Thursday, August 2, 2012

Congress approves new Iran sanctions on oil, shipping sectors

Congress approves new Iran sanctions on oil, shipping sectors

Congress approves new Iran sanctions on oil, shipping sectors

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 05:40 PM PDT

To match Feature IRAN-TRADE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress overwhelmingly passed a new package of sanctions against Iran on Wednesday that aims to punish banks, insurance companies and shippers that help Tehran sell its oil. The legislation, agreed to by senior lawmakers of both parties, "seeks to tighten the chokehold on the regime beyond anything that has been done before," said Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The bill now heads to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature. ...

Hamas slams Palestinian visit to "alleged" Holocaust site

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 04:39 PM PDT

A view of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz Birkenau during the marking the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the campGAZA (Reuters) - The Hamas Islamist group in charge of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday denounced a Palestinian official's visit to the site of a Nazi death camp in Poland, and called the Holocaust in which 6 million European Jews perished an "alleged tragedy." Ziad al-Bandak, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who governs in the occupied West Bank, had made a rare visit by a Palestinian official to the site of the Auschwitz death camp late last month. "It was an unjustified and unhelpful visit that served only the Zionist occupation," said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas. ...

China jails 20 on terrorism, separatism charges in restive Xinjiang

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - Courts in China's restive far western region of Xinjiang have jailed 20 people for up to 15 years on charges of terrorism and separatism, state media said on Thursday, as the heavily Muslim area marks the fasting month of Ramadan. The three courts in the cities of Urumqi, Kashgar and Aksu also leveled charges of making explosive devices, promoting religious extremism and plotting "holy war", Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said on its website (www.people.com.cn). ...

China scorns U.S. criticism of religious policies

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:52 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has blasted a U.S. State Department report that criticized its controls on religion, saying on Thursday that the document was prejudiced and an attempt to meddle in domestic affairs. The Chinese Foreign Ministry's condemnation of the International Religious Freedom Report released this week was predictable -- and the latest reminder of how human rights issues remain a chronic irritant between Washington and Beijing. ...

Venezuela's opposition wants to scrap preferential oil deals

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 04:29 PM PDT

Venezuela's opposition candidate Capriles greets supporters during an election rally in AnzoateguiPUERTO LA CRUZ, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Wednesday he would scrap preferential oil deals with foreign allies if he defeats socialist President Hugo Chavez in an October election to lead the South American OPEC member. Chavez has sought to boost his influence abroad by offering crude deals to nations in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean -- Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA was not paid directly for almost half the crude it pumped last year. ...

Afghan forces thwart insurgent attack on Kabul

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 09:50 PM PDT

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces killed at least eight insurgents during an early morning raid in Kabul on Thursday, with authorities saying they had thwarted a Taliban mass attack on the capital after a seven-hour gun battle. Soldiers from Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), launched the raid in darkness, entering a building about an hour after midnight in Kabul's Pul-e Charkhi district which the insurgents were using as a base. "We have already killed eight insurgents and also seized explosives. ...

Typhoons shut down most of Taiwan, China on alert

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:44 PM PDT

A man walks with his umbrella against strong winds as Typhoon Saola approaches Taiwan in TaipeiTAIPEI (Reuters) - Torrential rain and strong winds triggered landslides and flooding, forcing financial markets to shut and disrupting transport, after Typhoon Saola made landfall in eastern Taiwan on Thursday, authorities said. At least one person was killed in a landslide and eight injured in the storm. While some major companies remained open, Taiwanese authorities ordered other businesses and schools to close. Financial markets were also shut, with normal operations expected to resume on Friday. Most domestic flights were cancelled, along with some international services. ...

Prominent judge to be Egypt's new justice minister

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:41 PM PDT

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian appeals court judge Ahmed Mekky said he has accepted the post of justice minister in Egypt's first cabinet in the government of newly elected President Mohamed Mursi, and is to be sworn in with other cabinet officers on Thursday. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, who had himself been a little known technocrat in the irrigation ministry until tapped by Mursi, formed the cabinet with career bureaucrats and at least three Islamist politicians, including the education minister. ...

Honduran finance minister resigns following wife's arrest

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 07:32 PM PDT

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran Finance Minister Hector Guillen resigned on Wednesday, a day after his wife was arrested with the equivalent of more than $57,600 in her vehicle. Local police stopped Dinora Arambury on Tuesday near Tegucigalpa as she was en route to the city of San Pedro Sula, about 100 miles north of the capital. Arambury was arrested after police found the cash - 1,125,000 Honduran lempiras - a discovery that prompted a media firestorm in the poor Central American country. ...

Syria's Assad urges his army to step up fight

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 05:45 AM PDT

This image made from amateur video released by the Ugarit News and accessed Tuesday, July 31, 2012, purports to show black smoke rising from buildings in Aleppo, Syria. United Nations observers say fighter jets are firing on anti-government rebels in Aleppo. The airstrikes come after President Bashar Assad issued a rare statement today, urging his armed forces to step up the fight against the rebels. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOSyrian President Bashar Assad urged his armed forces Wednesday to step up the fight against rebels as the U.N. reported a significant escalation in the civil war with the military using warplanes to fire on opposition fighters in the battle for Aleppo.

Panetta: US force an option against Iran nukes

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 02:44 AM PDT

Israeli Defense minister Ehud Barak, left, and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, right, meet in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. Israel's threats to attack Iran and the violence convulsing Syria top the agenda of Panetta's meetings Wednesday with Israeli government leaders. (AP Photo/Gali Tibbon, Pool)U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is warning that Iran must either negotiate acceptable limits on its nuclear program or face the possibility of U.S. military action to stop it from getting the bomb.

Class of 2012: Europe's young pursue dreams abroad

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:37 AM PDT

FOR STORY : CLASS OF 2012 - BRAIN DRAIN : Santiago Oviedo poses for a picture at Tirso de Molina square in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, July 29, 2012. Santiago Oviedo, a tall 24-year old from Madrid, is on track to get his master's in physics in October 2012, a crucial milestone in his dream of becoming a researcher probing the origins of the universe, but Spain won't benefit from his big brain, because of education spending cuts and Spain's downward economic spiral, Oviedo is planning to emigrate to Britain, France, the Netherlands or Germany to get his Ph.D. or work at a company that lets him do research. He's afraid he may never work or raise a family in his country. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)Santiago Oviedo, a lanky 24-year-old from Madrid, is on track to get his master's in physics in October — a crucial milestone in his dream of becoming a researcher probing the origins of the universe.

Power restored in India, but outage cause unclear

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 04:49 AM PDT

Indian commuters exit an underground metro station where services were fully restored after Tuesday's power outage in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. Factories and workshops across India were up and running again Wednesday, a day after a major system collapse led to a second day of power outages and the worst blackout in history. An estimated 620 million people were left without electricity after India's northern, eastern and northeastern grids cascaded into failure Tuesday afternoon. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)Factories and workshops across India were up and running Wednesday after major electrical grid collapses caused the world's two worst power blackouts.

EYES ON LONDON: Badminton woes, Bieber and Wieber

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:12 AM PDT

Two Chinese fans pause for photos prior to the Women's Synchronized 10 Meter Platform Diving final at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:

Romney gaffes contrast with Obama in '08

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 09:56 AM PDT

US Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with wife Ann gesture to Polish WWII veterans and a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp prior to laying a wreath at the Warsaw 1944 Uprising monument in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)The British were offended, the Palestinians accused him of racism and even in friendlier Poland, Mitt Romney's union policies drew criticism from the current leaders of the movement that toppled communism.

Somali leaders pass constitution as bombers attack

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:38 AM PDT

Somali police men carry an injured Somali soldier in Mogadishu Wednesday Aug.1, 2012 . The soldier was injured after two suicide bombers who were trying to blow up the constituent assembly venue were shot dead by security forces police said.(AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)Somali leaders voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to adopt a new constitution that contains new individual rights and sets the country on a course for a more powerful and representative government. The vote came after two thunderous blasts at the gates of the meeting site from a failed suicide attack.

Rausing pleads guilty to preventing wife's burial

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 04:15 AM PDT

Hans Kristian Rausing pleaded guilty Wednesday to preventing the proper burial of his wealthy wife Eva, whose badly decomposed body was found in the luxury London home she shared with her husband.

Australia treasurer says he's inspired by The Boss

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:54 AM PDT

FILE - In this July 11, 2012 file photo, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan speaks to the media after delivering a speech at an investment forum in Hong Kong. Swan on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, revealed that U.S. rock star Bruce Springsteen has long been his political inspiration with lyrics warning Australians against following the U.S. road toward widening economic inequality. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)Australia's treasurer says Australians can learn a lot — and avoid economic pitfalls — by listening to The Boss.
Posted by Harshad at 1:15 AM

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