Friday, 15 Nov, 2024

International

Pakistan alert as floods hit 3.2 million

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan issued fresh flood warnings on Tuesday, braced for further chaos and a public health disaster as disease broke out among 3.2 million people hit by the worst floods in generations. A week into the crisis and as more monsoon rains lashed the country, anger was growing

Ground Zero mosque project clears major obstacle

NEW YORK  - Ambitious plans to build a mosque next to New York`s Ground Zero cleared a major hurdle on Tuesday when a commission unanimously voted down a proposal to landmark an existing structure on the site from a protected list. The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously

Lebanese troops killed, Israeli soldiers wounded in clashes

ADAYSSEH - Lebanese and Israeli troops traded fire Tuesday along their tense border in the fiercest clashes since a war four years ago, with officials reporting three Lebanese soldiers and a journalist dead and several Israeli soldiers wounded.Lebanon`s Hezbollah TV, Al-Manar, said a

3,500-year-old bracelet found in Israel

JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities Tuesday announced the discovery of a unique bracelet in an excavation in northern Israel, dating back to the late Bronze Age.   The "extraordinarily well preserved" ancient bronze bracelet is decorated with engravings and the top of it is adorned with a

15 dead in Russian plane crash: ministry

MOSCOW: A Russian regional airliner crashed upon landing in eastern Siberia on Monday, killing all 15 people onboard, the emergency situations ministry said."An An-25 aircraft flying from Krasnoyarsk crashed at 1740 GMT while trying to land, near the airport for the city of Igarka," an

15 dead in Russian plane crash: ministry

  MOSCOW: A Russian regional airliner crashed upon landing in eastern Siberia on Monday, killing all 15 people onboard, the emergency situations ministry said. "An An-25 aircraft flying from Krasnoyarsk crashed at 1740 GMT while trying to land, near the airport for the city of Igarka,"

At least 33 drown in Uganda lake accident

KAMPALA - An overloaded boat capsized on the Ugandan side of Lake Albert overnight, killing at least 33 people, in the second such disaster to strike the country in two weeks, police said Monday.The boat capsized on Lake Albert, Africa`s seventh largest lake, which lies in northwestern

US combat mission in Iraq to end on schedule Aug 31: Obama

WASHINGTON - The United States will end its combat mission in Iraq as scheduled on August 31 despite a recent flare-up in violence, President Barack Obama said in a speech prepared for delivery Monday."Shortly after taking office, I announced our new strategy for Iraq and for a transition

Ahmadinejad says ready for `face-to-face` talks with Obama

TEHRAN: Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he was ready for "face-to-face" talks with his US counterpart Barack Obama on issues concerning the international community."We are hopefully coming for the UN assembly," Ahmadinejad said in an address to expatriate

Suicide bomber kills five children in Afghanistan: police

KANDAHAR - A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Monday, killing five children and injuring one other, a police official told AFP."Five children were killed in the first blast and one child is wounded," said Kandahar deputy police chief

US envoy holds talks in Seoul on new N.Korea sanctions

SEOUL - The United States hopes new sanctions on North Korea will be strong enough to discourage "provocative activities" and encourage it to scrap its nuclear weapons programme, a senior US envoy said Monday.Robert Einhorn said Washington wants measures "that provide strong incentives

At least 18 dead in S.African retirement home fire

JOHANNESBURG - A fire swept through a home for the elderly near Johannesburg, killing 18 people and leaving 84 homeless during the night, paramedics said Monday."Eighteen people are dead and 84 rescued," private emergency services provider Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha told AFP."The

Suicide bomber kills four Afghan civilians: official

KANDAHAR - A suicide bomber killed four civilians on Monday in Afghanistan`s southern Kandahar province, an official said, as violence escalates ahead of an anti-insurgent offensive by U.S. and NATO troops.              The bomber was on foot and the target seemed to have

Five rockets fired towards Israeli resort of Eilat

JERUSALEM - At least five rockets fell in and around the southern Israeli resort of Eilat at about 7:45 am (0445 GMT) on Monday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, Israel police said.At about the same time, a Grad-type rocket slammed into the Jordanian port of

Yemen`s Shiite rebels free 100 soldiers

SANAA: Yemeni Shiite rebels on Sunday set free 100 soldiers captured in recent fighting, days after announcing the release of 200 other troops, a mediator told AFP.Sheikh Hassan bin Abdullah al-Ahmar said the latest batch of soldiers released had been held by the Huthi rebels in the

Chechen Islamist Umarov to step down as `Caucasus Emir`

MOSCOW: Chechnya`s guerrilla chief and self-proclaimed "Emir of the Caucasus" Doku Umarov announced Sunday he was stepping down in a video posted on YouTube."We have unanimously decided that I shall leave my post today," said the bearded rebel fighter who claimed to be behind the Moscow

Sites in China, Mexico, Brazil get World Heritage status

BRASILIA: Six sites located in Brazil, China, Mexico, France`s Reunion Island and the South Pacific nation of Kiribati won World Heritage status Sunday from a UNESCO panel meeting in Brazil.Four existing World Heritage sites were also expanded to include nearby natural or cultural

Space station drama as cooling system fails

WASHINGTON: A failure of the cooling system on the International Space Station forced astronauts to reroute power Sunday as NASA planned emergency spacewalks to fix the problem.One of two cooling loops shut down Saturday night, triggering alarms throughout the orbiting station, which is

Cuba eyes more self-employment, not market reforms

HAVANA: With government plans afoot to reshape Cuba`s work force by cutting the bloat out of some payrolls, President Raul Castro said Sunday he would allow more small private businesses.The economy is 95 percent in state hands at the moment. Castro`s move is aimed at limiting the

Fresh clashes in Indian Kashmir kill seven

SRINAGAR: A third straight day of clashes between security forces and anti-India protesters in Kashmir killed seven people Sunday, four of them in blasts triggered by an attack on a police station.Despite strict curfews across the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley -- including the main city