There are 17999 articles

  • China Rejects US Rights Hypocrisy

    China has rejected US criticism of its record on human rights in an official rejoinder which says racial discrimination and crime are still rife in America. The State Council, China's cabinet,denounced America on Thursday for what it called rampant violence and widespread discrimination against minorities, especially blacks, in its annual response.. More

  • French Hostage-Taker Surrenders

    An unemployed teacher who took 20 students and two adults hostage in a school in western France has surrendered peacefully, officials from the interior ministry said. The 22 hostages were all released unharmed, the officials said on Thursday. Earlier, the hostage-taker, armed with a hand gun, promised not to harm the students, held in an upper-floor.. More

  • Iran Referred to UN Security Council

    The United Nations Security Council is to begin acting on Iran's nuclear programme next week. This comes in response to a recommendation by the UN's atomic watchdog, the IAEA. It says Tehran has not raised international confidence that its nuclear activities are peaceful, as Iran claims. However the possibility of sanctions has been dampened by the.. More

  • Two Killed in Blast in Eastern Turkish City

    Two people were killed and 12 wounded in an explosion on Thursday in the eastern Turkish city of Van, police said. The state Anatolian news agency said the blast might have been caused by a suicide bomber, but this report could not immediately be confirmed. Police said the blast occurred near the office of the Van governor. They said an investigation.. More

  • Fourth British Soldier Arrested over Basra Abuse Video

    A fourth soldier has been arrested over a video of British troops appearing to abuse Iraqi civilians, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. A Royal Military Police inquiry began last month after footage apparently showing young Iraqis being beaten up was published by the News Of The World. Three soldiers have already been arrested over the video,.. More

  • Sudanese Rally against UN Darfur Plan

    Thousands of Sudanese protesters have paralysed the capital Khartoum in a demonstration against the proposed deployment of UN troops in the violent Darfur region of the country. The marchers carried banners saying "Darfur will be the grave of the conquerors" and shouted "Down, Down USA." African foreign ministers are due to meet on Friday to decide.. More

  • US Warns Iran against Nuclear Activity

    The US has warned Iran of meaningful consequences if it continues to pursue its nuclear programme and Russia appears to have closed ranks behindthe US on the issue. Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, said in a speech on Tuesday to a pro-Israel lobbying group that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and said the issue may soon go before.. More

  • Bodies Found in Baghdad Bus as Sniper Kills Iraqi Army General

    Baghdad police found the bodies of 18 men, bound and blindfolded, in a minibus close to a violent mainly Sunni Arab district of the capital. An Interior Ministry spokesman said it was unclear how the men died. One police source said they may have suffocated. The identities of the men, found just before 2100 GMT near the Amriya district of western.. More

  • Quake Hits India's Gujarat State

    An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 has hit India's western Gujarat state. A BBC correspondent in the state's commercial capital, Ahmedabad, says tremors were felt shortly before midnight local time (1830 GMT). People fled their homes, he says. Similar reports came from other cities in the state, including Surat. The quake's epicentre was in.. More

  • World Bank Approves Urgent Aid to PA

    The World Bank says it has approved a 42 million US dollar aid package to help keep the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) running until Hamas forms the next government. The money, from an existing trust fund managed by the World Bank, will be used by the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority to meet its immediate financing needs and to avoid suspension.. More

  • Al-Jazeera Video Shows Iraq Hostage Appeal

    A videotape of three of the four kidnapped Christian Peacemaker activists shows the men asking their governments and countries in the Gulf to work for their release. It was not immediately clear which of the four hostages, who disappeared on 26 November, was not in the videobroadcast on Tuesday by Aljazeera. It carried a 28 February date superimposed.. More

  • Lebanese Factions Fail to Agree

    Talks in Lebanon haveseen a deepening of the country's political crisis when a row led to the adjournment of talks aimed at ending differences between rival politicians. The National Dialogue Conference held in Beirut was abruptly adjourned on Tuesday until next week with no agreement on the key issues of the fate of Emile Lahoud, the pro-Syrian president,.. More

  • Algeria Frees Islamic Front Leader

    Algerian authorities have released a leader of the banned Islamic Salvation Front as part of a mass pardon. This followsAli Belhadj'sarrest last year for praising Iraq's resistance despite being barred from making public statements. Belhadj, the group's former No 2, went to visit his mother's grave at the Kouba cemetery after his release on Monday,.. More

  • Croatian Serb War Criminal Commits Suicide

    A former Croatian Serb leader who was a key witness in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic has killed himself. Milan Babic committed suicide in his prison cell at the UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. The 50 year old was serving a 13 year sentence for crimes including murder, deportation and unlawful imprisonment of non-Serb civilians. In 2002 Babic.. More

  • Hamas Votes to Revoke Abbas Powers as Israeli Troops Kill Four Palestinians

    Hamashas signalled that it will take a confrontational approach in dealing withrival Fatahwhom theydefeated in January's Palestinian parliament election. At the first working session of theparliament, Hamasvoted to cancel all decisions made in the last session of the outgoing legislature. This includes additional powers given to Mahmoud Abbas, the.. More