News Archive - 23 August 2014

>BAGHDAD/ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) - Bombings across Iraq killed at least 35 people in attacks that appeared to be revenge for an assault on a Sunni mosque that has deepened sectarian conflict. A bomb also exploded in the northern city of Arbil on Saturday, a rare attack unsettling the relative stability...

Iran and the United States may hold bilateral talks ahead of the next round of nuclear negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

The recent onslaught of ISIS militants has resurrected fresh conversations about Kurdish independence.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A shallow earthquake of magnitude 5.2 struck northwest of the western Iranian city of Dezful on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, some 300 miles (480 km) from Tehran, the capital.

A friend sent an article o ver the Internet regarding the Jewish-Muslim conflict, showing the narrowness and hatred that permeates the Middle East right now. It was called "A Jewish Boycott." Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged 1.

SEPANG, 24 Ogos (Bernama) -- Ketua Juruterbang Datuk Kapten Missman Lehammenyifatkan tugasan membawa pulang 20 jenazah tragedi Malaysia Airlines (MAS)MH17 yang tiba di tanah air pada Jumaat lepas adalah 'penerbangan paling sukar'baginya sejak menyertai MAS 33 tahun lalu. Missman berkata penerbangan selama 12 jam itu juga merupakan penerbanganpaling emosi buatnya...

>ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish president-elect Tayyip Erdogan named Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as his future prime minister on Thursday and said a power struggle with a U.S.-based cleric, a Kurdish peace process and a new constitution would be his top priorities. Erdogan said the ruling AK Party's executive...

>INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks pause, dollar rises on Fed comments, Ukraine* U.S. crude falls, down for fifth week, on ample supply* Gold rises slightly after Yellen comment, but outlook dim* Obama may seek new funds to battle Islamic State - Senate aide* Bombs kill at least 35 across Iraq a...

President Obama sits in a golf cart while golfing at Farm Neck Golf Club, in Oak Bluffs, Mass.,... President Obama is still vacationing in Martha's Vineyard as this is written. But he may have experienced a jolting encounter with a grim reality.

Declaring that the brutal execution of American photojournalist James Foley was tantamount to a terrorist attack on the United States, the Obama administration is poised to recast and re-enter the war on terror without being "restricted by borders."

Let's face it: We have a law-enforcement problem in this country. Far too often, the people who are supposed to protect us from the bad guys ARE the bad guys.

The decision on whether to go after ISIS in Syria is a momentous one for Obama.

Does the president think the world is a TV show? One of the things you learn watching television as a kid is that the hero ...

For years he used his reputation as one of the world's most perceptive wine-tasters to sell what he said were some of the best vintages ever produced - raking in tens of millions of dollars in the process.

Estonia's Thea Tammeleht has an infectious energy. What she's also spreading is the joy of eating artisanal marzipan made with some of the priciest, albeit finest ingredients. Here's about the lady who's made Mumbai her home

Hundreds of Iranian troops crossed border to join battle against Islamic State group, sources tell Al Jazeera.

Riot police were deployed at the Bafgh Iron Ore Mine on Wednesday August 20 in response to miner protests. According to ILNA, one of the protesting workers reported that police tried to break up the demonstrations and arrested 16 workers.

A vote in Iran's parliament on Wednesday resulted in the dismissal of President Rouhani's minister of science. The vote was a shock but also an important message: the main contradiction in Iran remains between the hardliners and supporters of democracy. -Morteza Kazemian

After an emotional victory over Qatar the day before, Batang Gilas fell flat against a powerhouse Chinese team, 91-49, in the continuation of the second group stage in the 2014 FIBA Asia U-18 Championship.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed is the current Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. How do UN human rights mechanisms encourage all countries, including Iran, to uphold human rights?

Twenty-seven political prisoners have been transferred from Evin Prison's Ward 350 to quarantine, where they are now being held in conditions tantamount to clear and serious ill treatment.

U.S. Military Wants a Laser Ray Gun, Asks Raytheon to Live Up to Its Name

Thousands of Shiites protested in Bahrain Saturday against what they say are attempts by the Sunni authorities to tip the kingdom's demographic balance in their favour by naturalising foreigners, witnesses said. The Shiite opposition accuses Sunni-ruled Bahrain of having naturalised tens of thousands of Sunni foreigners in the Shiite-majority kingdom...

Militias patrol Iraqi capital's streets and army presence is heavier than normal. But how long can this situation last?

Journalists held without formal charges and have not been heard from since being detained

India A, comprising Kamal Chawla, Dharmender Lilly and Faisal Khan, entered the semi-finals of the Asian Team snooker championship here Saturday defeating Syria 3-2 and setting up a clash with Iran.

TEHRAN: Iran has opened a uranium dioxide factory that will produce fuel for civilian nuclear plants, the head of its atomic energy agency announced Saturday.

Access to base crucial to determine whether nuclear programme is peaceful

Haim Oron, former leader of the left-wing Meretz party, fears that continued control of the territories will spell the end of Zionism, but isn't yet ready to give up hope.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian-American correspondent for the Washington Post and his journalist wife have been held in custody for a month in Iran, suggesting a possible struggle between a new guard of moderates pushing for greater freedom and the old hard-line establishment.