January, 2007

• 10 January

  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.

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• 10 January

  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.

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• 10 January

  US state governor hopeful for breakthrough in Darfur

  KHARTOUM (AP) — US governor and potential presidential candidate Bill Richardson pressed Sudan President Omar Bashir to open the wartorn Darfur region to UN troops, part of a global push for an elusive peace in the African nation.

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• 10 January

  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.

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• 7 January

  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.

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• 7 January

  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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• 7 January

  Bush’s new plan facing uphill battle on Capitol Hill

  WASHINGTON (AP) — President George W. Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq is already running into trouble on Capitol Hill, with Republicans joining Democrats in raising eyebrows before the president even makes his case.

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• 7 January

  Anti-Ethiopian protests rock Somali capital

  MOGADISHU (Reuters) — Ethiopian troops and Somali protesters exchanged fire in Mogadishu on Saturday killing three people, witnesses said, as hundreds of Somalis demonstrated against the foreign forces and a government disarmament drive.

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• 7 January

  Saudi Arabia urges US to change course in Iraq

  DUBAI (Reuters) — Saudi Arabia has urged the United States to change course in Iraq and warned against the break-up of the country along ethnic or religious lines amid growing sectarian violence, a newspaper said on Saturday.

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• 7 January

  UN envoy heads to Sudan for AU talks on Darfur

  UNITED NATIONS (AFP) —The UN interim special representative for Sudan, Jan Eliasson, said he will leave for African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa later Friday to find a solution to the bloodshed in Darfur.

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