WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush laid out the details Wednesday of a new US plan for Iraq in a major televised address.
Read More »Bush opts for troop boost despite scepticism
WASHINGTON — Leaders of the new Democratic-controlled Congress are vowing to fight it. An elite panel on Iraq has shown little enthusiasm for it. And even some military commanders are deeply sceptical about it.
Read More »50 die in Baghdad battle
BAGHDAD (AP) — US jets screamed low over central Baghdad Tuesday, helicopter gunships fired into the battle zone and the Iraqi government said 50 insurgents were killed in the nearly daylong battle with US and Iraqi forces along Haifa Street, a Sunni stronghold that has seen repeated heavy fighting throughout …
Read More »â€˜Many dead’ in US Somalia strike against Al Qaeda
MOGADISHU (Reuters) — Many people were killed in Somalia in a US air strike targeting Al Qaeda suspects among fleeing Islamist fighters, Somali officials said on Tuesday.
Read More »Palestinian factions rage war of words
Palestinian rival factions Fateh and Hamas engaged in a war of words as tension simmered Tuesday in the volatile Gaza Strip where internecine violence has killed more than 30 people in less than a month.
Read More »Lebanon opposition joins labourers in protest
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Hizbollah-led opposition joined labour unions on Tuesday in a protest against tax increases proposed by embattled Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, stepping up pressure to force the government into resigning.
Read More »Olmert seeks tougher stand on Iran from China
BEIJING (Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Beijing on Tuesday aiming to lobby China to close ranks with Western powers against Iran’s nuclear programme.
Read More »Saudi king considers reshuffle
CAIRO (AP) — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is considering a major Cabinet reshuffle soon, the first since he ascended to the throne of the oil-rich kingdom, diplomats and Saudi media said Monday.
Read More »Hamas pledges to boost force in Gaza, Abbas says unit illegal
GAZA CITY (AP) — Hamas said Saturday it would double the size of its paramilitary force in Gaza, defying President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to outlaw the unit and raising the stakes in an increasingly bloody power struggle between the two rivals.
Read More »Maliki announces crackdown
BAGHDAD (AP) — In the opening battle of a major new drive to tame the violent capital, the Iraqi army reported it killed 30 gunmen Saturday night in a firefight in a Sunni insurgent stronghold in the centre of the city, just to the north of the heavily fortified Green …
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