News Archive - 21 February 2013

Tehran, Feb 21 : Russia claimed the Greco-Roman title at the Wrestling World Cup meet here, local media reported Thursday. In the competitions held at Tehran's Azadi Sports Complex on Wednesday, Russia defeated Iran 5-2 in the gold medal match, Tehran Times reported.

BRUSSELS, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Iran continues to accumulateenriched uranium at 20 percent and 5 percent and is expandingits uranium enrichment capacity, deepening concerns over thenature of its nuclear programme, the European Union's foreignpolicy spokesman said on Thursday. The spokesman for the EU's High Representative for ForeignAffairs Catherine Ashton said...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chuck Hagel's path to confirmation as President Barack Obama's new secretary of defense became more secure on Thursday when Republican Senator Richard Shelby said he would support the nomination. Shelby joined almost every other Republican senator a week ago in delaying a vote on confirming Hagel in...

>VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, a defiant step likely to anger world powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week. In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency...

>* SOCAR, Phillips 66 eye stepping up sales to region* Region has only one functioning refinery* Trafigura, BP, Reliance already well establishedBy Humeyra Pamuk and Emma FargeDUBAI/GENEVA, Feb 21 (Reuters) - East Africa's emerging oil products market has sparked intense competition between traders hunting for better profits to bolster tight...

>DUBAI (Reuters) - Preoccupied with an intensifying domestic power struggle, Iran is unlikely to agree with world powers next week on ways out of a nuclear dispute: Surviving a turbulent period of pre-electoral infighting will be the priority for its faction-ridden elite. Despite eye-catching suggestions among Iranian policymakers that a...

>* Pakistan president to sign MOU for refinery next weekDUBAI Feb 21 (Reuters) - Iran has agreed to help build an oil refinery for Pakistan and supply its energy-hungry neighbour with natural gas in a barter deal for food, Iranian media reported on Thursday.Officials from the two countries agreed...

>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The movie studios behind this year's Best Picture nominees already have brought home a treasured prize: big box-office sales that placed the Oscar contenders among the most-watched films of 2012. The nine competitors for Hollywood's top film award sold a combined $2 billion in tickets worldwide...

>By Rachelle Younglai and Paul CarrelWASHINGTON/FRANKFURT Feb 21 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are crafting a bill designed to stop the European Central Bank from handling business from the Iranian government, a congressional aide said on Thursday, an attempt to keep Tehran from using euros to develop its nuclear program.

>ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's secret service say they have arrested a "terrorist cell" trained in Iran who planned to attack U.S. and Israeli targets in Africa's most populous nation. The State Security Service (SSS) said they arrested Abdullahi Mustapha Berende and two other Nigerians in December after Berende made...

New U.S. sanctions against Iran went into effect in early February. The measures aim at severely limiting Iran's ability to repatriate earnings from oil exports. However, the Iranian government has largely bypassed earlier sanctions by using innovative trade and payment practices.

HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - India had intelligence warnings of a security threat several days before two bicycle bombs ripped through a market in the southern city of Hyderabad, the home minister said on Friday, adding that the death toll had risen to 14. Related Stories Weak growth likely to win...

Argentina’s senate has approved an agreement with Iran on the establishment of a truth commission to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Fifteen Senate Republicans have urged President Obama to withdraw his pick for defence secretary.

Political foes Iran and the US have joined forces to fight the decision to drop wrestling from the Olympics.

>* U.S. oil demand nearly 2 pct down in Jan - API* U.S. crude stockpiles at highest level since last summer - EIA* Iran moves ahead with nuclear enrichment, defy the WestBy Florence TanSINGAPORE, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Brent crude rebounded above $114 a barrel on Friday but...

>The world's fifth-largest crude buyer imported a total 81.71 million barrels of crude oil last month, up 2.8 percent year on year.Compared with December, the country's Iranian crude oil imports last month were up 3 percent, the data added.South Korean refiners resumed importing Iranian crude oil...

Xi Jinping has selected Moscow as his first foreign visit as president.

Your daily news briefing, with the video of the day, top news and quote of the day.

Action from Monday night’s clash between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv in Jaffa, Feb. 11, 2013. Photo by Seffi Magriso

Reuters will issue this diary daily at around 1000 GMT. All times in GMT unless otherwise stated. Items marked ** denote new or amended listings. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

Venezuelans are delighted by the return home of President Hugo Chavez after two months of cancer surgery.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. File Photo. In a bid to deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the US today warned Tehran of more sanctions and international isolations if it goes ahead with the nuclear weapons policy.

As China rises, it has stolen the spotlight, but the perception is that it is more of a threat than an opportunity for the region. This is the impression we get from reading the mainstream media day i .....

>VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, a defiant step that will worry Western powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week. In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency...

A high-ranking Persian official vilifies the Jewish people and seeks to destroy them. Old news, you might say, and understandably so. Who hasn't heard about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's calling the Holocaust "a mythical claim" and asserting that "the uniform shout of the Iranian nation is forever 'Death to...

Syria's main opposition group denounces Assad but doesn't call for his ouster.

I was surprised but pleased to see that a blog post I wrote in 2009 started getting some attention yesterday. The post, which emerged from a paper I gave at the 2010 APSA, argued that there is a big gap between the views of U.S. grand strategy in the...

New Jersey's Democrat-led Assembly passed 22 gun-control bills on Thursday that proponents say will help curb gun violence in the wake of the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

Iran is "closer than ever" to the ability to build a nuclear bomb, Israel said on Thursday, as a new UN report said Tehran has begun installing next-generation equipment at one of its main nuclear plants.

The White House on Thursday afternoon flatly rejected a request made earlier in the day by 15 Republican senators to withdraw Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary. "This waste of time is not just meaningless political posturing—because we firmly believe that Sen. Hagel will be confirmed—but the waste of time...

What is happening inside 208 Datong Road in Shanghai? Definitely no computer hacking, according to China's military.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said he will not run again for the Senate.

Iran has begun installing next-generation equipment at one of its main nuclear plants, a new IAEA report said, drawing condemnation from the United States, Britain and Israel five days before Iranian talks with world powers.

The clear hand of imperialism was exposed this week when WikiLeaks published over 40,000 secret documents showing US efforts to topple Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

UN nuclear agency report documents the start of Iranian upgrade in atomic capabilities

WASHINGTON (AP) - Chuck Hagel has lined up the necessary votes for the Senate to confirm him next week to be the nation's next defense secretary, after a senior Republican lawmaker said he will back President Barack Obama's choice.

>BRASILIA (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday he is counting on progress at a round of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers next week, and added that momentum must be kept up after the talks to keep them on track. The powers - Britain,...

Republican Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe signed a letter with 13 other GOP senators asking President Barack Obama to withdraw the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense because of a lack of bipartisan support.

U.S. SAYS THERE IS ANOTHER PATH FOR IRAN, HOPES IRAN WILL COME TO TALKS WITH MAJOR POWERS READY TO ALLAY INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — American wrestlers lost six of seven bouts to Iranian opponents Thursday on the first day of a freestyle World Cup meet. Iran also lost only one bout against Bulgaria while sweeping Japan and Georgia to top Group B.

The Wakefield Warrior Club is pleased to announce that Chris Herren will speak in Wakefield on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Galvin Middle School Auditorium. The event will be open to the entire community and will be free of charge.

Lead detective Hilton Botha, facing attempted murder charges, has been replaced.

An Iranian newspaper says at least 500 Porsche cars have been imported by way of a Persian Gulf island that is also claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

A powerful car bomb exploded Thursday close to ruling party offices in Damascus, killing over 50 people and causing widespread destruction in the Syrian capital's deadliest attack for more than nine months.

Nominations morning last month revealed major surprises for the Academy Awards, promising one of the most wide-open campaigns ever for Hollywood's highest honors.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Nominations morning last month revealed major surprises for the Academy Awards, promising one of the most wide-open campaigns ever for Hollywood's highest honors. Six weeks later, things have shaken out into the same old predictable Oscars. Like almost every awards season, earlier honors have established clear...

VIENNA (AP) — Diplomats say the U.N. nuclear agency is set to issue its latest report on Iran's atomic activities, just days before Feb. 26 talks between Tehran and six world powers.

The body of a woman was found in the water tank after hotel guests complained of low water pressure.

If you've got a lot of water at your house after Wednesday's storm, you may be able to put it to good use.

Bryan Cranston, left, stars as Jack O’Donnell and Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo, a rescue thriller about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. (Warner Bros.)

The price of mutual aid arrangements for fire and emergency services might be going up.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Already under scrutiny over the Prisoner X affair, Israel's all-powerful spy agencies have once again found themselves in the spotlight with the explosive Oscar-nominated documentary "The Gatekeepers".

Although there have been significant eradication efforts, poppy cultivation has increased in Afghanistan. So has the number of drug addicts, especially among children and women.

Maintaining that Iran was responsible for the attack on its diplomat here last year, Israel has conveyed its "seriousness" on the issue to India and the importance of bringing to justice those responsible for the incident. Progress made by Indian investigators into the February 13, 2012 attack came up for...

Chris Morgan Jones' The Jackal's Share finesses the fundamentals of the spy novel with admirable economy. The clever premise has our detective investigating his own client in order to certify his sterling character. Naturally, complications arise.

Media should comply with law, covenants on publishing pictures, names

>* Federal Reserve may slow or halt bond buying -minutes* Coming Up: EIA weekly oil inventories; 1600 GMT (Adds quotes, price support levels)By Alex LawlerLONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Oil fell to a three-week low towards $114 a barrel on Thursday on concern the U.S. Federal Reserve might end...