Next IAEA-Iran meeting scheduled for Feb. 12* World powers watched talks closely* Fears of impasse unravelling into Middle East warBy Fredrik DahlVIENNA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.N. inspectors and Iran failed again in talks this week to revive an investigation...

As the Jan. 22 election nears, residents of this bustling community say the next government needs to reflect their hopes for the future

This is a tale of two speeches. They occur three weeks apart. One is outdoors, one indoors. In one the president faces West, where he was born, reared, came of age, and where his outlook -- great possibilities, new beginnings -- is rooted. In the other, the president faces Congress,...

A summer institute seeks to promote cultural and scientific exchange, and improve statistical understanding, in North Korea, a country many experts say has the least reliable statistics in the world.

By: Crystal Ledford A war with the Middle Eastern country of Iran could be more costly than the Vietnam War, a University of North Georgia dean told a group of about 60 people Thursday night at the University Center | GA 400. Christopher Jespersen, dean of the university’s college of...

The Ben Affleck -helmed Iran hostage movie takes the top prize at the group's annual Dorian Awards, which also names Daniel Day-Lews and Anne Hathaway the Best Actor and Actress respectively.

Today is Saturday, Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2013. There are 346 days left in the year.

Ron Hubbard, owner of Atlas Survival Shelters in Montebello, says his shelters will protect owners from nuclear blasts, chemical warfare and other disasters. And they make good man caves. One sterling quality of American businesses is that they'll try to make money from anything.

TEHRAN, Jan. 19 (MNA) – Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Thursday that Iran has been playing a positive role in the efforts to resolve the crisis that has gripped Syria since March 2011.

Giving Egypt 20 top-grade M-16 fighter planes defies reason. How can we explain a $213 million give-away of such weaponry to an unstable regime? In the future these planes may be used against Israel, or even against U.S. airmen if we end up in a regional war with Iran.

The Obama administration has adopted their "triggering" definitions of a modern rifle so that they can "remove the weapons of war." In Colonial days, weapons of war were your own personal musket, knife, hatchet and axe.

Laura Jahanara Mangus's original song, "ABWOON, Call to Prayer" -- a haunting rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" in the ancient Aramaic tongue spoken by Jesus -- is featured in the soundtrack to Ben Affleck's Oscar-nominated film.

Also: Robert Wagner avoiding Natalie Wood investigators; "Django Unchained action figures pulled; Michael Jackson s dermatologist hints he fathered Jackson s son.

AUSTRALIA has joined with Britain in a co-ordinated international push for the United States President, Barack Obama, to use the weight of US influence to restart the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta called on Friday for NATO to reinvent itself as a more agile alliance with a broader outlook embracing the Asia-Pacific and able to respond to new threats from Islamic militancy. Related Stories Clinton assures Japan on islands, invites Abe to U.

KEDAH student Sivasangari Subramaniam may have lost in the 2012 British Junior Open squash Under-15 final but she was still a heroine in the eyes of her schoolmates from SMK Sultanah Asma in Alor Setar.

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang International Halal Expo and Conference (Pihec) 2013 has attracted exhibitors from a host of foreign countries.

If we wish to take the high moral ground in world affairs, we must be consistent. Failure to practice what we preach reveals our hypocrisy and inflames our critics. This week the outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said America has "a responsibility to go after al Qaeda...

POLITICO senior political writer, Maggie Haberman, recently shared with us what she thinks will be the five political flash points in 2013. The list includes immigration reform, gun control legislation, action on climate change and a debt deal. Haberman thinks the unexpected might come from the nomination of former...

The Iranian government has enhanced its cyber capabilities since being hit by the Stuxnet virus, cautions a U.S. Air Force official. Originally posted at News - Security & Privacy

The execution in Iran this week of a 21-year-old man for a crime he allegedly committed when he was only 17 years old shows a deplorable disregard for international law, Amnesty International said today.

A surge in cyber attacks spurs retaliation and new safeguards in the fast-changing digital battleground.

STEWART PATRICK: OK, folks. I think we might -- we might go ahead and get started. I assume this is on. I met most of you. For those of you who I haven't, my name's Stewart Patrick.

>* U.S. equities falter after dip in U.S. consumer sentiment* Chinese growth data boost global recovery outlook* Yen hits new lows vs dollar and euroBy Herbert LashNEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - World equity markets rose to a 20-month high on Friday after data indicated economic momentum was...

Fresh off re-election, presidents begin their second terms freed from the burdens of campaigning for the White House ever again and, typically, with high hopes and ambitious agendas.

Iran responded to a 2010 cyber attack on its nuclear facilities by beefing up its own cyber capabilities, and will be a "force to be reckoned with" in the future, a senior U.S. Air Force official told reporters on Thursday.

JERUSALEM: Israel is entering the final phase of its election campaign with an increasingly rocky relationship with the US and under pressure from France and Britain, who are reportedly working behind the scenes to revive the moribund peace process with the Palestinians.

An Iranian director plans to produce Iran's own hostage-release movie in response to "Argo", the Oscar-nominated film about a secret operation that extracted six U.S. diplomats from Iran in 1980, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported Friday.

They have committed “atrocities against the ruling system”

Yisrael Hasson, a representative of Kadima party in the Israeli parliament, said his party would be the balancing factor.

ArcelorMittal Kazakh unit sees 2,000 jobs cut as output falls

BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Argentina has resumed a global marketing campaign to boost exports of its nuclear industry, which lay dormant since the 1980s military dictatorship and subsequent economic meltdown and sovereign default.

Chuck Hagel proved to be an intelligent, reasonable man with a reputation for honesty in the Senate, and these days that qualifies for sainthood. The chicken hawks are out in force these days, attacking Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s choice for Secretary of Defense.

Also, body of lottery winner in Chicago to be exhumed; woman in Philadelphia reportedly pushed onto subway tracks; Michelle Obama celebrates birthday, launches Twitter account; U.N. fails in attempt to restart nuclear probe in Iran

>* Too early to call return to bull market* Raises sharply world oil demand estimate for 2013* OPEC supply at lowest for a year, stocks falling (Updates throughout, adding detail, comment)By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Christopher JohnsonLONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - World oil markets are tightening as Chinese fuel demand increases...

The Bulgarian report about the July 18, 2012, terror act in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Burgas is blaming the Lebanese Hezbollah for the attack. The announcement has been made by the Israeli TV Channel 2 in the aftermath of news that Bulgaria's Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, has been on...

Australia and the UK have called on the US to be a leader in encouraging peace in the Middle East during the annual AUKMIN summit.

BEIRUT - A new video game based on Syria's civil war challenges players to make the hard choices facing the country's rebels. Is it better to negotiate peace with the regime of President Bashar Assad, for example, or dispatch jihadist fighters to kill pro-government thugs?

WASHINGTON - In the middle of a bitter fight over a Republican president's nominee for defense secretary, a former White House occupant pleaded with senators to give the president his choice for the Pentagon job.

Today is Saturday, Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2013. There are 346 days left in the year. On Jan. 19, 1953, CBS-TV aired the widely watched episode of "I Love Lucy" in which Lucy Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball, gave birth to Little Ricky.

>* Prime Minister still set to secure re-election* Netanyahu vows not to uproot Jewish settlementsBy Maayan LubellJERUSALEM, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Four days before Israel's parliamentary election, opinion polls published on Friday showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still set to win, although his support had slipped to its lowest point...