Thousands of protesters in Malaysia defy lockdown, gather in capital
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Thousands of protesters gathered in the Malaysian capital Saturday to demand electoral reforms, defying a lockdown of central Kuala Lumpur that left it a maze of razor wire and barricades. Groups of protesters gathered at various points around the city, intent on challenging an official ban on holding their ... Read More
Taliban website hacked as Afghan cyber war heats up
Friday, 27 April 2012
Hackers have for the third time in less than a year crippled the main website of the Afghan Taliban, with a Taliban spokesman on Friday blaming Western intelligence agencies amid an intensifying cyber war with the insurgents. The unidentified hackers broke into the Taliban’s El Emara website twice on Thursday, replacing ... Read More
HRW criticizes Cameron over Indonesia arms sales
Friday, 27 April 2012
Human Rights Watch criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday for saying Britain should resume arms sales to Indonesia after a 13-year ban. The international watchdog said the call was untimely because rights abuses continue in Indonesia. On April 11, Cameron on a state visit to ... Read More
Malaysia cracks down ahead of planned mass rally
Friday, 27 April 2012
Malaysian authorities Friday took action to prevent a mass political rally from going ahead this weekend, sealing off a square in the capital and serving a court order banning the protest. The rally calling for electoral reform comes at a precarious time for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government as he is ... Read More
‘Green-on-Blue’ attach came on night raid: Afghanistan police
Friday, 27 April 2012
A firefight which erupted when an Afghan special forces soldier turned his weapon on his U.S. allies came while the men were on a night raid together and killed a total of four, Afghan police said Friday. Afghan forces were put in charge of the controversial night raids earlier this month after government ... Read More
Ban urges N. Korea to refrain from nuclear test
Friday, 27 April 2012
U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon warned North Korea on Friday against conducting a nuclear test, amid speculation Pyongyang may be planning such a move after a failed rocket launch earlier this month. Labeling the rocket launch a “threat to international peace and security,” Ban said North Korea should not take any ... Read More
Bin Laden’s family en route from Pakistan to Saudi
Thursday, 26 April 2012
The family of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, killed almost a year ago by American special forces in a military town in northwest Pakistan, were being deported to Saudi Arabia early on Friday morning, the family lawyer told Reuters. The move ends months of speculation about the fate of the three widows and 11 children, ... Read More
White House vigilant for attacks ahead of Bin Laden’s anniversary
Thursday, 26 April 2012
President Barack Obama has ordered a review of potential threats facing the United States ahead of the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, the White House said on Thursday, but stressed that there was no concrete evidence of an attack being planned. “At this time, we have no credible information that terrorist ... Read More
Murdoch admits ‘cover-up’ at News of the World
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Rupert Murdoch admitted Thursday there was a “cover-up” over phone hacking at Britain’s News of the World, but said he too was kept in the dark over a scandal that would blot his reputation for ever. In his second and final day as star witness at an official inquiry in London into the ethics of the British ... Read More
Afghanistan, Iran agree prisoner swap
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Afghanistan and Iran have agreed to a prisoner exchange, the Foreign Ministry in Kabul said on Thursday, a sign of warming relations between the two neighbors ahead of the planned withdrawal of foreign combat forces from Afghanistan in 2014. Thousands of Afghan prisoners are held in Iranian jails, some awaiting the death ... Read More
Eman El-Shenawi: For lessons on how to sin ‘quietly,’ refer to Britain’s colonial files
Thursday, 26 April 2012
It was always naïve to assume colonial legacies, no matter how prim and proper they may appear, had controlled the lands of others without brutality, human rights abuses and so on. Despite being familiar with Britain’s colonial history, I still would not instinctively draw parallels with the sort of crimes or “quiet sins” the ... Read More
Chelsea finally has Champions League luck: former manager
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant believes Lady Luck, who turned her back on the club four years ago, has finally smiled on the lion-hearted Londoners after they stormed into the Champions League final with an astonishing win over Barcelona. Chelsea, seeking their first Champions League title, progressed on Tuesday and will ... Read More
FIFA Congress to discuss age limits for officials
Thursday, 26 April 2012
FIFA’s annual Congress is to be presented with a proposal limiting mandates for its president and officials and barring election for anyone over the age of 72, according to the agenda released on Thursday. The suggestion, which is unlikely to be voted on this time around, is part of a long-term process aimed at cleaning up ... Read More
Hague court convicts ex-Liberian president of war crimes
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor was convicted on Thursday of war crimes for arming Sierra Leone's rebels in return for blood diamonds during the 1991-2001 civil war. “The trial chamber finds you guilty of aiding and abetting of all these crimes,” presiding judge Richard Lussick told the Special Court ... Read More
Thousands of Norwegians gather to sing song Breivik hates
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Tens of thousands of rose-waving Norwegians gathered in central Oslo Thursday to deride mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik by singing a song he hates, viewing it as Marxist indoctrination. Some 40,000 people, according to police, massed in the rain at a square near the Oslo district courthouse where Breivik ... Read More
Ukraine builds new shelter on Chernobyl disaster anniversary
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Ukraine mourned Thursday the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, as its president prepared to launch the construction of a vital new shelter to contain the stricken nuclear plant. In a message mourning the victims, President Viktor Yanukovych described Chernobyl as the “largest human-caused disaster ... Read More
Three strikes and you’re out, Afghan government tells unruly clerics
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Afghanistan has stepped up efforts to stop clerics from inciting violence or preaching anti-government slogans in mosques, giving unruly mullahs three chances to change their ways or face dismissal and possibly jail. In Afghanistan, where most men go to Friday prayers, sermons are a critical influence on both sides of ... Read More
Token sentence for Pakistani premier after contempt verdict
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani will appeal against a contempt conviction for defying a Supreme Court order to re-open corruption cases against the president, his lawyer said on Thursday. “This will be subject to the appeal, which we will file,” lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan told a news conference. Gilani was convicted of ... Read More
‘No risk’ to Obama from Colombia sex scandal
Thursday, 26 April 2012
U.S. Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano assured probing senators on Wednesday that the Secret Service agent misconduct in Colombia never jeopardized President Barack Obama’s safety. Napolitano pledged a thorough investigation into the prostitution row that overshadowed the Summit of the Americas in the ... Read More
U.S. army officers were taught ‘America is at war with Islam:’ Pentagon probe
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday it was investigating how a claim that the United States was at war with Islam had been used in training course materials for mid-ranking army officers. The course included lessons which suggested “the United States is at war with Islam and we ought to just recognize that,” said Navy ... Read More