News Archive - 9 July 2014

>* German lender Commerzbank AG is expected to pay between $600 million and $800 million to resolve investigations into its dealings with Iran and other countries under U.S. sanctions, sources familiar with the matter said.For the deals of the day click onFor the Morning News Call-EMEA newsletter click...

(Adds details, comments) By Narae Kim SEOUL, July 10 (Reuters) - South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo apologised to the nation and announced his resignation on Thursday to shoulder the blame for his team's early exit from the World Cup in Brazil. The announcement came just a week after Huh Jung-moo,...

>SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Lionel Messi can secure his place among the game’s greats with a World Cup triumph after Argentina defeated the Netherlands on penalties on Wednesday to reach the final. On Sunday at the Maracana stadium in Rio, Messi will come up against a Germany team that has...

(For a list of OSPs, click, for Iranian OSPs click ) TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) - Iran has set the official selling price (OSP) of its Light crude oil loading in August to Asian buyers at $2.30 a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, traders said on Thursday,...

>NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas, for the second time in nine days, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions, as part of a nearly $9 billion settlement in which the French bank admitted to breaking embargoes against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. Prosecutors had...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - German lender Commerzbank AG is expected to pay between $600 million and $800 million to resolve investigations into its dealings with Iran and other countries under U.S. sanctions, sources familiar with the matter said. The penalty, previously reported to be more than $500 million, includes...

>PRAGUE/PARIS, July 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers from the six powers negotiating with Iran on its nuclear programme may travel to Vienna soon to join the talks, which have failed so far to produce a deal, diplomats said on Tuesday. The...

Israel significantly broadened its campaign against Gaza on Wednesday after militants fired at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in their biggest confrontation since 2012, raising fears of a major Israeli ground offensive.

FILE - In this May 28, 2014 fie photo, President Barack Obama speaks at the commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's Class of 2014, in West Point, N.Y. Tackling what he has called a humanitarian crisis, Obama on Tuesday, July 8, 2014 asked Congress...

I was reminded of 2010 a few nights ago. My memory was thrown back there thanks to an article in The Atlantic about friends who have died, yet still live through Facebook. It is an interesting take on a phenomenon that is now all too real for our ultra plugged-in...

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>INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Fed relief lifts Asian stocks, dollar slips* Oil drops on weak U.S. fuel demand, returning Libya supply* Gold up on softer dollar; India budget eyed for import duty cut* MIDEAST STOCKS-Qatar, Egypt lead gains; UAE consolidates* Luxembourg approves bill paving way for sukuk this year* Head of...

ISLAMABAD: Citing its limited resources, the Frontier Corps has declined to help the government in curbing oil smuggling from Iran into Balochistan, a Senate panel was informed on Wednesday.

Singapore has scored an own goal with its World Cup anti-gambling ad which features a crestfallen boy telling his friends his dad bet his life savings on Germany -- who have just reached the finals by thrashing host nation Brazil, 7-1.

SAO PAULO (AP) — The World Cup can only hope that Lionel Messi is leaving his best for last. In the most important World Cup match to date in his epoch-shaping career, football's superstar was neither super nor a star.

Argentina's Lionel Messi, center, runs with the ball during the World Cup semifinal soccer match... Fans of Argentina pose for a photo wearing hats sporting photos of former soccer star Diego... Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) sits before the extra time during the World Cup semifinal soccer...

Why Argentina will win the World CupLa Albiceleste were my selection to win the World Cup when the tournament started a month ago, so why change now?It's really this simple: I believe Lionel Messi's ability to conjure chances trumps the pressing and gegenpressing the Germans will throw at him...

At Least 22 Fatalities Have Been Reported In Gaza Strip

Sao Paulo (AFP) - Lionel Messi kept running into a determined Dutch defensive wall on Wednesday but Argentina are still in the World Cup final and the little genius will get his chance to emulate Diego Maradona.

Fokker Services BV’s $21 million settlement with the U.S. for violating Iran sanctions was delayed by a federal judge who questioned the deal’s terms and whether the aerospace company had voluntarily disclosed its wrongdoing.

The two countries will have to cooperate to keep a peaceful world together. China and America could forge a new type of great power relationship based off of cooperation instead of conflict.

The terrorist Quds Force and the Iraqi forces under the command of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have been making preparations in recent weeks for suppressive measures and further attacks on Iranian dissidents residing at Camp Liberty, the National Council of Resistance of Iran announced on Tuesday. According to the...

While citizens of the United States were blowing things up for the Fourth of July and the German national team was crushing its way to the World Cup final, something of actual consequence was happening between the two countries.

VIENNA (AP) — Iran said Wednesday it wants to greatly expand its uranium enrichment program despite Western fears that it could be used to make atomic arms.

There are probably some high fives on the trading floor. Stocks snapped a two-day losing streak Wednesday as worries about the Fed's interest rate policy abated.

In the summer in Armenia, fruit is a part of my daily life. I think about how it tastes, how long it lasts, where the best open air markets are located across the city to acquire the freshest of berries and apricots, and how many varieties of mulberries I can...

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NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that $1.75 billion for terrorism-related judgments against Iran can be distributed to victims of attacks, including a 1983 bombing that killed 241 Marines in Lebanon.

On LGBT activists: "[T]hey're trying to present themselves as these innocent little victims, helpless and hapless, being picked on across the fruited plain. And they're not. They are bullies. They are intolerant, they are vicious, they are mean, and they are after people of faith.

>TEL AVIV (Reuters) - "Homeland" may have lost its sleeper terrorist anti-hero Nicholas Brody to an Iranian gallows, but the hit U.S. television show will continue to thrill, its creator says. Howard Gordon described surviving cast members, led by the gutsy yet emotionally troubled CIA analyst Carrie Mathison, as...

>UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA (Reuters) - Veteran United Nations official Staffan de Mistura, a former U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan and Iraq, will replace Lakhdar Brahimi as the international mediator seeking an end to Syria's civil war, diplomats said on Wednesday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will speak to the media...

>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The violence in Iraq is hastening the end of nearly 2,000 years of Christianity there as the few remaining faithful flee Islamic State militants, archbishops from Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk said on Wednesday. War and sectarian conflict have shrunk Iraq's Christian population to about 400,000 from 1.

>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - What has long been a dream for the Middle East's Kurds, an independent state, is within reach in Iraq, but Turkey's Kurds, wearied by a 30-year conflict with Ankara, see a brighter future at home, where negotiations could deliver the rights they have fought for. At Istanbul's...

>By Joseph AxNEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that $1.75 billion in Iranian funds be turned over to families of the victims of the 1983 bombings of a Marine barracks in Beirut.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in...

If their respective standards up until this point in the tournament have been anything to go by, the Netherlands' meeting against Argentina on Wednesday promises to be a thriller. Argentina have produced dramatic late winners against Iran and Switzerland en route to the last four, while the Netherlands' knockout clashes...

(AP Photo/Bangor Police Department). In this July 6, 2014, photo released by the Bangor Police Department, the department's stuffed "duck of justice" greets the sunrise from atop a police cruiser in Bangor, Maine.

Iran's foreign ministry today condemned Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip, calling on the West to urge the Jewish state to prevent a "human catastrophe.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- When Argentina plays the Netherlands in the World Cup semifinals on Wednesday, it will be a matchup of arguably the two best attacks in the tournament. No less than five of the world's best forwards could be on the field, which would normally raise expectations...

Brian Katulis: With a few steps, the Obama administration could take a more active approach to foreign affairs--and counter negative perceptions of the president's policy.

William Hague speaking in the House of Commons. Credit: PA/PA Wire/Press Association Images British firms probably supplied the chemicals that have been used to make the nerve agent sarin in Syria, according to Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Our man in Brazil looks ahead to the second of the World Cup semi-finals.

PACHORE WANI, India - Indian farmer Ranganath Watpade made a killing last year by putting off selling his onions until four months after he harvested them. This year, the same trick has backfired. The country has produced a record harvest, but many farmers in the onion bowl of India's western...

>* Clerical leader outlines tough stance before talks* Refuses to shut down Fordow underground facility* Says economy should prepare as if no end to sanctionsBy Michelle Moghtader and Fredrik DahlDUBAI/VIENNA, July 8 (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would need to significantly increase its uranium enrichment capacity,...

>DUBAI/VIENNA (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would need to significantly increase its uranium enrichment capacity, highlighting a gap in positions between Tehran and world powers as they hold talks aimed at clinching a nuclear accord. Iran and six major powers - the United States, Russia, France,...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four years into the shale revolution, the U.S. is on track to pass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's largest producer of crude oil, most analysts agree. When that happens and by how much, though, has produced disparate estimates that depend on uncertain factors...

>NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India paid a second installment of $550 million in oil dues to Iran on Tuesday under an interim deal that has allowed Tehran access to $4.2 billion in blocked funds globally, two industry sources said. Asian buyers such as Japan and South Korea have already...