There are 17997 articles

  • Israel orders Gaza lockdown

    Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, has ordered the closure of all crossings into the Gaza Strip. The move announced by Barak on Thursday night, is set to cut off the flow of vital supplies into the besieged Palestinian enclave. Hamas, the Palestinian group, seized control of Gaza seven months ago. "This measure, which will remain in effect.. More

  • Ahmadinejad dismisses Israel threat

    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has told Al Jazeera that Israel would not dare attack Iran, despite its successful test of a long-range ballistic missile. "The Zionist regime ... lacks the courage to launch any strike against the Iranian state," Ahmadinejad said in the exclusive interview on Thursday. Israel Radio said that the missile.. More

  • Clashes as Kenya marches continue

    Kenya's police have clashed with protesters on the second day of opposition protests against last month's disputed elections. Tear gas was fired at hundreds of demonstrators in Nairobi's Mathare slum, reports Reuters news agency. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has told the BBC that the international community should impose sanctions. He says.. More

  • Russia warns Kosovo on independence

    Russia warned Kosovo's leaders Wednesday that if they declare independence the territory will never become a member of the United Nations or other international political institutions. The United States and Britain countered by reaffirming their support for Kosovo's drive for independence from Serbia, a close ally of Russia. The council was supposed.. More

  • Turkish PM challenges headscarf ban

    The Turkish prime minister has challenged a ban on Muslim headscarves in universities and public offices, saying there was no need to wait for a constitutional change to remove the ban, state media says. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing to lift the ban which he says is merely a question of individual liberty. "There is no need to wait for.. More

  • Bush ends tour optimistic on peace

    George Bush, the US president, has ended his tour of the Middle East by saying he was "optimistic" a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians can be reached. "The leadership in Israel and the leadership of the Palestinians is committed to a two-state solution," he said on Wednesday in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. "I'm absolutely.. More

  • Israeli strike kills Gaza civilians

    At least three civilians have been killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza City while Israeli forces shot dead a leader from the Islamic Jihad group in the West Bank. The killings on Wednesday came as George Bush, the US president, wrapped up his regional tour to promote a US-backed peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel. The three Palestinian.. More

  • Suicide blast hits Iraqi town

    A female suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest has killed at least eight people in an attack on a crowded market in a Shia town of Iraq's volatile Diyala province, police said. Another seven people were wounded in the attack on Wednesday in the small town of Khan Bani Saad near Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, 65km north of Baghdad. Suicide.. More

  • Islamic Jihad leader killed

    Walid al-Ubaidi, the leader of Palestinian group Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades, has been killed by Israeli forces. Al-Ubaidi was shot on Wednesday in the West Bank, Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said. Al-Ubaidi died in a gunfight that occurred before dawn in the town of Qabatiya, near the city of Jenin. Two of his bodyguards.. More

  • Sri Lanka bus blast kills 23 as truce ends

    A suspected Tamil Tiger roadside bomb attack on a civilian bus killed 23 people and wounded dozens in central Sri Lanka on Wednesday, the military said, as a 6-year ceasefire between the state and rebels formally expires. "Twenty-three people were killed and 67 wounded," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. "They are all civilians." "The.. More

  • Taliban warns of more attacks

    The Taliban has warned of more suicide bomb attacks in places regularly frequented by westerners such as restaurants in Kabul as Afghan authorities arrested four suspects over a hotel bombing that left at least eight people dead. Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, on Tuesday warned those "who are here supporting the invading forces" that they.. More

  • Fatal car bomb blast hits Beirut

    At least three Lebanese people have been killed and several injured by a car bomb that is believed to have been intended to hit a US embassy car in Beirut, the Lebanese capital. The US state department said no Americans were hurt in the attack along a seaside road in the mainly Christian suburb of Dora to the north of the city. At least 13 people.. More

  • UN launches Muslim-Western forum

    Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, has joined the prime ministers of Turkey and Spain at a forum of some 80 nations which aims to encourage understanding between the West and Muslim countries. The two-day conference of the Alliance of Civilizations was opened on Tuesday in Madrid by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's prime minister. Zapatero.. More

  • Abbas: Israeli raid 'a massacre'

    Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has described as "a massacre" Israel's latest deadly incursion into the Gaza Strip which left 17 Palestinians dead. At least 50 Palestinians were also injured in the military operation on Tuesday which had started the previous night while US president George Bush was in Saudi Arabia. David Chater, Al Jazeera's.. More

  • France to get military base in UAE

    Nicolas Sarkozy has signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates for France to establish its first permanent military base in the Gulf. The agreement reached on Tuesday will make France one of the first Western countries other than the United States to have a permanent base in the region. The planned facility will be able to house up to 500 personnel. Duri.. More