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  • Toll rises in Pakistan court blast

    At least 15 people have been killed and many more injured as a bomb went off in a court in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta.A judge was among the dead and the court was said to be in session when the device exploded on Saturday.Six lawyers were among the dead.Rehmat Niazi, the police officer in charge of operations, told Reuters news agency: "Twelve.. More

  • Rice in surprise Iraq visit

    Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has made a surprise visit to Baghdad to check progress in US-Iraq military operations in the city aimed at combating sectarian violence. Rice made the trip days after Iraqi and US troops began a new offensive to end attacks in the capital that have claimed thousands of lives.The US secretary of state, en.. More

  • Clashes reported in Iranian city

    Clashes between armed militants and police have erupted in the south-eastern Iranian city of Zahedan, state media have reported. Police sealed off the area and exchanged fire with the attackers after a bomb went off, Irna news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying. It comes two days after a car bomb in Zahedan killed 11 Revolutionary Guards... More

  • US House to vote on Iraq measures

    Democrats are challenging the US president's power to wage war, contending they have found a way to block a troop increase in Iraq and prevent any pre-emptive invasion of Iran. Congress will vote on a non-binding measure stating opposition to George Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. The House of Representatives is expected to.. More

  • Italy orders CIA kidnapping trial

    An Italian judge has ordered 26 US citizens - most of them CIA agents - to stand trial over the kidnap of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003. Osama Mustafa Hassan was allegedly seized by the CIA and flown to Egypt, where he says he was tortured. Five Italians were also indicted by the judge, including Italy's ex-military intelligence chief, Nicolo.. More

  • Disaster threat hangs over Chad

    UK aid agency Oxfam has warned a new humanitarian catastrophe, like that in Darfur, could happen in Chad if ethnic conflict is not brought under control. Inter-ethnic fighting along the border with Darfur has displaced tens of thousands of Chadians in the past year. This followed attacks on villages, with many burned to the ground. Oxfam's comments.. More

  • South Korea sets talks with North

    South Korea has agreed to resume high-level talks with North Korea that could restart major aid shipments despite calls for caution over an international deal on the North's nuclear programmes. Just two days after North Korea agreed to disable nuclear facilities in return for aid and diplomatic concessions, officials from the two Koreas met to set.. More

  • Serbia parliament rejects UN Kosovo proposal

    Serbia's newly elected parliament has overwhelmingly voted against a UN plan on the future of its breakaway province of Kosovo as a violation of the country's territorial integrity. After a lengthydebate, 225 of 244 deputies present at the session voted to adopt the outgoing government's resolution condemning UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's proposal.. More

  • Bush maintains pressure on Iran

    President Bush has insisted a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guards is linked to some attacks on US troops in Iraq. The US was "certain", he said, that the force was providing a weapon known as an EFP, which the US says has been used in particularly deadly attacks. But he said he did not know who was directing the force, and denied laying the groundwork.. More

  • Iran bomb attack 'kills 11' guards

    Eleven members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards have been killed after a car bomb hit their bus in a city in southeastern Iran.Hassan Ali Nouri, provincial governor, told IRNA, Iran's official news agency, that eleven guards were killed and 31 were injured in the blast in Zahedan city.Iran's Fars news agency said a group that Iran has said is linked to.. More

  • US says Shia cleric has left Iraq

    Radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has left Iraq for Iran, the senior US military spokesman in Baghdad says. Gen William Caldwell said Moqtada Sadr left some time last month. However the cleric's aides strongly denied he had left. One Iraq government official also said Moqtada Sadr was in the holy city of Najaf on Tuesday. Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi.. More

  • US confirms helicopter shot down

    The US military has said a Sea Knight helicopter that crashed last week northwest of Baghdad was shot down, reversing earlier statements that it appeared to have been due to mechanical failure. The marine CH-46 troop transport went down on February 7, killing all seven people on board. At the time of the incident, James Conway, US marines commandant-general.. More

  • Democrats attack Bush war policy

    US politicians in the House of Representatives have begun the first extensive debate on the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. Both main political parties squared off on Tuesday over the US troop build-up in Iraq, with Democrats declaring Americans had lost faith in the war and Republicans warning against undermining the "war on terror". The arguments.. More

  • Lebanon marks al-Hariri assassination

    Thousands of Lebanese are gathering near the grave of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former prime minister, to mark the second anniversary of his assassination. Saad al-Hariri, his son and the parliamentary leader, said the show of support for the government would go ahead despite bomb attacks on two buses which killed three people on Tuesday. The government.. More

  • N Korea agrees disarmament steps

    North Korea has agreed to take the first steps towards nuclear disarmament, as part of a deal reached during six-nation talks in Beijing. Under the agreement, Pyongyang has promised to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for fuel aid. The US and Japan have also pledged to begin talks with North Korea on building closer ties. The agreement.. More