There are 17999 articles

  • US to have Africa military command

    The US president has approved plans to create a US military command for Africa, a move that reflects increasing US strategic interests in the continent. George Bush said in a statement on Tuesday that he had asked Robert Gates, his defence secretary, to get the new "Africom" unit up and running by the end of September 2008. The United States would.. More

  • Iranian diplomat seized in Iraq

    Iraqi and Iranian officials have said that men wearing Iraqi army uniforms have seized an Iranian diplomat as he drove through a central Baghdad neighbourhood. Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, was snatched in the central Karrada district by 30 gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms on Sunday. Mohammad Ali Hosseini, an.. More

  • Palestinians head to Mecca talks

    Palestinian leaders from Fatah and Hamas are to meet in Mecca for talks aimed at ending months of factional fighting. Both sides have said they are hopeful that an agreement on a unity government will be reached, but as the Palestinian prime minister, left for the talks, Hamas and Fatah security officials traded fire at the Gaza-Egypt crossing.Before.. More

  • Senate vote blocks Iraq plan debate

    Republicans have blocked a debate on the Iraq war in the US Senate, dealing a setback to critics of George Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. Republicans largely united to employ Senate rules against the Democrat majority to derail the debate on a nonbinding resolution expressing disagreement with Bush's plan. But Democrats vowed that.. More

  • Musharraf hails Kashmir talks

    Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday he was optimistic that a more conciliatory tone in talks with India would bring an end to their 60-year dispute over Kashmir.Musharraf said that India and Pakistan had changed their stance from "confrontationist to reconciliatory resolution". "We are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel where.. More

  • UK soldier dies in Iraq bombing

    A British soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in Basra in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defense has said. The soldier, from the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was on a routine patrol when he was killed in the blast near Basra's US consulate. The bomb also wounded an unknown number of Iraqi civilians. The death brings.. More

  • Bali bomber 'preached by phone'

    One of the men responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia has been preaching to Muslim militants by mobile phone, Indonesian police have said. Police chief General Sutanto told Indonesian MPs that convicted bomber Mukhlas - aka Ali Ghufron - had been able to give sermons from a Bali jail. He said a militant involved in recent unrest on.. More

  • Israeli minister: Free Barghouti

    A senior political ally of the Israeli prime minister has said that Israel should release its most prominent Palestinian prisoner - a man convicted in fatal attacks on Israelis - in a bid to prop up Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. Gideon Ezra, the environment minister, is the second senior Israeli official to recently advocate the release.. More

  • Massive floods hit 75% of Jakarta

    Some 75% of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, is now affected by massive floods, local officials say. The officials, from the city's flood information centre, say the death toll from the flooding has reached 25 - mostly by drowning or electrocution. Some 340,000 people have been made homeless, and the officials say there is little prospect of an early.. More

  • Mekka talks must not fail, says Meshaal

    Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, has told a news conference in the Syrian capital that talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday must not fail. He said: "I say to Fatah that it is forbidden to fail. Only dialogue can settle political disagreements. "We want a true partnership between Fatah.. More

  • Serbia Rejects UN Kosovo Plan, West Urges Flexibility

    Serbian leaders have rejected a UN proposal on the status of Kosovo.The draft proposal, presented by United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari today, supports giving Kosovo access to international institutions, but does not explicitly refer to "independence." But President Boris Tadic rejected the plan, saying it "opens the possibility of independence.".. More

  • US admits helicopters shot down

    A US military spokesman has said publicly for the first time that the four US helicopters shot down in Iraq in the past two weeks were shot down, confirming earlier witness reports and leaks from within the US military.Twenty-one US soldiers and private security contractors were killed in the four separate incidents.Major-General William Caldwell said:.. More

  • Israel confirms new army chief

    The Israeli cabinet has confirmed Major-General Gabi Ashkenazi as Israel's new army chief of staff. The 52-year old replaces Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, who resigned after heavy criticism of Israel's war with Lebanon last summer.Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said at the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting: "Gabi [Ashkenazi] is a valuable.. More

  • Syria accused over Iraq attacks

    A senior Iraqi official has said half of all "insurgent attacks" in Baghdad are carried out by militants from Syria. Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi government has provided Damascus with evidence to back up this claim. It comes after the deadliest single bombing since the US-led invasion of 2003 killed 130 people in Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister.. More

  • Bush seeks record 245bn US dollar for war

    George Bush, the US president, is to ask congress for 245bn US dollar to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - while proposing curbs in spending on the US health care system. Bush, speaking in his weekly radio address on Saturday, said Monday's budget proposal would emphasise restraint on domestic spending and make military funding the top priority. Bush.. More