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  • Double bombings rock Afghan town

    At least five people have been killed and several wounded after two explosions hit the town of Khost in eastern Afghanistan, local police say. The first blast, which occurred in a shop in the town's busy market, killed two people, police reported. The second explosion, this time the work of a suicide bomber, killed two people and injured two police... More

  • Voting begins in French election

    Polls have opened in France in a presidential election seen as the nation's most unpredictable in decades. Voting began at 0800 (0600 GMT), with 12 hopefuls seeking a spot in the second-round run-off on 6 May. The leading candidates are centre-right Nicolas Sarkozy, socialist Segolene Royal, centrist Francois Bayrou and far-right leader Jean-Marie.. More

  • Palestinian militants shot dead

    Three Palestinian militants have been shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank, local officials have said. Two members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and one Islamic Jihad member were killed when their car was fired on in the city of Jenin, the sources said. The Israeli army confirmed an undercover unit had fired on the car and had hit three.. More

  • Fierce Somali clashes 'kill 113'

    At least 113 civilians have been killed and more than 200 injured in three days of fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a human rights group says. The Elman Peace and Human Rights agency said it got the figures from hospitals, other humanitarian groups and counting bodies abandoned in the streets. Heavy fighting is continuing, as Ethiopian.. More

  • Egyptian jailed for Israel spying

    A Cairo court has sentenced a man with dual Egyptian-Canadian citizenship to 15 years in jail for spying. Mohammed al-Attar was convicted of being an agent for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The 31-year-old had confessed to the charge, but later said the admission had been extracted under torture by Egypt's intelligence services. Three.. More

  • Iraq war 'lost' says top Democrat

    The US war in Iraq is lost and a further build-up of US troops in the country will not recover the situation, the senior Democrat in the US senate has said. "This war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week," Harry Reid, the senate Democratic majority leader, told reporters. Reid,.. More

  • More Somali fighting amid crisis

    Fighting has resumed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, following UN warnings of a humanitarian disaster. "My house was crashed, collapsed by the mortars of the Ethiopian troops," resident Issa Gedi told the BBC. "One of my sons died," he said by telephone, as shots could be heard in clashes between Ethiopia-backed government troops and insurgents... More

  • French poll rivals in final push

    The rivals in the French presidential election race are making their final push to win over more than one-third of voters who are still undecided. Opinion polls suggest that of the 12 candidates standing in Sunday's first round only four are serious contenders for the 6 May run-off vote. A poll by CSA shows centre-right frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy.. More

  • Iran making nuclear fuel, says IAEA

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran has begun making nuclear fuel in its underground uranium-enrichment plant.A newly disclosed letter from an official at the UN's nuclear watchdog says Iran has assembled some 1,300 centrifuges -- the machines that spin uranium gas into enriched material -- and eight cascades of the centrifuges are.. More

  • Pentagon defends Baghdad security crackdown

    The Pentagon has defended its recent security crackdown in the Iraqi capital after at least 180 people were killed in a series of bombings in Baghdad on Wednesday. More than 140 people were killed in one attack near a Baghdad market - the worst single blast in the capital since the US-led invasion in 2003. Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said:.. More

  • British troops hand over province

    Iraqi forces took charge of security in a southern province yesterday as part of Britain's plans to scale back its armed presence. British commanders ceded security responsibility for Maysan, a critical province with Iraq's longest Iranian border and large oil reserves, at a colourful outdoor ceremony and military parade. Reading greetings from Prime.. More

  • Virginia gunman sent final video

    The student who shot dead at least 30 people at Virginia Tech sent a package to the US TV network NBC News on the day of the shootings, police said. The package contained "disturbing" photographs, video and writings, NBC said, posted from the college campus between the two rounds of killings. Cho Seung-hui is shown pointing guns at the camera, and.. More

  • More than 170 dead in Iraq blasts

    At least 170 people have been killed in a string of attacks in Iraq's capital, Baghdad - the worst day of violence since a US security operation began. In the deadliest incident, some 120 people were killed in a car bombing in a food market in Sadriya district. A witness said the area had been turned into "a swimming pool of blood". The attacks.. More

  • US drops marine's Haditha charges

    The US Marine Corps has dropped all charges against one of the eight marines accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. Sgt Sanick Dela Cruz has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony, the Marine Corps said in a statement. Three other marines are charged with unpremeditated murder and four with attempting to cover.. More

  • Nigerian army attacks Islamists

    The Nigerian army has launched an offensive to evacuate armed Islamic militants from the outskirts of the northern city of Kano. Army spokesman Col Ibrahim Yusuf says soldiers have killed 25 militants whom he claims may not be Nigerian. Police say the militants came to avenge the assassination of a radical Islamic cleric shot dead last Friday... More