World
Blasts hit Baghdad Shia districts, killing 20 - (90 days ago)
A series of car bombs exploded in mainly Shia neighbourhoods across the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens, police and hospital sources said. The bombs detonated in Sadr City, Habibiya, Qahira, and at least two other districts of the capital. Bombings have increased since the start of the year with a wave of suicide attacks against Shia targets and
Commander: NATO to help implement Karzai airstrike decree - (90 days ago)
NATO will work with the country's defense leadership to implement a ban by President Hamid Karzai on Afghan forces using NATO airstrikes in residential areas, the new NATO commander in Afghanistan, US General Joseph Dunford, said Sunday. Karzai announced Saturday that he would issue a decree banning Afghan security forces from requesting NATO airstrikes on "Afghan homes or
Statue of murdered Tunisian opposition leader vandalised - (90 days ago)
The memorial, installed as a work of contemporary art by Tunisian artists, was ripped off from its base and broken, and the flowers surrounding it were trampled and scattered. "This is a criminal act. Those who did this are inhuman, they have exceeded all limits," said Besma Khalfaoui, the widow of Belaid who was gunned down in broad daylight on February 6. "It is the minister of
Pakistan Shiites refuse to bury dead, demand protection - (90 days ago)
Demonstrators poured onto the streets across the country, shutting down the largest city Karachi and closing the road from the capital to Islamabad airport, in angry protest at Saturday's bombing that killed at least 81 people in Quetta. Up to 4,000 women blocked a road in the southwestern city, vowing to continue their sit-in that began late Sunday until the authorities take action
Tunisia PM pushes cabinet plan despite fresh rebuff - (90 days ago)
Complicating a political crisis that has engulfed Tunisia following the February 6 assassination of a leftwing politician, media reports said President Moncef Marzouki's centre-left Congress for the Republic party was about to split. Jebali, who is number two in Ennahda, was to meet party political leaders from 1500 GMT over his controversial proposal to form an apolitical party,
Al-Qaeda offshoot claims Baghdad bombings - (90 days ago)
The al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) carried out the attacks "in revenge for alleged criminal acts by the Shiite-led government in Sunnis areas of the capital," said the SITE monitoring service, which tracks extremist Internet forums. Three car bombs struck the sprawling Sadr City slum in the north of the city on Sunday, car bombs exploded in Ameen, Al-Husseiniyah and
Iran parliament apologises to Khamenei over infighting - (90 days ago)
Khamenei at the weekend had rebuked the deputies for their role in the squabbling that broke out in the February 3 impeachment session, during which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and speaker Ali Larijani got into verbal fight. "For our part, we apologise for what happened ... during the impeachment," of the labour minister Abdolreza Sheikholeslam, said a statement signed by 265 members
War crimes spiralling in Syria, UN warns - (90 days ago)
"The depth of the Syrian tragedy is poignantly reflected in the accounts of its victims. Their harrowing experiences of survival detail grave human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity," the Independent International Commission of Inquiry said in a 131-page report. "The destructive dynamics of the civil war not only have an impact on the civilian population but are
Chavez announces on Twitter he is back in Venezuela - (90 days ago)
"We have arrived again to the Venezuelan motherland," Chavez wrote. "Thank you God. Thank you my beloved people. We will continue my treatment
BBC journalists go on strike over job cuts - (90 days ago)
Reporters mounted picket lines outside of the BBC's central London studios. Programs went on, but many shows were disrupted Monday. Michelle Stanistreet, the National Union of Journalists general secretary, says poor decisions taken by the BBC leadership are leading to quality journalism being compromised. The union says 2,000 jobs are at risk and that 7,000 jobs have been cut
New sex-for-favours trial opens in Singapore - (90 days ago)
The trial opened three days after the former head of the narcotics police, Ng Boon Gay, was cleared of corruption when a judge rejected charges that he demanded oral sex from a contractor to help her win government deals. The new trial "involves a high ranking civil servant who abused his official position and corruptly obtained gratification from a general manager of a company
Israel handling of hunger strikers 'ethical failure' : NGO - (90 days ago)
A statement from Tel Aviv-based Physicians for Human Rights said that the fasting prisoners were denied visits from independent doctors and manacled during hospital checkups. "Physicians views with extreme gravity the fact that the rights of the hunger strikers are being violated time and again by various authorities, whose representatives act against the law, regulations,
Militants attack Pakistani office, two dead: Officials - (90 days ago)
The top political official for the northwestern tribal district of Khyber was holding a meeting in his office at the time of the attack, they
Kosovo marks 'irrefutable' independence five years on - (91 days ago)
Relations have thawed with its longtime foe under EU-sponsored reconciliation talks that are key to Belgrade's bid to join the bloc, but tensions remain and daily life in Kosovo is still a struggle for many. "The republic of Kosovo is an irrefutable reality and its independence is irreversible," president Atifete Jahjaga said in a televised statement. But in a rare
Seven foreigners kidnapped in north Nigeria - (91 days ago)
The attack Saturday night happened in Jama'are, a town in a rural portion of Bauchi state. There, the gunmen first attacked a local prison, burning two police trucks, Bauchi state police spokesman Hassan Muhammed told The Associated Press. The gunmen then targeted a worker's camp for a Lebanese construction company called Setraco, which is in the area building a road, Muhammed
Security tightened, borders closed as Libya marks revolt anniversary - (91 days ago)
Mohammed Al-Barghathi confirmed in interview with Al-Arabiya’s Hadath channel that around 80 per cent of weapons that were smuggled from stores during the revolution were seized and are under the government control. He also denied smuggling of arms outside the African country.Security forces were on high alert across Libya as the two-year anniversary since the start of the revolt arrived.
Brahimi urges backing for Syrian opposition plan - (91 days ago)
Brahimi said opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib's offer to negotiate with some regime figures "opened the door and challenged the Syrian regime to confirm what it constantly says about being prepared to hold dialogue." The envoy spoke at a news conference in Cairo after meeting Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi. "Parties in Syria, the Arab region and the international community must
Israel's Lieberman pleads 'not guilty' as graft trial starts - (91 days ago)
Wearing a dark-blue suit and white shirt, Lieberman was silent as he entered the courtroom and did not speak to waiting reporters, an AFP correspondent at Jerusalem Magistrate's Court said. In a brief opening procedure, the charges against Lieberman were read out, with the former minister pleading not guilty. The hearing was then adjourned until April 25. Lieberman is accused of having
NATO 'will comply with Afghan air strike ban' - (91 days ago)
Karzai said on Saturday that he would issue a decree ordering an end to local security forces calling in NATO air strikes amid new tensions over civilian casualties caused by such attacks. Air strikes have been an important weapon in the fight against Taliban insurgents, but they have also proved hugely controversial as they have led to numerous civilian deaths. US General Joseph
Israel arrests brother of Palestinian hunger-striker Issawi - (91 days ago)
"Our heart tonight is with Um Ra'fat Samer Issawi's mother, who pleaded to the world earlier today for help to release her son Samer. She sits tonight with her three sons in jail for no other crime than being Palestinian," the campaign statement declared. On Saturday, the campaign published a message from Samer Issawi, now in his 209th day on hunger strike in an Israeli prison. Issawi
Hezbollah says two Lebanese Shiites killed in Syria - (91 days ago)
"Two Lebanese Shiites living in Syria were killed and 14 others wounded in clashes with rebels," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that they were acting in
Uncertainty in Tunisia ahead of political talks - (91 days ago)
Ennahda chief Rached Ghannouchi has strongly reiterated his party's refusal to relinquish power in line with an initiative proposed by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, the party's number two, to form a government of technocrats. "Ennahda... will never give up power, as long as it benefits from the confidence of the people and the legitimacy of the ballot," Ghannouchi told thousands of
Yemen court jails 3 Albanians over arms smuggling - (91 days ago)
The three were arrested in December as they smuggled 179.5 tonnes of ammunition in a ship and were found guilty of trafficking military equipment into Yemen, the source said. The judge "read the verdict in which the defendants were sentenced to six years and the ship and explosives confiscated," the source added, saying their case was heard by a court specialised in terrorism cases. The
Bahrain dismantles 'terror cell': ministry - (91 days ago)
Security services "have, with the help of a brotherly country, arrested the members of a terrorist cell made up of eight Bahraini elements," state news agency BNA late Saturday quoted Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah al-Khalifa as saying. The eight "moved between Iran, Iraq and Lebanon and received training in using arms and explosives as well as financial aid," he said.
Israel treats wounded Syrians along frontier - (91 days ago)
A military spokeswoman says soldiers gave the wounded Syrians initial medical treatment near the security fence along the frontier in the Golan Heights and then evacuated them to an Israeli hospital. She would not elaborate further and spoke on condition of anonymity in line with protocol. The seven wounded Syrians are receiving medical treatment at Ziv hospital in the northern city of
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Ministers in Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's cabinet following the recent reshuffle (new appointees are in italics): 1. Minister of Agriculture Ahmed Mahmoud Ali El-Gizawi2. Minister of Antiquities Ahmed Eissa3. Minister of Aviation Wael Maadawi4. Minister of Communication Atef Helmy5. Minister of Culture
AP— April 15, 2013: Two bombs explode in the packed streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 140.— January 17, 2011: A backpack bomb is placed along a Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane, Washington, meant to kill and injure participants in a civil rights march, but is found and disabled before it can explode. White
The convenient marriage between Iran and the Arab left would have been unthinkable only a few years ago, given the traditional ideological paradoxes between patriarchal Persian Shiism, on the one hand, and leftist orthodoxy on the other.Indeed, a casual viewer of Hizbullah's Al-Manar television, or the Iranian-funded Al-Mayadin TV, these days would probably think that the two Shia propaganda
"Abdullah's appointment was done via constitutional decree; it was a sovereign act by the head of the executive and therefore cannot be reversed by court ruling," said one leading FJP/Brotherhood figure. His comments echoed earlier assertions by Brotherhood lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud.The return of former prosecutor-general Mahmoud is "not going to happen," according to several government
