There are 17997 articles

  • UN aid workers freed in Somalia

    Somali gunmen have freed two UN aid workers from Sweden and Denmark - just hours after seizing them in southern Somalia, UN and Somali officials say. The aid workers were released without ransom and were safe, a UN security official told Reuters news agency. They will now be flown to Nairobi - the capital of neighbouring Kenya - the officials say. The.. More

  • Pakistan ruling parties gain seats

    The two major parties in Pakistan's coalition government have won the most seats in by-elections this week, filling 33 vacant seats in the national and provincial assemblies, an official has said. The Pakistan Muslim League-N, led by Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister, won three out of five parliamentary seats in Thursday's vote. It also won eight.. More

  • US doubts over NK nuclear plans

    There are still questions surrounding North Korea's nuclear bomb-making programme, according to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She said North Korea's nuclear declaration, handed over earlier this week, left some questions unanswered. Ms Rice was speaking during a visit to the South Korean capital, Seoul, for talks on North Korea's recent.. More

  • Pakistan forces in Khyber offensive

    Pakistani security forces have launched a military operation against Taliban fighters in the Khyber tribal region near the northwest city of Peshawar. Malik Naveed Khan, police chief of Pakistan's North West Frontier province, of which Peshawar is the capital, said the crackdown on Saturday was "going on smoothly". "There has been.. More

  • Mugabe awaits victory confirmation after one-man poll

    Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe awaited confirmation Saturday of his victory in a one-man election, branded a sham by the opposition and the West, as preparations were made for a rapid swearing-in. Although officials had still to declare results from the 210 constituencies, counting had been completed and the tallies were being collated. "After.. More

  • Guatemala minister dies in crash

    Guatemalan Interior Minister Vinicio Gomez has been killed in a helicopter crash north of the country's capital, government officials have said. Deputy minister Edgar Hernandez, the pilot and one other person also died. The authorities lost radio contact with the aircraft at 1308 local time (1908 GMT) on Friday. It disappeared over the Alta Verapaz.. More

  • Blast in northern Lebanon

    At least one person has been killed and 10 people wounded by a powerful blast in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, officials said. The blast early on Saturday struck a six-storey residential buildingin the Sunni neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh. Rescuers were working to evacuate victims from the site of the blast. No fighting was reported.. More

  • Mugabe certain of victory as Zimbabwe counts votes

    Counting was under way in Zimbabwe Saturday after a run-off election, with President Robert Mugabe assured of victory as the sole candidate following a boycott by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The first results from the 210 constituencies were expected to be announced from around lunchtime, according to the Zimbabwe electoral commission, but.. More

  • Voters snub 'sham' Zimbabwe poll

    Voting has been slow in Zimbabwe's run-off presidential poll in which Robert Mugabe is the sole candidate. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the contest because of violence against his supporters. He said that millions were refusing to vote despite government efforts to force them to take part. He also urged the world not to recognise.. More

  • Oil tops $142 a barrel

    Oil prices reached a record high of $142 a barrel on Friday as world stocks fell to a three-month low. The price rise comes a day after the president of the Organisation of the Petroleaum Exporting countries (Opec), said oil prices could reach $170 a barrel this year as a result of the weak dollar and geopolitcal unrest. London Brent North Sea crude.. More

  • NKorea blows up nuke plant tower

    North Korea on Friday blew up the cooling tower of its atomic reactor in a dramatic symbol of its commitment to nuclear disarmament, one day after handing over details of its atomic programmes. TV footage showed the 30-metre (99 foot) tower engulfed in a huge cloud of smoke as a landmark piece of the country's nuclear history collapsed in ruins. "It.. More

  • Voting opens in Zimbabwe

    Zimbabweans are voting in a run-off vote, the outcome of which has already been decided after an opposition pullout. Robert Mugabe, the president, is sure to win the presidential poll on Friday, described by the country's opposition and many in the international community as a "sham". In his last rally before the vote, Mugabe said he would.. More

  • NKorea set to blow up nuke plant on TV

    Secretive North Korea was preparing a global TV spectacular Friday to dramatise its commitment to scrapping atomic weapons, a day after it handed over an account of its nuclear programmes. The communist state was set to blow up the cooling tower at the plutonium-producing Yongbyon complex, the most visible symbol of a decades-old pursuit of nuclear.. More

  • Plane goes missing over Indonesia

    An Indonesian military plane with 18 people on board, including three foreigners, has gone missing on a flight from Jakarta to West Java. It was flying from the capital to Bogor on Thursday, carrying 12 military personnel and six civilians. The foreigners are reported to be a Briton, an Indian and a Singaporean. The Casa-212 aircraft was.. More

  • Many killed in Iraqi bomb attacks

    At least 38 people have been killed in two bombings in Iraq. The first occurred in the town of Karma, west of Baghdad, where a suicide attacker detonated a bomb at a local council meeting, killing at least 20. More than a dozen people were wounded. It was the third attack in a week against a local administrative branch of the Iraqi government. Hours.. More