There are 17997 articles

  • Obama starts tour in Afghanistan

    US Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has arrived in Afghanistan, at the start of a campaign-season international tour. The countries he is also expected to visit include Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain. The Illinois senator flew to the Afghan capital, Kabul, as part of an official congressional delegation. Correspondents.. More

  • Iran talks set to begin in Geneva

    A senior Iranian diplomat has arrived in Geneva for talks with European negotiators where, for the first time, a high-level US official will be present. Saeed Jalili will be discussing his country's controversial nuclear programme in the Swiss city with Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief. The Americans are among six world powers offering Tehran.. More

  • US seeks 'time horizon' on Iraq

    Iraq and the US have called for an agreement on a "general time horizon" for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, the White House has announced. The call comes after a video conference between President George W Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. The two governments are currently negotiating an agreement to allow US forces to.. More

  • Aid agency urges Somalia safeguards

    The World Food Programme (WFP) has appealed to foreign governments to provide naval escorts to protect its food ships from pirates off the Somali coast. Disruptions to food shipments and attacks on aid workers inside the country are threatening the lives of millions of starving people, the United Nations' food agency warned on Friday. The Horn of.. More

  • Mandela in appeal for poor on 90th birthday

    Nelson Mandela, the icon of the anti-apartheid movement and South Africa's first black president, marked his 90th birthday on Friday with an appeal on behalf of his Rainbow Nation's poor. As tributes poured in for the world's best loved elder statesman, Mandela spent the day surrounded by the family he was unable to see during 27 years in captivity. But.. More

  • EU plans to block aid to Bulgaria

    The European Commission is planning to block almost $1bn in funds for Bulgaria as a penalty for failing to tackle corruption and organised crime. A report seen by the BBC warns that millions worth of aid could be lost unless the authorities act decisively. Bulgaria's chances of joining the Schengen area are also at risk. Bulgaria and its neighbour.. More

  • Report: Danger from electrical work in Iraq severe

    Inferior electrical work by private contractors on U.S. military bases in Iraq is more widespread than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to a published report. A Senate panel investigating the electrocutions of Americans on bases in Iraq was told last week by former KBR Inc. electricians that the contractor used employees with little electrical.. More

  • Court vows to try Darfur rebels

    Ocampo said the ICC has the names of the "alleged perpetrators'' he vows to prosecute [AFP] Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), has said he is committed to prosecuting Darfuri rebels accused of killing 10 African Union troops last year. His statement on Thursday, came four days after the controversial.. More

  • Anger as Pakistan stocks plummet

    There have been violent protests at the stock exchange in Karachi after shares on the Pakistani stock market plummeted again. The exchange's benchmark 100-share index was down 4.2 per cent at 10,056 points on Thursday afternoon amid growing economic and political uncertainty. As shares values dropped for the 14th consecutive day, hundreds of small.. More

  • Spain's supreme court clears four convicted Madrid bombers

    Spain's supreme court Thursday overturned the guilty verdicts on four of the 21 people convicted over the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people in 2004. It also upheld a lower court's decision to acquit one of the alleged masterminds of the Al Qaeda-inspired attacks, Rabei Ousmane Sayed Ahmed, known as "Mohammed the Egyptian". And.. More

  • U.S. to establish presence in Tehran

    The United States will announce in the next month that it plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years, a London newspaper said on Thursday. In a front-page report, the Guardian said Washington would open a U.S. interests section in the Iranian capital, halfway towards opening an embassy. The unsourced report by.. More

  • Saudi king appeals for tolerance

    King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has called on followers of the world's main religions to turn away from extremism and embrace a spirit of reconciliation. The king was opening a conference in Madrid which brings together Muslims, Christians, Jews and Buddhists. He said the great conflicts of history were not caused by religion, but by the misinterpretation.. More

  • Afghan civilians die in US strike

    US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed eight civilians during an air strike targeting insurgents, according to the US military. Two others were wounded in the bombing in western Farah province on Tuesday, the military said in a statement. The air strike was ordered after insurgents attacked a convoy of coalition forces, it said. Last.. More

  • Malaysia's Anwar freed on bail

    Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's de facto opposition leader, has been freed on bail a day after he was arrested in connection with an alleged sexual assault on a male aide. "He is freed, he is not feeling well and he's going straight home," Sankara Nair, Anwar's lawyer, told reporterson Thursday morning. Anwar, adviser to Malaysia's opposition.. More

  • Hezbollah hands over dead Israeli soldiers in swap

    Hezbollah on Wednesday handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers seized by its guerrillas two years ago, in a prisoner swap greeted with triumph in Lebanon but anguish in Israel. "Today we hand over Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev," Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa said at the Naqura border crossing between Lebanon and Israel as men placed.. More