Shi`ite's Revival in Middle East

Bomb blasts bring death to Syria's Aleppo

2012-02-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

Fri, Feb 10 08:08 AM EST 1 of 19 By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Dominic Evans AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Twin bomb blasts hit Syrian military and security buildings in the northern city of Aleppo on Friday, killing 25 people in the worst violence to hit the country's commercial hub in the 11-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Mangled, bloodied bodies as well as severed limbs

Analysis: More than just Great Firewall awaits Facebook in China

2012-02-09T04:19:00.000-08:00

Wed, Feb 08 06:54 AM EST By Melanie Lee SHANGHAI (Reuters) - When it comes to China, Facebook should consider itself forewarned. Cracking the world's biggest Internet population might seem an obvious ambition for the social networking giant as it trumpets its global growth before a $5 billion initial public offering, but the chances it will succeed look slim. Facebook said last week it was

Iraq postpones Islamic Capital of Culture project

2012-02-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

Released on - Friday,03 February , 2012 -23:08 Iraq has postponed a problem-plagued project for the holy city of Najaf to be the Arab world's Islamic Capital of Culture, the spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said on Friday. The announcement came after a spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Bashir al-Najafi, one of Iraq's top clerics, said the highest Shiite authority wanted the

U.S. eyes cuts to Iraq embassy after troops exit

2012-02-08T04:47:00.000-08:00

Tue, Feb 07 23:18 PM EST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. government is looking to cut the size of its embassy in Iraq, by far its largest and most expensive mission, months after the last American troops withdrew, U.S. officials said Tuesday. A State Department spokeswoman told reporters in Washington the objective was to reduce the cost of the overall mission, which includes roughly 2,000

Obama risks Catholic vote with birth-control mandate

2012-02-08T01:51:00.000-08:00

Tue, Feb 07 17:37 PM EST By Stephanie Simon (Reuters) - Dr. Joe Casillas, an obstetrician in Southern California, routinely prescribes birth control for his patients. Though he's a practicing Catholic, he doesn't follow his church's stern warning that contraception is a sin. He believes women should have access. Yet Casillas was dismayed when the Obama administration recently ruled that

Iran: Arrest Sweeps Target Arab Minority

2012-02-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

Dozens Held; 2 Have Died in Custody Shiite-Shiite, Arab-Persian & possibly secular-Islamist conflict in Khuzestan/Arabistan in SW Iran near Basra http://is.gd/6sTNnN via @hrw FEBRUARY 7, 2012 RELATED MATERIALS: Iran: New Assault on Freedom of Information Iran: Investigate Reported Killings of Demonstrators MORE COVERAGE: More Human Rights Watch reporting on Iran (New York) – Iranian security

Graft, politics, militant Islam shake Indian Ocean island paradise

2012-02-06T01:59:00.000-08:00

06 Feb 2012 07:26 Source: Reuters // Reuters * Democratic champion Nasheed accused of dictatorship * Islam gets political, virulent in constitutional fight * Graft cases at heart of growing political crisis * Fears of growing hardline Islamist influence By C. Bryson Hull MALE, Maldives, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Few of the million or so tourists who visit the Maldives each year would catch even a

The many faces of PML: Brothers Humayun and Haroon jumping ship to secure seats?

2012-02-06T00:42:00.000-08:00

By Abdul Manan Published: February 5, 2012 Sources say PML-N willing to ‘sell’ seats for Senate election. LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League (Likeminded) is likely to disintegrate as its two senior leaders – Humayun Akhtar and his younger brother Senator Haroon Khan – met with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday and pledged their allegiance to the party while presenting some of their demands,

Asia Private Equity Weekly News

2012-02-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

, February 6, 2012 Sun, Feb 05 22:29 PM EST HONG KONG, February 6 (Reuters) - News and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the Lunar New Year and week ending Feb. 3. FEBRUARY 3 HONG KONG'S Hutchison 3G will buy Orange Austria from France Telecom SA and Mid-Europa Partners in a deal valued at 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) including debt, expanding the corporate

Micron appoints Durcan CEO after Appleton's death

2012-02-05T04:32:00.000-08:00

Sat, Feb 04 21:04 PM EST SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Memory chipmaker Micron Technology's board appointed company veteran Mark Durcan as chief executive a day after longtime Chairman and CEO Steve Appleton was killed in a plane crash. Hours after Appleton's death on Friday morning, Micron's board named Durcan, the president and chief operating officer, as temporary CEO and analysts

Bid to oust Nat Rothschild from Bumi board

2012-02-04T06:57:00.000-08:00

Nat Rothschild's Indonesian partners in his FTSE 100 mining venture Bumi are trying to remove him from the board, reigniting concerns over clashes at the company. Mr Rothschild caused a stir in November when he said Bumi's major subsidiary PT Bumi Resources needed a 'radical cleaning up'. Photo: REX By Emma Rowley9:30PM GMT 03 Feb 2012 Comment The shareholding vehicle of Indonesia's Bakrie

China's Youngman bids for bankrupt Saab -report

2012-02-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

Thu, Feb 02 13:11 PM EST STOCKHOLM, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Chinese group Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile has made a fresh bid for Swedish carmaker Saab, which went bust in December, Swedish radio reported on Thursday, citing sources. Saab, one of Sweden's best-known brands, shut down production early last year after running out of money and was finally declared bankrupt after protracted rescue

تقلل احتمالات الحرب الطائفية وتزيد التوقعات بالعنف بين الاحزاب

2012-02-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

Sadr City bombings .. Reduce the prospects of war and sectarian violence increase expectations among the parties Author: ZJ Editor: NK | BS Wed 01 شباط 2012 13:32 GMT The effects of the bombing in Sadr City in the twenty-fourth of January last Sumerian News / Baghdad Seen Mohammed Jaffer (34 years) with sadness to the effects of the devastation caused by a car bomb explosion near a gathering of

FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in Iraq

2012-02-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

02 Feb 2012 11:50 Source: Reuters // Reuters By Jim Loney BAGHDAD, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Iraq's worst political crisis in a year eased slightly as the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc this week ended a parliamentary boycott but tensions remained high as Baghdad's worries grew over relations with neighbours Iran and Turkey. The end of the boycott did little to signal the end of rifts between the fractious

Parliamentary elections begin in Kuwait

2012-02-02T05:07:00.000-08:00

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:51:22 GMT حين نؤمن أن ليس كل شيعي تبع إيران ¥ وليس كل ملتحي تبع طالبان ¥ وليس كل حضري عنصري ¥ وليس كل بدوي همجي ¥ عندها فقط نستطيع بناء وطن " Kuwaitis have headed to the polling stations across the country to vote in parliamentary elections, which are the fourth voting in the Persian Gulf country in less than six years. The Kuwaiti government had approved a decree in

Taliban vows to retake Afghanistan-report

2012-02-02T04:59:00.000-08:00

01 Feb 2012 23:41 Source: Reuters // Reuters * Grim assessment of U.S.-led war * Allegations anger pivotal player Pakistan * Taliban says no agreement on peace negotiation process (Recasts, adds excerpts from report) By Hamid Shalizi and Mirwais Harooni KABUL, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Taliban, backed by Pakistan, remains confident despite a decade of NATO efforts that it will retake control of

More than 200 rescued in deadly PNG ferry sinking

2012-02-02T00:23:00.000-08:00

02 Feb 2012 06:13 Source: Reuters // Reuters * High death toll feared - Australian PM * Ship sunk quickly without mayday distress call - ship's owner * Weather conditions benign - AMSA (Adds company comments, updates number of rescued) By James Grubel Feb 2 (Reuters) - Rescuers plucked more than 200 people from the sea off Papua New Guinea on Thursday after a ferry sank, leaving more than

74 killed in Egyptian football match riot: TV

2012-02-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

English.news.cn 2012-02-02 05:41:44 Football fans set up fireworks at Cairo International Stadium on Feb. 1, 2012. The second half of a football match at Cairo International Stadium was cancelled due to the riot during football match in Port Said. The death toll from a football riot in Egypt's Port Said rose to 73, state TV reported on Wednesday night.(Xinhua/Ayman Mose) CAIRO

Major Punjabi Dialects

2012-02-01T04:57:00.000-08:00

By Dr.Masood Tariq - Jan 16th, 2012 (5 Comments) 17 1. Majhi Punjabi The Majhi dialect is the prestige dialect of Punjabi’s and spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The Majhi dialect, the dialect of the historical region of Majha, spans the Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Okara, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat and to some extant in Jhelum

UPDATE 1-Kuwait to sign China/Total deal, boost capacity

2012-02-01T03:24:00.000-08:00

Tue, Jan 31 07:14 AM EST * Has ambitious plans to boost output and refining * Advancing on an MoU with Sinopec, Total (Adds detail) LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Gulf OPEC producer Kuwait is pumping near flat-out, but has ambitious plans to expand production and boost refining operations at home and abroad, the chief of Kuwait Petroleum Corp said on Tuesday. On the refining front, KPC is already

China can be rich or neutral - not both

2012-01-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

01 Feb 2012 03:27 Source: Reuters // Reuters (Corrects figure in fifth paragraph to 1 mln, not 10 mln) By John Foley HONG KONG, Feb 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The kidnapping of 29 Chinese workers in Sudan shows that China's "don't intervene" policy is coming under strain. As the world's most populous country guns for the economic number one spot, it will not be as easy to keep out of

W.House defends birth control rule against religious protest

2012-01-31T20:50:00.000-08:00

W.House defends birth control rule against religious protest 31 Jan 2012 23:06 Source: Reuters // Reuters * White House says contraceptive rule helps millions * Republican VP-hopeful introduces bill to counteract rule By David Morgan WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday defended a new federal rule requiring religiously affiliated nonprofit groups to provide free birth

UPDATE 1-Thyssen to sell stainless steel unit in $3.5 bln deal

2012-01-31T06:59:00.000-08:00

Tue, Jan 31 03:57 AM EST * ThyssenKrupp agrees sale of Inoxum to Outokumpu * Deal includes cash, Outokumpu taking Inoxum debt * Union says gets pledges on German production sites * Thyssen shares up 1.3 pct, Outokumpu down 2.2 pct FRANKFURT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - ThyssenKrupp will go ahead with the sale of its stainless steel business to Finland's Outokumpu after clearing the 2.7-billion-euro (

Sectarian & ethnic attacks?: One killed in Gulberg, 3 in New Karachi

2012-01-31T05:58:00.000-08:00

Faraz Khan Published: January 30, 2012 Taseer Abbas Zaidi was killed in FB Area Block 20 when two men on a motorbike open fired on him. KARACHI: A wave of killings continue to plague Karachi, as another man from the Shia sect was targeted in the limits of Gulberg Police Station on Monday. Taseer Abbas Zaidi was killed in FB Area Block 20 when two men on a motorbike open fired on him. He was the

Tonen buys 99 pct of refinery stake from ExxonMobil for $3.94 bln

2012-01-30T23:46:00.000-08:00

UPDATE 1- Sun, Jan 29 04:41 AM EST * ExxonMobil to retain 22 pct of voting shares in TonenGeneral * Deal to be closed on June 1 TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Japan's second-largest refiner TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK said on Monday it is considering how to reduce its oil refining capacity, taking into account how fast domestic demand is projected to fall. CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Tonen: $4 bln buyout of