There are 17997 articles

  • Taliban raid kills 11 Afghan policemen

    Taliban fighters have stormed a police post in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, killing at least 11 policemen, according to a police official. The overnight attack in Arghandab district of the troubled province is the latest in a string of clashes in recent days. "One of our police posts was attacked in Arghandab last night. At this point.. More

  • World Bank unveils food crisis plan

    The World Bank has launched an appeal for funds to tackle rising global food prices as part of a stimulus plan of a scale last seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The move comes as the price of essential food items continue to rise sharply amid currency-market imbalances and fears of a US economic recession. The World Bank has approved.. More

  • Gaza Strip 'facing blackout'

    The Gaza Strip's only power station may have to shut down in two or three days if Israel continues to prevent fuel supplies from entering the territory, the plant's director said. The power plant's fuel reserves were already low as Israel has been restricting fuel supplies, saying it was hoping the move would force Palestinian fighters to end rocket.. More

  • Iraq sacks 1,300 troops over Shiite crackdown

    Iraq has dismissed 1,300 troops for failing in their duties during a crackdown on gunmen in Basra, an official said Sunday, as the government vowed to flush Shiite militias out of their Baghdad bastion. The sackings come after hundreds of Iraqi troops and police are reported to have either deserted or joined the other side during a government.. More

  • Kenya unveils 40-seat cabinet

    Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's president, has named an opposition leader as the country's new prime minister after talks to end months of political deadlock. Raila Odinga was confirmed on Sunday as head of a new 40-member cabinet, in which power will be shared between Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) and Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The.. More

  • Iran dismisses sabotage in mosque blast

    Iranian officials on Sunday ruled out an attack as the cause of an explosion that killed 11 people inside a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz. The explosion ripped through the mosque packed with hundreds of worshippers late Saturday as a cleric delivered his weekly speech, the semiofficial Fars news agency said. Authorities said besides the 11.. More

  • 8 police killed in Afghan attacks

    Militants launched two attacks against Afghanistan's vulnerable police, killing eight officers, including four who were destroying a field of opium poppies, officials said Sunday. Kandahar provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib said the militants killed four eradication police in the province's Maiwand district on Saturday. The attack is at least.. More

  • Iraq: Confessions lead to mass grave

    Confessions from Shiite militiamen led Saturday to the discovery of 15 more bodies dumped in mass graves south of Baghdad, officials said — the second such find this week. Women holding family photos rushed to the muddy field in Mahmoudiya in hopes of finding missing loved ones as new information emerges on past sectarian bloodletting. The grisly.. More

  • Several dead in Iran mosque blast

    Eight people have been killed and 50 others wounded in an explosion in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, a national news agency has reported. The explosion on Saturday was caused by "a powerful bomb at Shiraz's Mosque of the Martyrs after evening prayers," a report by Fars news agency said, citing city officials. The death toll is expected.. More

  • Secularist Turks protest against ruling party

    Thousands of secularist Turks have held a rally in the capital Ankara against the ruling AK (Justice and Development) Party, which is facing a high court challenge over its alleged Islamic focus. Turkish TV estimated that about 20,000 people attended Saturday's demonstration, with many of them coming from other cities. The protesters carried.. More

  • Taiwan and China leaders to meet

    Taiwan's vice president-elect is due to hold a historic meeting with China's president. Vincent Siew is to meet Hu Jintao on Saturday as head of a Taiwan delegation visiting the south Chinese island of Hainan for the Boao Forum for Asia. The forum is a gathering that China hopes to transform into a regional version of the Davos meetings. Siew's.. More

  • Afghan blast kills Indian workers

    At least two Indian road workers have been killed in a double suicide bombing in southwestern Afghanistan, according to officials. Five other people were wounded in the attack in Khash Rod district of Nimruz province on Saturday. Afghan authorities said they captured a third potential suicide bomber. "There was a suicide attack carried.. More

  • Kenyan leaders reach cabinet deal

    Mwai Kibaki, the Kenyan president, and Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, have struck a deal on a power-sharing cabinet after secret one-on-one talks to end a six-week impasse. Sources close to the talks said that president Kibaki and would-be prime minister Odinga had reached a coalition government agreement on Saturday. "There is.. More

  • Al-Sadr aide killed in Najaf

    Police have imposed a curfew in the Iraqi city of Najaf after a senior aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, an Shia leader, was shot dead near his home, Iraqi officials said. Riyadh al-Nouri, who was the director of al-Sadr's office in Najaf, was killed as he drove home from Friday prayers in the nearby city of Kufa. Police set up blockades, ordered.. More

  • Israel cuts off fuel supplies to Gaza

    Israel yesterday cut off fuel supplies to Gaza following an attack by Palestinians fighters on its fuel depot in Nahal Oz crossing on Wednesday that killed two Israelis. Though some Israelis demanded that Israel halt all supplies to Gaza, Israeli defense officials indicated that the fuel cutoff would not last past the weekend. Hamas spokesman.. More