There are 17997 articles

  • Oil soars to new record over $135

    The price of oil hit a record high above $135 a barrel on Thursday - more than twice what it cost a year ago. The latest surge was driven by data showing that supplies of crude in the US had fallen by 5.4 million barrels. US light, sweet crude for July delivery reached $135.09, taking its gain for the year so far above 40%. In May.. More

  • US strike 'kills Iraqi civilians'

    Eight civilians have been killed in an air strike by US military helicopters north of Baghdad, Iraqi police say. Two children were among those who died in the attack on Wednesday evening near the town of Baiji, the police said. Baiji's police chief said the attack targeted a group of shepherds in a farming area. The US military said the incident.. More

  • Car bomb explodes at Gaza crossing

    A car bomb has exploded near the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip but caused no injuries, Israeli public radio has reported. The blast on Thursday damaged buildings on the Palestinian side of the crossing. Palestinians shot at Israeli troops without hitting anyone, the radio reported. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the vehicle had.. More

  • Sudanese troops killed in Abyei

    At least 22 Sudanese government troops have been killed in clashes in the region of Abyei, an oil-rich border area between north and south Sudan. General Muntasser Sabil Adam, commander of government forces in Abyei, said that his soldiers repelled an attack from armed men of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). He said that he lost 22 men.. More

  • Microsoft not bidding to buy Yahoo: CEO Ballmer

    Microsoft Corp is not looking to bid to buy all of Yahoo Inc but is in talks about other types of deals with the U.S. No. 2 search engine, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday. "We are not bidding to buy Yahoo," Ballmer said at the launch of Microsoft's new research and development centre in Israel. "Yet, we are trying to have discussions.. More

  • Turkey mediates Syria-Israel talks

    Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has announced that Israel and Syria are holding indirect peace talks mediated by Turkey. A statement released by Olmert's office on Wednesday said the sides "have declared their intent to conduct these talks in good faith and openly". Walid Muallem, the Syrian foreign minister, confirmed indirect talks.. More

  • Myanmar shuns aid from US warships; UN urges more relief

    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Myanmar to focus on saving lives, not on politics, after the military government on Wednesday shunned a U.S. proposal for naval ships to deliver aid to cyclone survivors. The U.N. says up to 2.5 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis face hunger, homelessness and potential outbreaks of deadly diseases. "We.. More

  • South Africa violence spreads

    Violence against foreigners in Johannesburg, the South African capital, has reportedly spread to the east coast city of Durban. Phindile Radebe, provincial police spokeswoman, said a crowd of almost 200 people carrying bottles and wooden clubs had gathered on a street in Durban's impoverished suburb of Umbilo and began carrying out attacks. Radebe.. More

  • UN: Cyclone 'worse than 2004 tsunami'

    The devastation in Myanmar from Cyclone Nargis could create a humanitarian crisis worse than that of the 2004 south Asian tsunami, the UN's secretary-general has said. Ban Ki-Moon said on Tuesday that Myanmar had reached a "critical" point with international aid only reaching a minority of victims of the storm. He said at a press conference in New.. More

  • Lebanon rivals reach deal in Doha

    A deal to end Lebanon's political crisis has reportedly been struck at mediation talks being held in the Qatari capital Doha. Sources on both sides said late on Tuesday night that an agreement to end 18 months of political conflict that has pushed Lebanon to the brink of a new civil war was to be announced shortly. Ali Hasan Khalil, an opposition.. More

  • Grieving China stops to mourn quake victims

    From the heart of Beijing to the devastated southwest, China came to a standstill Monday to mourn its earthquake victims as the number of dead, missing or buried soared past 71,000. Air sirens wailed across the country as most motorists stopped and blared their horns, bringing an eerie halt to China's usually bustling big cities for three minutes.. More

  • Tariq Aziz trial resumes in Iraq

    The trial of Tariq Aziz, international face of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime, has resumed, but without the new legal team he demanded three weeks ago. The team of French and Italian lawyers have not been given Iraqi visas and it is unclear who will represent Mr Aziz. The former foreign minister is accused over the deaths of 42 traders.. More

  • Deadline extended in Lebanon talks

    Arab mediators have extended a deadline for rival Lebanese leaders to agree on one of two proposals put forward to end the political crisis, amid talks in Qatar. Lebanese leaders are yet to respond to the proposals and one side had asked for more time, Ahmad Abdullah al-Mahmood, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, told reporters. .. More

  • Lebanese rivals running out of time to reach deal

    Rival Lebanese leaders were running out of time on Tuesday to clinch an agreement to end their 18-month-old political crisis, with Arab mediators set to leave the talks within hours. Qatari-led Arab mediators worked until the early hours of the morning to salvage the negotiations between the U.S.-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition after.. More

  • Palestinian youth killed in Nablus

    Israeli troops have shot a 16-year-old boy dead near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on suspicions he was a suicide bomber. Michal Ya'akov, an Israeli military spokesman, said he saw a man acting strangely at the Hawara checkpoint on Monday, which caused the soldiers to believe he was armed with explosives. "A young Palestinian who seemed confused.. More