There are 17999 articles

  • Iran steps up diplomacy on Iraq

    Iran's chief national security envoy Ali Larijani is to visit the Iraqi capital Baghdad for talks. The visit comes as Tehran says it is looking favorably at participating in a key conference on tackling the violence in Iraq. A spokesman said Iran would decide on Sunday or Monday whether to take part in the conference, to be held in Egypt. On Saturday,.. More

  • World rallies for Darfur action

    Protests are taking place around the world to demand intervention to end the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region. Organizers of Global Day for Darfur say events will take place in over 35 capitals to mark the fourth anniversary of the conflict. Celebrities backing the campaign, such as Mick Jagger and George Clooney, have signed a statement accusing.. More

  • Turkish ruling party warns army

    Turkey's ruling party has sharply criticized an army threat to intervene in politics, saying the military must remain under civilian control. Cemil Cicek, spokesman for the Islamist-rooted party, was commenting after an unusual statement by the army vowing to defend the secular system. The army, which led coups in the past, said it was concerned.. More

  • Fresh clashes over Estonia statue

    More than 600 people were detained and about 100 hurt after a second night of riots in Estonia's capital Tallinn. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets after new clashes with mainly ethnic Russian protesters erupted over the removal of a Soviet war memorial. Estonia says the memorial symbolized Soviet occupation. Supporters say it celebrated.. More

  • Iraq criticizes US pull-out vote

    The Iraqi government has criticized the US Senate's approval of a bill requiring US troops to leave Iraq. Ali al-Dabbagh, the main government spokesman, said the decision was "negative" and sent the wrong signals to insurgents. The controversial measure makes $100bn (£50bn) in further funding for the war conditional on a withdrawal timetable... More

  • President vote set to split Turks

    Turkey's parliament is about to begin voting for a new president, but the election could be overshadowed by an opposition boycott and procedural row. The Republican People's Party (CHP) says it will not vote because it was not consulted on the ruling party's choice, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. Secular opposition parties want to stop the ruling.. More

  • 'Kidnapped' Lebanese found dead

    Lebanese police have found the bodies of a Sunni man and a boy in hills south-east of Beirut, three days after they went missing, feared kidnapped. Ziyad Ghandour, 12, was the son of a member of the pro-government Progressive Socialist Party. Ziyad Qabalan, 25, also belonged to the PSP. Opposition parties immediately denied involvement in their.. More

  • Shells hit hospital in Mogadishu

    A hospital has been hit in Somalia's capital in fighting between insurgents and pro-government Ethiopian forces. Relatives and medical staff ran from the SOS hospital after at least four missiles hit. Casualties are unclear. The BBC's Mohammed Ibrahim Moalimo says many of the patients have been transferred to another hospital. Other Mogadishu.. More

  • Bangladesh U-turn on former PMs

    Bangladesh's emergency government has lifted all restrictions on two of the country's most powerful politicians, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina was no longer banned from returning from abroad, a government statement said. It also said there were no restrictions on the movements of her arch rival Khaleda Zia, who.. More

  • Royal-Sarkozy snubbed by Bayrou

    Defeated centrist candidate Francois Bayrou refused to endorse either of France's presidential finalists yesterday, leaving Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal to fight it out for the crucial votes of his seven million supporters.Instead he launched a scathing attack on both candidates, savaging Royal's socialist economic programme, but reserving his.. More

  • Israeli Arab 'helped Hezbollah'

    A leading Israeli Arab politician, Azmi Bishara, is being investigated for allegedly helping Hezbollah during last year's conflict in Lebanon. This emerged after an Israeli court partially lifted a blackout on news about the case. Mr Bishara resigned from the Israeli parliament earlier this month after leaving the country. At the time the allegations.. More

  • US House to vote on war spending

    The US House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a war spending bill that would require US troops to start leaving Iraq from October. President George W Bush has warned that he will veto any such bill. If passed, it could reach his desk next week. Republicans and Democrats have been in deadlock on the legislation for weeks. The US commander.. More

  • UK courts told to allow veil

    Muslim women should be allowed to wear the veil in British courts, senior judges said in guidelines published yesterday. Muslim women should be permitted to wear the full facial covering, known as the niqab, as long as it does not interfere with the administration of justice, the Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Advisory Committee said. Such.. More

  • Call for Nigeria street protests

    Nigerians must resist the "wholescale fraud" of Saturday's presidential elections, an opposition alliance says. "We have seen revolutions around the world, from Ukraine to the Philippines. We must replicate that," Pat Utomi told the BBC, on behalf of 25 parties. Outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo has admitted the polls were flawed but says they.. More

  • U.S. to press Russia again over missile shield

    The United States will make a new pitch to Russia at NATO talks in Oslo on Thursday over its planned missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, but diplomats doubt there will be any movement from Moscow soon. NATO allies will seek to convince visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Moscow should back an independence plan for Serbia's Kosovo.. More