Eurasia Press & News

ALGIERS — Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika replaced the prime minister with one of his staunch backers in order to revise the constitution and extend his stay in power until 2014, analysts say.

TEHRAN (AFP) — A top Russian envoy is due in Iran on Saturday for talks on Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme, with the world community still unable to reach consensus on how to tackle the escalating crisis. Russian National Security Council chief Igor Ivanov is expected to hold talks with Iran’s …

KHARTOUM (AFP) — Former southern Sudanese rebels met leaders of the ruling party in Khartoum on Saturday for the first time since a peace deal was signed last year to end Africa’s longest running war.

BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi tennis coach and two of his players were killed this week in Baghdad because they were wearing shorts, authorities said Saturday, one of a series of recent attacks attributed to Islamic fundamentalists.

GAZA (Reuters) — Hamas on Saturday rejected a deadline set by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to accept a plan that indirectly calls for recognition of Israel, which he has threatened to put to a referendum. Abbas had stunned the Islamist group by giving it 10 days to accept the plan, …

King, in US, sends condolences letter to Yudhoyono  YOGYAKARTA (AP) — A powerful earthquake flattened homes and buildings in central Indonesia early Saturday as people slept, killing more than 3,505 and injuring thousands more in the nation’s worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

CAIRO — Egypt’s rulers are ignoring US criticism of their crackdown on political opposition because they calculate that the Bush administration desperately needs friends in the Middle East, critics and observers say. The US State Department has publicly criticised Egypt three times this month over its human rights record, its …

MOGADISHU (AP) — At least 39 people were killed Thursday in renewed fighting in the Somali capital that sent thousands of frightened civilians running from their homes, medical officials and a militia commander said. According to reports collected from the Somali capital’s main hospitals, at least 30 people were killed …

RAMALLAH (Agencies) — In a bold ultimatum, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday gave Hamas 10 days to accept the idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and said he’ll submit the plan to a referendum by mid-July if Hamas refuses.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon marked the sixth anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon on Thursday, amid deep divisions among its rival leaders over the fate of Hizbollah’s weapons.