There are 17999 articles

  • Abbas accuses Hamas of coup plot

    Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Hamas of trying to establish its own state in Gaza. Mr Abbas condemned Hamas as "murderous terrorists" and "coup plotters", over the group's takeover of Gaza last week. He ruled out talks with the Islamist group - a rival of his Fatah faction - but said the ongoing crisis should not prevent.. More

  • Palestinians killed in Israel raids

    Israeli soldiers have killed four Palestinians during raids in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, military and medical sources say. Two Palestinians were killed early on Wednesday when Israeli soldiers tried to arrest them near Jenin, a town in the north of the West Bank. A fighter from the Popular Resistance Committees was also killed in battles.. More

  • UK 'in Afghanistan for decades'

    The UK presence in Afghanistan will need to go on for decades to help rebuild the country, British ambassador Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles has said. "The task of standing up a government of Afghanistan that is sustainable is going to take a very long time," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He added that the Afghan people wanted the UK presence.. More

  • 'Groundbreaking' talks on Sahara

    Morocco and the Polisario Front have begun UN-sponsored talks in New York over the disputed Western Sahara. Morocco claims sovereignty over the area, but the Algerian-based Polisario Front is campaigning for independence. The two sides have never sat down for such major negotiations before and several other countries are involved. The talks.. More

  • Baghdad truck bomb kills dozens

    At least 75 people have been killed and another 190 injured in a truck bomb attack near a Shia mosque in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The massive explosion in the busy Sinak commercial district destroyed part of the al-Khilani mosque and sent large clouds of black smoke into the air. It was the latest in a series of recent attacks on.. More

  • UK's 'deep concern' over Rushdie

    The UK's envoy to Pakistan has expressed "deep concern" over comments by a Pakistani minister about Sir Salman Rushdie's knighthood. Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Ejaz ul-Haq's comments were widely seen as justifying suicide attacks because Sir Salman had insulted Islam. But High Commissioner Robert Brinkley said it was untrue that the knighthood.. More

  • Food convoy finally enters Gaza

    "Since last week's events it's been extremely difficult to arrange that given the change of procedures, and change of authorities. However, today it's a start - it's a really good start." The BBC's Katya Adler, at the Erez crossing, says the political will is there on all sides to avoid a humanitarian crisis but practical problems remain. Israel.. More

  • US launches major Iraq offensive

    The US military in Iraq has said 10,000 US and Iraqi troops are taking part in an operation against al-Qaeda networks north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The troops were said to be moving in and around the city of Baquba in Diyala province, which is considered to be an al-Qaeda stronghold. The US military said 22 militants had been killed early.. More

  • Turkey president vetoes poll plan

    Turkey's president has vetoed a bill intended to bring forward a referendum on whether the Turkish people should directly elect their next president. The ruling AK Party initiated the reform after failing to get its own candidate elected by parliament. Opposition MPs claimed the candidate, a former Islamist, was a threat to Turkey's secular system... More

  • US, EU restore Palestinian ties

    The US and the EU are to normalize ties with the new Palestinian government, lifting embargoes on aid to support an administration without Hamas. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised "full assistance" to the Palestinian Authority and emergency humanitarian aid to Gaza via the UN. The EU is assessing ways of resuming direct aid, while.. More

  • Sarkozy wins 'mandate for reform'

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party says it will press ahead with wide-ranging reforms, after winning a majority in parliamentary elections. Although the centre-right UMP failed to secure a predicted landslide, it said it had a mandate to implement change. Its plans include tighter immigration laws, tax cuts and longer jail terms. In.. More

  • Lebanese forces battle militants

    The Lebanese army has resumed shelling a besieged Palestinian refugee camp, a day after it said important militant positions had been destroyed. Troops targeted suspected hideouts of the Fatah al-Islam group, as fighting entered a fifth week in Nahr al-Bared. Shelling sent thick plumes of smoke into the air and started fires. More than 150 people.. More

  • Hamas issues Johnston ultimatum

    The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has threatened to use force to release BBC reporter Alan Johnston by the end of Monday if he is not set free. "Today is the last day for the captors to release Alan Johnston," a senior Hamas official said. The reporter was abducted in March by a group calling itself The Army of Islam. Hamas, which seized.. More

  • Sudan 'backs UN-led Darfur force'

    Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has agreed unconditionally to a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur, diplomats have said. South Africa's ambassador at the UN, Dumisani Kumalo, said Mr Bashir backed the move after a meeting with Security Council envoys in Khartoum. Sudan agreed to allow the 19,000-strong force earlier in the week.. More

  • Children die in Afghan air raid

    Seven children were killed in a US-led coalition air strike against a suspected al-Qaeda hideout in eastern Afghanistan, the coalition has said. A statement said that a number of militants were also killed in the raid in Paktika province near Pakistan. The children are believed to have been students at a madrassa, or Islamic school, at the targeted.. More