Eurasia Press & News

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Wrangling over the oil ministry portfolio and other top jobs held up on Wednesday the formation of a unity government the United States hopes can end rampant bloodshed and allow it to start withdrawing troops from Iraq.

ALGIERS (Reuters) — President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has repeated a demand that France apologise to Algeria for “genocidal” colonial rule, saying this was the only way to turn a chronically ill relationship into true friendship.

KALMA CAMP, Sudan (Reuters) — UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland and aid workers beat a hasty retreat from a refugee camp in Darfur on Monday after a demonstration spun out of control and an aid worker was attacked.

CAIRO — Iran’s president threw a deft trump card into his standoff with the West on Monday when he dispatched a letter to US President George W. Bush proposing “new solutions” to the crisis — a diplomatic overture that vastly complicates US hopes for UN Security Council sanctions to punish …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraq’s political parties inched closer to sealing a deal on a unity government as Prime Minister-designate Nuri Maliki sketched out the sectarian balance among parliamentary blocs, officials said on Monday.

FOREIGN MINISTER Abdul Ilah Khatib left Monday for New York to join a meeting today of the Quartet of diplomatic powers seeking Middle East peace and hoping to revive its stalled efforts and unify its approach to the  new Palestinian leadership.

World Bank warns economic crisis much more alarming as 3 killed in Hamas-Fateh fighting GAZA CITY — With Hamas and the West locked in a standoff, the Palestinians are hurtling towards an abyss of poverty and chaos, and there seems to be no way to pull back.

BAKU (Azerbaijan), May 4: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday held in-depth discussions with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad covering the gas pipeline project, Iran’s nuclear issue, situation in the region and bilateral matters.

Russia and China have criticised a UN Security Council draft resolution on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Russia says the draft needs rewriting with stronger emphasis put on building confidence between Iran and the UN.

SANAA — Sumayya Ali Rajja is dogged by rumours that her bid to become Yemen’s first female president is part of a shady deal struck with the incumbent leader, but she refuses to let gossip halt her fledgling campaign.