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  • Calm urged amid Iraq shrine bombs

    Political and religious leaders in Iraq have appealed for calm after an attack on one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, the al-Askari shrine in Samarra. Blasts destroyed two minarets of the shrine, which houses one of two tombs in the city for revered Shia imams. Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, condemned the.. More

  • Fatah boycott after Gaza fighting

    The Palestinian Fatah movement says it will boycott all cabinet meetings of the coalition government with Hamas until a Gaza ceasefire is implemented. The move follows two days of factional fighting, which has left 34 dead. In northern Gaza Hamas overran the headquarters of the Fatah-controlled National Security Forces. Elsewhere, a mortar was.. More

  • Barak to lead Israel Labour party

    Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has won the country's Labor party leadership election. Mr Barak won 51.2% while ex-security chief Ami Ayalon gained 47.7%, with the remaining ballots spoilt, with 103,000 party members eligible to vote. Incumbent Amir Peretz, who was heavily criticized after the 2006 Lebanon war, was knocked out in the first.. More

  • Sudan accepts joint Darfur force

    Sudan has agreed to a revised plan for a joint UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeping force to be sent to war-torn Darfur, AU sources say. Under the new plan, the AU will run day-to-day operations, while the UN is expected to have overall control of between 17,000 to 19,000 peacekeepers. Earlier, Sudan's foreign minister said that Sudan would accept.. More

  • US strike 'kills Afghan police'

    Seven Afghan policemen have been killed by US forces in a "friendly fire" incident in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Afghan officials say. The US military says US and Afghan forces retaliated after coming under fire. It did not confirm the deaths of the policemen. Elsewhere Nato says its soldiers killed three civilians in Kunar province. The.. More

  • Serb leader jailed for war crimes

    The international war crimes tribunal in The Hague has sentenced a former Serb rebel leader to 35 years in jail for atrocities carried out in Croatia. Milan Martic, 52, was found guilty of murder and persecution during his leadership of the self-declared Krajina Serb republic in the early 1990s. He was guilty of ethnic cleansing targeting non-Serbs,.. More

  • Palestinian PM caught in clashes

    At least 16 people have died in an upsurge in fighting between the rival Palestinian groups, Fatah and Hamas, despite a new ceasefire being declared. Gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Gaza home of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, the third time he has come under attack since Monday. Mortars were also fired at the Gaza compound of President.. More

  • EU step to resume Palestinian aid

    The EU has signed an agreement to train officials in the Palestinian Authority's Finance Ministry, so that direct aid can resume in the future. An official said this agreement was to provide technical assistance, not financial aid. The Palestinian Authority has been under an aid embargo since the militant movement Hamas won elections last year... More

  • Mudslides kill many in Bangladesh

    At least 79 people have been killed in mudslides following heavy rain in the port city of Chittagong in Bangladesh, officials say. Many others are missing after a hill partially collapsed onto a shanty town. Scores of injured have been taken to hospital and many bodies are still trapped under rubble, police say. Heavy monsoon rains have paralyzed.. More

  • Aid workers die in Lebanon clash

    Two Lebanese Red Cross workers have been killed outside a Palestinian refugee camp where troops are battling Islamist fighters, officials have said. The pair were evacuating civilians when they were hit by either machine gun or shell fire from the Nahr al-Bared camp. A Palestinian cleric, who had been trying to broker a truce, was wounded in the.. More

  • Three die in Iraq bridge bombing

    Three US soldiers were killed and six injured after a bombing caused a bridge across a highway near the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, to collapse. The soldiers were manning a checkpoint on top of the bridge when a car bomb exploded beneath, the US military said. The attack on Sunday was the latest in a series by Iraqi militants on bridges. Meanwhile,.. More

  • Sarkozy party 'set for landslide'

    Projections after the first round of France's parliamentary elections suggest President Nicolas Sarkozy's party is heading for a landslide. Although most seats will not be decided until next week's second round, polling firms said Mr Sarkozy's UMP party would win at least 383 of the 577 seats. Analysts say a big majority would allow the new president.. More

  • Gunmen in Gaza fire on PM's home

    Gunmen have opened fire on the home of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, as violence continues in Gaza. It is unclear whether the target of the attack near Gaza City was Mr Haniya himself or his security guards. There is no word on casualties. Earlier three more people were killed in continued fighting between Mr Haniya's radical Hamas group.. More

  • Bush greeted as hero in Albania

    President George W Bush has become the first US leader to visit Albania, where he has enjoyed a hero's welcome. The Balkan country is a staunch ally in America's "war on terror", and Mr Bush met Albanian soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr Bush reiterated his support for the UN plan for Kosovo's independence, adding it was time.. More

  • Fighting flares up again in Gaza

    Fresh fighting in Gaza between rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah has left a Hamas commander dead and at least 30 men injured. The clash took place in the southern town of Rafah, where a Fatah member died in a gun battle on Thursday. Clashes between the two factions have killed more than 50 since mid-May. The latest death came hours after.. More