Iran arrests 5 musicians over dissident contacts

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian police have arrested five members of an underground band suspected of producing music for Farsi-speaking, dissident satellite channels based in the U.S.The semiofficial Fars news agency quotes senior police official Col. Sadeq Rezadoost as saying the band was producing songs for Los Angeles-based Iranian singers and providing videos to Farsi-speaking, dissident TV channels.The...

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Iranians freed in major prisoner swap in Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Rebels freed 48 Iranians on Wednesday in exchange for more than 2,000 prisoners, including women and children, held by Syrian authorities — a deal struck after rare negotiations involving regional powers Turkey, Qatar and Iran.It was the first major prisoner swap since the uprising began against President Bashar Assad nearly 22 months ago.Iran is one of Assad's main allies,...

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Hamas flagship university grooms Hebrew teachers

  Enlarge PhotoIn this Monday, Jan. 7, 2013 photo, …Enlarge PhotoIn this Monday, Jan. 7, 2013 photo, …GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas' flagship university in Gaza has a new diploma on offer — Hebrew, the official language of its arch-foe Israel.Gaza's Hamas rulers say they want to produce qualified teachers as the government gradually introduces Hebrew studies in its high schools. The aim...

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Canada spending growth sluggish in November, Mastercard says

(Reuters) - Canada's holiday shopping season got off to a slow start in November with retail sales rising only 1.3 percent from the previous year, compared with 4.2 percent growth a year earlier, according to data released by MasterCard on Thursday.Still, the shopping season was still young in November. MasterCard Advisors, the payment company's research and consulting division, found that in recent...

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Chevron to buy stake in Kitimat LNG from Encana, EOG

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Chevron Corp said on Monday it will enter the Canadian liquefied natural gas business with the acquisition of the 50 percent stake in the Kitimat LNG project held by Encana Corp and EOG Resources Inc.Chevron will take Encana's and EOG's 30 percent stakes in the LNG-export project for an undisclosed price as the No.2 U.S. oil company looks to jumpstart North American natural...

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Ontario government imposes new contracts on teachers

TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's government said on Thursday it will impose labor contracts on tens of thousands of teachers in Canada's most populous province as part of its controversial push to reduce a large budget deficit.Education Minister Laurel Broten announced contract terms covering some 130,000 teachers that included a broad wage freeze, a reduction in the number of sick days and limits on...

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Clashes near Syrian capital, Aleppo airport closed

 Syrian troops and rebels fought Tuesday in suburbs of Damascus as well as near Aleppo's airport, stopping all flights in and out of the northern city, activists and state media said.The intense fighting underlined the rebels' tenacity in the capital and around Aleppo, Syria's largest city, but also the determination of the Bashar Assad regime to carry on fighting. Activists say more than 45,000...

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Egypt orders 15-day detention for Israeli

 Egyptian security officials say a former sergeant in the Israeli army has been ordered detained for 15 days for investigation into his illegal entry from Israel into the Sinai Peninsula.The authorities say the 24-year-old unarmed Israeli has been in custody since Friday. They announced the arrest Monday.The officials said Tuesday he is under investigation in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm...

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Palestinians will outnumber Israeli Jews by 2020

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinian statistics bureau estimates that Arabs will outnumber Jews in the Holy Land by the end of the decade, a scenario that could have grave implications for Israel.The bureau said Tuesday that 5.8 million Arabs live in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. That compares to about 6 million Israeli Jews, according to Israeli data.It said that based on current birth...

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Clashes in Syria shut down Aleppo airport

BEIRUT (AP) — Clashes between government troops and rebels on Tuesday forced the international airport in Aleppo to stop all flights in and out of Syria's largest city, while fierce battles also raged in the suburbs of the capital Damascus.The rebels have been making inroad in the civil war recently, capturing a string of military bases and posing a stiff challenge to the regime in Syria's two major...

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Clarification: Israel-Palestinians story

JERUSALEM (AP) — In a story Dec. 31, The Associated Press reported that Israel dropped a 5 1/2-year-old ban that prevented construction materials from entering the Gaza Strip. The story should have made clear that the ban applied to Gaza's private sector. Under the closure, imposed following the Hamas militant group's takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israel...

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Mother loses legal fight to stop son's cancer radiotherapy

LONDON (Reuters) - A mother in Britain, who was so desperate to stop her cancer-stricken son having to undergo conventional medical treatment that she went into hiding with him, lost a court battle on Friday to prevent him receiving radiotherapy.The case of Sally Roberts, 37, a New Zealander living in Brighton, southern England, and the plight of her seven-year-old son has made headlines in Britain.Roberts...

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Instant View - Third quarter GDP revised down, public finances worsen

LONDON (Reuters) - The Office for National Statistics released revised third-quarter GDP figures and November public sector finances data on Friday.****************************************************KEY POINTS- Biggest quarterly increase in GDP since Q3 2007- Biggest quarterly increase in industrial output since Q2 2010- Biggest quarterly increase in services output since Q3 2007- Biggest quarterly...

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Budget deficit worsens, credit rating at risk

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's budget deficit worsened in November, data showed on Friday, increasing the risk it will lose its top-notch credit rating and overshoot this year's borrowing forecast.The data - which showed public sector net borrowing, excluding financial sector interventions, hit 17.5 billion pounds last month - is gloomy news for Britain's coalition government.Deficit reduction and preserving...

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Stalin's birthday marked in Russia and beyond

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — People across the vast territory where Josef Stalin once imposed his terror have marked the 133rd anniversary of the dictator's birth, some in hatred but others in reverence.In Moscow, several hundred Russian Communists led by their leader Gennady Zuyganov laid flowers at Stalin's grave at the Red Square Friday, while smaller rallies were held across Russia and several former...

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Margaret Thatcher in hospital after operation

LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the country's first woman elective leader, is in hospital recovering from surgery to remove a growth on her bladder, a source close to the family said on Friday.After experiencing pain in her bladder earlier in the week, he 87-year-old went to hospital where she underwent a minimally invasive operation, Tim Bell, a public relations...

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