There are 17997 articles

  • UN tries to break Lebanon impasse

    UN chief Ban Ki-moon is holding talks in Lebanon to try to break the impasse over electing a new president. The secretary general is to meet members of the pro-Western government, and officials from Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran. On Thursday he met the head of the Maronite Church, Nasrallah Sfeir. Parliament is scheduled to convene.. More

  • Earthquake rocks northern Chile

    An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale has rocked northern Chile, killing two people and injuring 20 others. "It is a major quake," Carmen Fernandez, the director of Chile's national emergency office, said after the quake struck on Wednesday at 1543 GMT. The quake, 60km deep, was centered 106km west of the town of Calama. Julie Martinez,.. More

  • Musharraf to quit army in two weeks

    Pakistan's president has said he expects to quit as chief of army by the end of November and continue to rule as a civilian. Pervez Musharraf urged opposition parties not to boycott January polls but rejected Western pressure to quickly end emergency rule and a demand from Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader, that he resign as president. "All those.. More

  • UN airs frustration with Myanmar

    A United Nations human rights investigator has voiced his frustration with Myanmar for ignoring his requests to meet political prisoners and opposition members during his visit. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro has been visiting detention centers but has been unable to meet political prisoners or members of the pro-democracy movement. He is investigating.. More

  • Khan arrested at Pakistan rally

    Imran Khan, the leader of the opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf party, is to be charged under anti-terrorism laws, the Pakistani police have said. The former cricketer was arrested after leaving Lahore's Punjab University campus on Wednesday where he was "mobilizing" students to rally against emergency rule imposed by Pervez Musharraf, the president. Malik.. More

  • Bombing hits Baghdad Green Zone

    US military officials in Iraq say a roadside bomb has killed two civilians in the centre of Baghdad. The US military said three other people were injured by the explosion near the heavily defended Green Zone housing the US embassy and government ministries. Correspondents say it is the biggest attack there for weeks after a series of army operations.. More

  • Three U.S. troops, two civilians killed in Baghdad

    Three U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, the latest casualties in what has been the deadliest year of the war for U.S. forces. In central Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed two civilians and wounded three just outside the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses the U.S. embassy.. More

  • Iraq deaths: Blackwater 'at fault'

    FBI investigators have found that guards working in Iraq for private contractor Blackwater killed 14 Iraqi civilians without justification, the New York Times reports. Investigators found no evidence to support the guards' claims that they only opened fire after coming under attack while protecting a US convoy in Baghdad, the Times said. Seventeen.. More

  • UN: Somalia crisis worst in Africa

    The UN says the humanitarian crisis in Somalia is now the worst in Africa. John Holmes, the UN humanitarian affairs chief, said civilians were increasingly bearing the brunt of the fighting between government forces backed by Ethiopia and fighters loyal to the Islamic Courts group. "I appeal to all those with guns, whether government, insurgent or.. More

  • US wars 'to cost $3.5 trillion'

    The cost of US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could go up to $3.5 trillion by 2017, because of 'hidden costs', says a new report. The figure is much higher than all previous estimates, US Democrats say. A report by the congress' Joint Economic Committee (JEC) says the cost of both conflicts will reach $1.6 trillion by the end of 2008, double the $804bn.. More

  • Blast kills Philippine Muslim MP

    Two people, including a member of parliament, have been killed in a blast that ripped through a section of the Philippine House of Representatives, officials said. Wahab Akbar, who represented the southern island of Basilan, died from his injuries in a local hospital on Tuesday night. Local radio said a "huge explosion" took place in the south.. More

  • Turkish MPs host Mid-East leaders

    The Israeli and Palestinian presidents have addressed the Turkish parliament in Ankara and praised Turkey as an important ally in the peace process. Shimon Peres's speech was the first to a parliament by an Israeli head of state anywhere in the Muslim world. He and Mahmoud Abbas also discussed a Turkish proposal to set up an industrial zone in the.. More

  • Huge Pakistan clampdown on Bhutto

    Police in Pakistan are mounting a massive security operation in Lahore, where opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house arrest. The house in which Bhutto is staying has been surrounded and hundreds of activists are reportedly being held. The clampdown aims to stop a "long march" of protest taking place. In response, Bhutto called.. More

  • Deadly Russian raid in Dagestan

    Russian police have stormed a house in the capital of Dagestan, killing seven fighters, government forces said. Monday's raid was the latest in a string of standoffs between police and armed groups in the region, which borders violence-wracked Chechnya. Police forces had blockaded the house in Makhachkala before dawn, after receiving reports that.. More

  • US contractor kills Iraq cab driver

    A private security guard has shot dead a taxi driver in Iraq in the latest in a string of what Iraqis believe are unprovoked killings by US contractors hired to protect Americans. A spokesman for US-based DynCorp International said one of its teams opened fire at a vehicle in Baghdad after it approached a convoy in a "threatening manner". "Our team.. More