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  • Russia warns of retaliation as UK expels diplomats

    Russia's Foreign Ministry appears set to retaliate after Britain's decision to expel four diplomats amid a deepening row that is pushing relations between the two countries to a new post-Cold War low. The expulsions follow Moscow's refusal to handover a suspect in the murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman.. More

  • Syrian president begins second term

    Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has been inaugurated for a second, seven-year term. He was sworn into office in front of the 250-seat People's Assembly on Tuesday, using the occasion to call on Israel to make clear its willingness to make peace with Syria. "We do not want secret talks. We ask Israel's leaders to state in a clear and official.. More

  • Japan investigates 'nuclear leak'

    Japanese officials are investigating the possibility of a second radioactive leak from a nuclear plant, following Monday's earthquake in central Japan. Drums with low-level nuclear waste fell over during the tremors, and some of their lids were found open. Water containing radioactive material is already known to have leaked from the plant into.. More

  • UK to expel four Russian diplomats

    Britain has said it will expel four Russian diplomats to protest against Moscow's refusal to extradite the main suspect in the killing of a former Russian agent, Alexander Litvinenko. The row between the two countries escalated when Moscow refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, a Russian businessman and former KGB agent, to stand trial in London.. More

  • Bush urges Mid-East peace talks

    US President George W Bush has called for an international meeting to discuss efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The proposed meeting would take place later this year and involve the US, Israel and some of its Arab neighbors. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will chair the talks. Speaking at the White House,.. More

  • Army advances into Nahr al-Bared

    The Lebanese army has continued its advance deeper into the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country amid heavy fighting. Elsewhere on Monday, a roadside blast damaged a Unifil vehicle near the southern city of Tire. Troops battling fighters from the Fatah al-Islam group moved into Nahr al-Bared camp in north Lebanon on.. More

  • Bombs kill at least 80 in Kirkuk: Iraq police

    At least 80 people were killed on Monday in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk in a coordinated attack by a suicide truck bomber in a crowded market and a separate car bomb parked on a busy street, police said. South of Baghdad, thousands of U.S. troops swooped on a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq safe haven used to reinforce militants fighting in the capital,.. More

  • Former Bangladesh PM arrested

    Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, has been arrested in the country's capital Dhaka and remanded to police custody. Khaleda Zia, Hasina's main political rival and another former leader, was also ordered to appear in court on tax evasion charges as part of the military-backed interim government's crackdown on corruption. Hasina.. More

  • Japan rocked by major earthquake

    An earthquake has struck central Japan, killing at least five people, flattening buildings and triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant. Hundreds of people were injured when the 6.8-magnitude tremor struck the Niigata area. The fire at the nuclear plant has been extinguished, and there was no release of radiation or damage to the reactors, officials.. More

  • UN confirms N Korea reactor closure

    United Nations inspectors have confirmed the shutdown of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has said. Mohamed Elbaradei praised what he said was "good co-operation" from North Korea, and welcomed the shutdown as a "step in the right direction". "Our inspectors are there. They verified the shutting down of.. More

  • Somali peace meeting delayed again

    Somalia's reconciliation conference has been postponed until Thursday immediately after opening amid tight security in the capital, Mogadishu. More than 1,000 clan elders, former commanders and politicians from across the country were invited for the talks on Sunday, which had already been delayed twice before over security fears. Ali Mahdi Mohamed,.. More

  • Palestinians pledge to halt attacks

    Dozens of Palestinian fighters have made a rare pledge to halt attacks on Israel. In return, they would be taken off that country's wanted list. The pledge comes a day before Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is due to meet Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister. Israel handed the Palestinians a list of 189 fighters, most of whom are.. More

  • New suicide attack on Pakistan troops kills 16

    Suicide bombers hit a Pakistan army convoy for the second time in two days Sunday, killing at least 16 people in apparent retaliation for an army raid on a militant mosque, officials said. A suicide bomber killed 24 people and wounded scores more the previous day as outrage has erupted across the mainly Muslim nation over the raid, which has saddled.. More

  • Iran recognises Bahrain's independence

    Iran recognises Bahrain as an independent Arab state and has no ownership claims towards the country, visiting Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday. He insisted that Iran was a peaceful nation that had never invaded any of its neighbours and was only interested in strengthening political and economic ties in the Gulf. Mr Mottaki was.. More

  • Russia pulls out of key arms treaty

    Russia will no longer respect a key arms treaty that limits the deployment of military forces in Europe, the Kremlin said yesterday in the latest escalation of tensions between Moscow and the West. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's adherence to the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) arms control treaty due to "exceptional.. More