GAZA – Gaza’s Hamas Islamic movement has announced that it accepted Egypt’s proposed pact for inter-Palestinian reconciliation and will unilaterally sign it in Cairo Saturday. Ahmed Yousef, a deputy in the deposed ministry of Hamas foreign affairs, told reporters Friday that “after long debates and discussions (we) will handover the drafted pact to Egypt Saturday [...]
Iran and three world powers have been handed a draft agreement aimed at reducing international concerns over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which proposed the plan after talks in Vienna, wants an answer by Friday. Details have not been confirmed, but the plan is believed to involve Iran exporting uranium to be [...]
By DIANA ELIAS KUWAIT CITY – (AP) Kuwait’s highest court granted women the right to obtain a passport without their husband’s approval, the case’s lawyer said Wednesday, in the latest stride for women’s rights in this small oil-rich emirate. Unlike with highly conservative neighbors like Saudi Arabia, women in Kuwait can vote, serve in parliament and drive — and now [...]
Dozens of ethnic Uighurs, including several children, remain unaccounted for more than three months after China launched a crackdown on ethnic unrest in the country’s far west, a human right group has said. A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released on Wednesday, said the group had documented the cases of at least 43 [...]
By Michael Logan Dadaab (Kenya), Oct 17 (DPA) Shueb Mohamed Hassan stands beneath a shady tree, alternating between chatting with his friend, fiddling with his mobile phone and sneaking glances at two girls seated nearby. He is a typical young man, except that Shueb, 25, is a resident of the world’s largest refugee camp, [...]
At least six people have been killed in twin bomb blasts at a university in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, police and witnesses say. The explosions occurred within minutes of each other at the International Islamic University in the eastern part of the city on Tuesday. “We have sent a team to the site. We are collecting information about [...]
Afghanistan will hold a second round of its presidential election on 7 November, electoral officials say. The run-off will take place between President Hamid Karzai and his main rival Abdullah Abdullah. The announcement comes a day after a UN-backed panel said it had clear evidence of fraud in the first round of polling in August. [...]
By Bruce P. Cameron In weighing a future course on the Afghan War, President Barack Obama might want to ponder the lessons of two other recent American interventions, “regime modification” in Nicaragua at the end of the contra war and “regime change” in Iraq achieved though a U.S. invasion and occupation. “Regime change” – the [...]
The latest Minnesota politician to find himself on the sponsored-trip hot seat is U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat from the 5th Congressional District. Ellison has drawn fire in the last few weeks — mainly from the Minnesota Republican Party — for a trip he took almost a year ago to Saudi Arabia. The trip, [...]
Pakistani troops backed by heavy artillery are continuing to pound suspected Taliban targets in South Waziristan province. Monday’s operation – the third day of the military offensive aimed at driving Taliban fighters out of the tribal region – appears to be concentrated around the provincial capital of Wana. Noor Wali, a resident of Wana, told Reuters news agency that the Pakistani army [...]