OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel’s most respected TV news anchor took a firm stand against Israeli settlers and occupation that could sway public opinion much as his US counterpart did on the Vietnam war nearly 40 years ago. For four decades, Haim Yavin has anchored the evening news on Israel’s public …
Read More »Activists protest assault on female reporter
CAIRO (AP) — Dressed mostly in black, about 500 Egyptian journalists, human rights activists, celebrities, novelists, and pro-democracy supporters responded to a call Wednesday to protest the alleged harassment of women journalists and protesters during last week’s referendum vote. The women were reportedly beaten and groped while protesting or covering …
Read More »‘Wild west’ a constant thorn for US troops
BAGHDAD — When it comes to peace and stability in Iraq, there may be no greater obstacle to success than Anbar province, a vast region of desert and scrubland stretching west from Baghdad. A huge sandy expanse dissected by a major highway, an oil pipeline and the Euphrates River, Anbar …
Read More »Thousands risk starvation in south despite peace deal
KHARTOUM — Food supplies are critically low in many parts of southern Sudan, exposing thousands of people to starvation, the region’s leaders and humanitarian agencies have warned. They blame the looming crisis on a poor harvest, the return of thousands of refugees and the inability of humanitarian agencies to provide …
Read More »Candidates challenge taboos
TEHRAN (AFP) — Two high-profile candidates for Iran’s presidency raised the stakes in their campaigns Wednesday, both evoking the taboo topic of relations with the United States and one challenging the status of the Islamic republic’s supreme leader. “We have to democratise the political system,” said Mohammad Reza Khatami, the …
Read More »Dutch reject European constitution
THE HAGUE (AFP) — Dutch voters fired a second shot to the heart of the European project Wednesday, rejecting the first-ever EU constitution after a campaign that exposed deep divisions over the direction of Europe. Projections based on more than half the ballots cast in the referendum showed 62.6 per …
Read More »3 Baghdad children die; toll grows
BAGHDAD (AP) — A mortar barrage killed three children and their uncle as they played together outside their south Baghdad home, the latest deaths in an insurgency that claimed a total of six lives Wednesday and showed no signs of slowing down. Twelve-year-old Sabaa Haitham, her younger brother Sajjad, 10, …
Read More »Haddad-Adel: Majlis carefully supervising nuclear talks
The Majlis, on behalf of Iranian people, is exercising close supervision over the nuclear talks, said Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel here on Wednesday. Haddad Adel told reporters, “We stress peaceful use of nuclear energy as a right of the Iranian nation and consider confidence-building as being in line with …
Read More »27 Dead in Afghan Mosque Blast
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Jun 1–A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 27 people including the police chief of the capital Kabul, witnesses and officials told AFP. The blast occurred as prayers were offered for an Islamic cleric who was shot dead …
Read More »Second aid worker arrested over rape report
KHARTOUM (Reuters) — Sudan arrested a second aid worker from the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid agency on Tuesday over a report on hundreds of rapes in the troubled Darfur region, the agency said. Vince Hoedt, Darfur coordinator for MSF Holland, said he was under arrest and police were escorting …
Read More »