News Archive - 28 November 2014

>* Wins agreement to keep output levels; prices fall* Some OPEC members not convinced gamble will workBy Alex Lawler, Amena Bakr and Dmitry ZhdannikovVIENNA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's oil minister told fellow OPEC members they must combat the U.S. shale oil boom, arguing against cutting crude output...

>* Falling energy shares weigh on global equities, Wall St rises* Dollar mostly strengthens on OPEC decision, bond yields fall (Adds U.S. market open, byline, dateline; previous LONDON)By Herbert LashNEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Brent crude touched fresh four-year lows on Friday, knocking down both energy-related shares and...

>NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Essar Group, a $39 billion Indian conglomerate, is looking to tap frozen Iranian oil revenues to pay for its steel exports to Tehran, in a novel attempt to work around Western financial sanctions against the OPEC member state. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) proposed the...

>* STOXX Europe energy sector index falls 3.5 pct* Drop in oil prices seen weighing on euro zone inflation* Shares in airlines surge; Air France up 5.8 pctBy Francesco Canepa and Blaise RobinsonLONDON/PARIS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - European shares snapped a five-day winning streak on Friday, weighed down...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The troubled Veterans Affairs Department of the United States is "beginning to see significant changes," U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday at a Veterans Day event at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Galway Kinnell, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who opened up American verse in the 1960s and beyond through his forceful, spiritual takes on the outsiders and underside of contemporary life, has died at age 87.

Where's the concern for Afghan citizens in Obama's secretive order to extend military operations in that country?

Nov. 25, 2014, 12:36 p.m. Let's forget the famous four - San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, London's Tower Bridge, New York's Brooklyn Bridge and the old Australian "coat hanger" itself, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Drivers paying less at the pump due to free-falling oil prices can thank the U.S. energy boom for generating shale oil - and weakening OPEC's ability to keep the cost of a gallon of gas high.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has criticized the United States as a "chameleon" for allegedly making different statements every day while he approved extending negotiations about

Today is Saturday, Nov. 29, the 333rd day of 2014. There are 32 days left in the year.

To the editor: Contrary to The Times editorial board, the House Republicans' lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act is not shameful, but rather well-suited for the times. ("The GOP's shameful lawsuit against Obamacare," Editorial, Nov. 24)

To the editor: Jim Newton says that term limits shift power away from legislators and into the hands of lobbyists. There's one problem with this oft-repeated claim: The evidence demonstrates that the opposite is true. ("A journalist's recipe for fixing L.A.," Op-Ed, Nov. 23)

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg writes that President Obama deceived the public on immigration because he really wanted to pander to Latinos and enrage Republicans. Goldberg writes, "King Obama's edict is a mess, which may explain why Latinos are underwhelmed by it." ("Obama's immigration goal:...

The grand jury weighing whether to charge Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown apparently didn't reach a decision Friday, and there has been no official confirmation on when it will reconvene.

Afghanistan is thrusting itself once again into the spotlight, as attack piles upon attack, and Afghans wonder uneasily what awaits them. read more

The Middle East has had more Nobel peace prizes awarded than any other region yet peace remains as distant a prospect as ever. It is also the setting for repeated failures to meet agreed deadlines.

VIENNA (AP) - A yearlong effort to seal a nuclear deal with Iran fizzled Monday, leaving the U.S. and its allies little choice but to declare a seven-month extension in hopes that a new deadline will be enough to achieve what a decade of negotiations have failed to do...

TORONTO , Nov. 28, 2014 /CNW/ - The Law Society of Upper Canada is gravely concerned about the recent arrest and ongoing harassment of lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh in Iran . Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human ...

Watch Video | Listen to the Audio RELATED LINKS What’s behind the sudden drop in U.S. gas prices? Why Auto Sales Surge Even as Gas Prices Rise How innovation in oil and gas production is giving the U.S. a competitive edge JUDY WOODRUFF: Oil prices dropped again yesterday,...

National Guard Minister Prince Miteb bin Abdullah. (SPA) National Guard Minister Prince Miteb bin Abdullah has called on the international community to remove the Syrian regime if it wants to defeat the Islamic State terror group.

A video of an Iranian woman defying the country's laws by dancing in a Tehran's subway train has gone viral on the Internet in recent days.

It may look dire for oil producers now, but basic economics will halt the crude cost freefall

Exclusive: The mainstream U.S. news media continues to spew out a steady flow of anti-Russian propaganda over the Ukraine crisis, but the prominent German newsmagazine Der Spiegel has begun to temper its belligerent tone, finally reflecting the more nuanced reality, reports Robert Parry.

Desperation brings six people to a decaying Victorian apartment house where the tenants' desolation pales in comparison with one neighbor's despicable acts.

VIENNA (AP) - The U.S. told Iran Sunday that it's time to consider extending nuclear talks, in the first formal recognition by Washington that frenzied last-minute diplomacy may not be enough to seal a deal by a rapidly approaching deadline.

International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Fide Master Paulo Bersamina are expected to provide Indian defending champion IM Narayan Srinath stiff opposition in the Asian Junior Chess Championship that fires off today at Tagaytay International Convention Center here.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) " Yemen's main Sunni Islamist party says its top leaders have met with the powerful Shiite rebels who have been battling it for months and control the capital, in a rare meeting that might help ease the country's...

OPEC Packing It In?

Global Steel Output Stalls in October as China, U.S. Slips - Analyst Blog

Earlier this month it was hard to turn on a TV without seeing "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart promoting his directorial debut "Rosewater."

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced the following diplomatic appointments:

The refusal of Saudi Arabia and its OPEC allies to curb crude oil output in the face of plummeting prices has set the energy world on a painful course that will leave the weakest behind, from governments to U.S. wildcatters.

(Reuters) - Oil analysts are taking stock of Thursday's OPEC meeting which decided against production cuts despite a huge oversupply in world markets. Brent crude oil plunged as much as $6.50 a barrel on Thursday, and U.S. crude fell by nearly as much, posting the steepest one-day falls...

Welcome to the increasingly dangerous world of cyber-warfare. The latest version; a western intelligence agency of unknown origin( according to the Financial Times of London) is infecting the internet service providers and sovereign telecoms operations of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico and Ireland. To what end is not known, though...

 News junkies of the world may be forgiven for becoming the latest tech skeptics: 2014 has been a year of global mayhem. Instead of creating a connected civic safety net, it seems like tech platforms simply amplified messages and images from ungovernable parts of the world. Boko Haram kidnapped girls...

The Asian Junior Chess Championships unfurl today with local bets, led by International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Paulo Bersamina, out to spoil the back-to-back bid of IM Narayanan Srinath of India at the Tagaytay International Convention Center in Tagaytay City. For winning the tournament last year in Sharjah, United...

Reflecting its lessening oil clout, Opec has decided to keep its output target on hold and sit out falling crude prices that will likely spiral even lower as a result.Oil prices fell sharply on the news. Even though the decision...

The best Black Friday deal of 2014 is arguably at the gas station.

>By John KempLONDON Nov 28 (Reuters) - Following OPEC's decision on Thursday to leave production unchanged, Brent crude futures experienced the first three-standard deviation down-move since the flash crash of May 2011 and before that the depths of the recession in March 2009.With U.S. markets and financial institutions...

Take a look back at historic events on this date in history. Get the details here.

An Iranian woman has defied the country's ultra-restrictive laws by dancing publicly without her hijab (veil), and what is more, it was filmed and posted on social media.

Thought for Today: “Happiness is a sort of atmosphere you can live in sometimes when you’re lucky. Joy is a light that fills you with hope and faith and love.” — Adela Rogers St. Johns, American journalist (1894-1988).

The CIA’s original purpose was to coordinate intelligence and provide unbiased analyses to U.S. presidents to avert another Pearl Harbor, but politicians and operatives have corrupted the process, a problem that CIA Director Brennan would make worse, writes ex-CIA analyst Melvin A. Goodman.

Nearly two decades after Matt Eisenfeld and his girlfriend died in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem, his family has gained greater insight and perspective, if not solace, from the new book "The Bus on Jaffa Road."

>TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian imports of Iranian crude fell below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for a second time this year to a one-year low due to seasonal demand fluctuations, although the shipments were still up nearly a third from October last year. Iran and world powers failed to...