There are 17997 articles

  • Police chief killed in Iraq

    The head of police for the Babil province in Iraq has been killed in a roadside bomb attack. Major-General Qais al-Mamoori and his two guards were killed on Sunday as the bomb struck their convoy during a tour in the village al-Buajaj, police officials said. The attack near the provincial capital of Hilla, about 100km south of Baghdad, also injured.. More

  • S Korea fights worst-ever oil spill

    Thousands of troops and volunteers are struggling to clear a thick layer of pungent crude oil off South Korea's stricken southwest coast after the country's worst-ever oil spill. The crew of the 147,000-tonne Hebei Spirit have managed to stop the vessel leaking its contents, officials said on Sunday. But with over 10,000 tonnes of crude oil spilled.. More

  • Deaths in Pakistan valley bombing

    At least six people have been killed in an attack by a suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan, officials have said. The bombing occurred in Kabal district in the restive Swat valley region on Sunday, where Pakistan's military has battled fighters loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, an Islamic leader loyal to the Taliban. "It was a suicide attack. The bomber.. More

  • Pakistan troops 'clear' Swat valley

    Pakistani security forces have driven fighters from all the towns in the northern Swat valley, killing almost 300 followers of religious leader Maulana Fazlullah, the military said. Tribal fighters loyal to Fazlullah had taken control of at least eight towns in the Swat valley since July. Authorities accuse them of imposing a reign of terror, closing.. More

  • Joint assault on Taliban-held town

    Afghan and Nato troops have launched a major offensive on a town in southern Afghanistan. Musa Qala in Helmand province has been under the Taliban's control for 10 months. The country's defense ministry said troops had surrounded the area and were using heavy fire and air strikes to regain control of the town. A Nato soldier, two children and a dozen.. More

  • Serbia issues new Kosovo warning

    Serbia's prime minister has warned Kosovo against "an illegal declaration of independence" and called for fresh talks on the breakaway territory's future. Vojislav Kostunica on Saturday told Kosovo Albanians that declaring independence would be "a dangerous experiment with unpredictable consequences". "Serbia wants to negotiate and it's essential.. More

  • Israel snubs settlement criticism

    An Israeli minister has rebuffed recent US criticism of Israel's plan to build new homes on occupied land in the Jerusalem area, saying nothing should prevent the project. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, criticized on Friday the planned construction, saying it "doesn't help to build confidence". Responding to the rare public US censure,.. More

  • CIA destroyed 'waterboarding' tapes

    The CIA has admitted destroying video tapes showing what is described as the "harsh interrogation" of al-Qaeda suspects. The interrogations of two suspects were taped in 2002 and the tapes were destroyed in 2005, after the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq surfaced. Michael Hayden, the CIA director, told his staff on Thursday that the tapes.. More

  • Sarkozy condemns Paris bombing

    The French president has condemned a blast in central Paris in which one person was killed and at least five injured. A bomb delivered in a parcel to a law firm exploded on Thursday on the fourth floor of a building which also houses a law firm partly owned by Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy condemned the attack, saying through his spokesman that it was.. More

  • Pressure on Iran to remain

    Nato and the European Union are determined to maintain the pressure on Iran even though a new US intelligence report confirmed that Tehran had stopped working on its nuclear arms program four years ago. Foreign ministers of Nato and EU member states said after a meeting in Brussels the new revelation did not change their policy on getting Iran to.. More

  • Returning Iraqis pose new challenge

    The Iraqi government has admitted it does not have the resources to cope with an increasing number of refugees returning to the country. Iraqis have been returning to their homes from areas within the country and from abroad, primarily Jordan and Syria, as violence in the country has fallen over the last few months. An average of 600 Iraqis are returning.. More

  • Court jails Abu Sayyaf kidnappers

    A Philippine court has sentenced 14 members of Abu Sayyaf group to life in prison for a high-profile mass kidnapping in 2001 in which five people died. The 14 men were found guilty of kidnapping for ransom an American missionary couple and 18 others from a Philippine beach resort in May 2001. The hostages were held for more than a year on Basilan.. More

  • Dozens killed in China mine blast

    An early morning gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed at least 40 people and left dozens more trapped underground, Chinese state media has reported. The blast occurred at a mine in Linfen city, a major coal mining area in northern Shanxi province, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. State television said 13 miners were rescued.. More

  • Iran 'vindicated' by nuclear report

    Iran has been "somewhat vindicated" by a US intelligence report that says Tehran stopped trying to build a nuclear weapon four years ago, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said. Mohamed ElBaradei was speaking in Brazil on Wednesday after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, claimed the assessment was a "great victory". The director-general.. More

  • US seeks peacekeepers for Somalia

    The US secretary of state has asked for more African countries to send peacekeepers to Somalia to put an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of civilians. Speaking from Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Condoleeza Rice said an African force should to be set up to take pressure off Ethiopian forces currently operating in Somalia. "We do believe.. More