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  • Pilgrims Pour into Makkah for Farewell Tawaf

    The Grand Mosque in Makkah yesterday overflowed with pilgrims as they came to perform Tawaf Al-Wadaa' or farewell circumambulation of the Holy Kaa'bah on the last day of the annual pilgrimage. The Tawaf Al-Wadaa' is the last ritual of the pilgrimage. Despite Sunday’s Jamrat stampede that claimed the lives of 251 pilgrims, the overwhelming feeling.. More

  • Quraya Hopes for Total Israeli Pullout

    Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya has greeted Israel's plan to evacuate 17 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip as good news. In his first public comment on Israeli PM Ariel Sharon's intention to pull Jews out of Gaza, Quraya told the Voice of Palestine radio on Tuesday that he hoped Tel Aviv would withdraw from all Palestinian areas. But.. More

  • Bomb Kills US Soldier South of Baghdad

    An American soldier was killed and a second was injured Tuesday when a roadside bomb went off during an operation to clear such weapons, the U.S. military declared. The blast took place near Iskandariyah, some 50 kilometers south Baghdad, the statement added. Meanwhile, analysis of January data indicates that American soldiers are dying at a rate.. More

  • Busan Mayor Found Hanged in Jail

    The mayor of South Korea's second city has hanged himself in jail while awaiting the verdict of his trial on corruption charges, officials said. Busan mayor Ahn Sang-young, 64, was found hanging from a cord made with his undershirt in a cell at Busan Detention House in the southern port city. He was arrested in October on charges of taking 100.. More

  • Iranian Electoral Crisis Defused

    A hardline watchdog is to reinstate some reformist candidates it had barred from standing in this month's parliamentary election. The decision was arrived at in an attempt to resolve Iran's worst political crisis in years, reformist lawmakers said in Tehran on Wednesday. "It seems that they are going to qualify some of the rejected candidates,".. More

  • 15 Killed in Turkey Horror

    At least 100 people were missing and feared dead yesterday following the collapse of a building block in central Turkey that left 15 confirmed dead and 29 injured and raised questions about the country's construction standards. Rescue workers said they hoped to still find survivors under the rubble of the 11-storey apartment block that collapsed.. More

  • Blast Hits Southern Russian City

    An explosion has hit the centre of the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz, near the war-torn republic of Chechnya. At least one person was killed and several Russian interior ministry troops were injured. Reports said the troops were driving past in a military vehicle when the blast happened. It is not known who was behind the explosion, but.. More

  • Three Iraqi Policemen Killed in Karbala

    Three Iraqi police officers were killed in a drive-by shooting in the city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, police sources said Tuesday. "Passengers in a red BMW (car) machine-gunned a police pick-up truck around 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) in the town of al-Wind, 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Karbala, police spokesman Rahman Mishawi said. "They killed.. More

  • Bosnian Serb's Genocide Trial Opens

    The long-delayed genocide trial of Momcilo Krajisnik, once the second most powerful Serb politician in Bosnia, opened Tuesday with the prosecutor claiming the ex-legislator helped craft the brutal wartime policy of ethnic cleansing. Krajisnik was "fully aware of the horrific consequences," Mark Harmon, the U.N. prosecutor, said in an opening statement.. More

  • Reformists to Shun Iran Poll

    Iran's largest pro-reform party announced it will boycott February 20 elections, with its leader saying the party no longer has hope for free elections. The decision came hours after an emergency cabinet meeting backed calls for a postponement of voting. In prior elections, senior military officials appointed by hard-liners voted for them, while.. More

  • Sharon to Relocate Jewish Settlements from Gaza as Five Palestinian Activists Killed by Israeli Troops

    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he is planning to evacuate 17 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. In an interview on Monday, Sharon told Haaretz newspaper he had already given the order to plan for the move that would affect 7500 Israeli citizens. The PM said it was his intention to "carry out an evacuation - sorry, a relocation -.. More

  • Guantanamo Youngest Inmates Home

    Three Afghan boys freed last week from US custody in Cuba are back home with their families. The boys - thought to be aged between 13 and 15 - were the youngest detainees at the controversial Guantanamo base. They were suspected of fighting with the Taleban against US-led forces which invaded Afghanistan in 2001. The boys' detention without trial.. More

  • WHO Warns of Possible Birdflu Contagion between Humans

    The World Health Organisation says two sisters who died of birdflu in Vietnam may have contracted the illness from their brother. However this first possible case of human-to-human infection should not cause undue alarm, according to the body's representative in Vietnam Robert Dietz. "We don't feel we can discount the possibility that they got it.. More

  • Britons Demand War Justification

    Most Britons want an independent inquiry into the intelligence Prime Minister Tony Blair cited as the justification to launch a pre-emptive war on Iraq alongside the US last year, new polls showed yesterday. The public sentiment mirrors pressure on US President George W Bush to launch a similar inquiry after a former chief weapons inspector refuted.. More

  • Hajj Pilgrims Killed in Stampede at Mina

    Some 244 pilgrims have been trampled to death during the "stoning of Satan" ritual at Mina, near Makka, during the annual hajj pilgrimage. Saudi Hajj Minister Iyad Madani revealed the figure from Sunday's incident. While pilgrims were stoning a pillar symbolising Satan, several people fell, said a ministry spokesman in a statement carried by the.. More