World News

40,000 affected as storm batters Nicaragua

A view of a house knocked down by Hurricane Ida in the Corn Islands, Nicaraguan Caribbean, November 5. Nicaragua's Caribbean coast faced a battering by high winds and heavy rains Friday, as remnants of hurricane Ida wrecked homes and officials warned as many as 40,000 could be affected by the storm.
AFP - Saturday, November 7

MANAGUA (AFP) - - Nicaragua's Caribbean coast faced a battering by high winds and heavy rains Friday, as remnants of hurricane Ida wrecked homes and officials warned as many as 40,000 could be affected by the storm. More »

  • Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo (L) speaks with the commander of Paraguay's armed forces, Rear Admiral Ciber Benitez, during a military ceremony in Asuncion on November 4. Lugo sacked the head of Paraguay's armed forces on Friday, two days after firing a trio of top military commanders amid rumors of a potential coup, government sources said.

    Paraguay army chief sacked amid coup rumors

    AFP - Saturday, November 7

    ASUNCION (AFP) - - President Fernando Lugo sacked the head of Paraguay's armed forces on Friday, two days after firing a trio of top military commanders amid rumors of a potential coup, government sources said.

  • This handout picture by the Spanish Defence Ministry (SDM) shows the Spanish tuna trawler Alakrana on October 3, near the Somali coast. Families of the boat's crew -- being held by Somali pirates -- have appealed to Spain's government to negotiate with the kidnappers, who have threatened to kill the hostages.

    Families of Spanish hostages urge negotiations with pirates

    AFP - Saturday, November 7

    MADRID (AFP) - - Families of the crew of a Spanish tuna trawler being held by Somali pirates appealed to Spain's government on Friday to negotiate with the kidnappers, who have threatened to kill the hostages.

  • Detail of the memorial stone for Jewish girl Anne Frank, author of

    Anne Frank diary offends Lebanon's Hezbollah

    AFP - Saturday, November 7

    BEIRUT (AFP) - - Anne Frank's diary has been censored out of a school textbook in Lebanon following a campaign by the militant group Hezbollah claiming the classic work promotes Zionism.

  • Prime Minister Gordon Brown, seen here with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul last year, has warned that the West could withdraw support for Karzai if he fails to live up to its expectations in his second term in power.

    Karzai could lose West's support, Brown warns

    AFP - Saturday, November 7

    LONDON (AFP) - - The West could withdraw support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai if he fails to live up to its expectations during his second term, Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned on Friday.

  • Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya holds a meeting at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. A deal aimed at ending Honduras' months-long crisis has

    Honduran agreement has failed: Zelaya aide

    AFP - Saturday, November 7

    TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) - - A deal aimed at ending Honduras' months-long crisis has "failed," an aide to ousted President Manuel Zelaya said Friday, after the interim leader formed a government without his participation.

  • A Palestinian stands on the rubble of the bombed headquarters of the National Guard in Gaza City. The UN General Assembly enjoined Israel and the Palestinians to probe war crimes allegedly committed in Gaza nearly a year ago, a move which the Jewish state said would hurt the quest for Middle East peace.

    UN calls for probes of alleged Gaza war crimes

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - - The UN General Assembly enjoined Israel and the Palestinians to probe war crimes allegedly committed in Gaza nearly a year ago, a move which the Jewish state said would hurt the quest for Middle East peace.

  • US Army soldiers train at a practice facility resembling an urban environment in Fort Hood, Texas, in 2003. At least 12 people were killed at Fort Hood military base in Texas on Thursday, including one gunman, the facility's commander said.

    12 dead, 31 wounded in Texas military base shootings

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AFP) - - At least 12 people were killed at Fort Hood military base in Texas on Thursday, including one gunman, the facility's commander said.

  • Tsvangirai calls off Zimbabwe unity government boycott

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    MAPUTO (AFP) - - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday called off a boycott of power-sharing ties with President Robert Mugabe that had paralysed the fragile unity government for three weeks.

  • Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas heads a meeting of the Fatah party's executive committee in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas said in a televised speech on Thursday that he will not seek re-election in Palestinian elections to be held in January.

    Abbas rules out re-election, complicating peace efforts

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday he will not seek re-election as he voiced frustration with the US position on Israeli settlements and delivered a major blow to Washington's Middle East peace efforts.

  • Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas heads a meeting of the Fatah party's executive committee in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas said in a televised speech on Thursday that he will not seek re-election in Palestinian elections to be held in January.

    Abbas says will not seek re-election

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in a televised speech on Thursday that he will not seek re-election in Palestinian elections to be held in January.

  • Kyrgyz special police forces walk near the parliament building in central Bishkek, in 2007. The editor of a newspaper that frequently criticised the secret police in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan has died after a savage attack in which he was stabbed more than a dozen times, police said Thursday.

    Kyrgyz journalist brutally murdered: police

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) - - The editor of a newspaper that frequently criticised the secret police in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan has died after a savage attack in which he was stabbed more than a dozen times, police said Thursday.

  • Female Russian murder suspect Yevgenia Khasis, with a black bag over her head, is led by plain-clothes police operatives into a Moscow court. Two Russian nationalists have been arrested and charged in the high-profile killings of a human rights lawyer and journalist who were gunned down in Moscow in January, officials said on Thursday.

    Two charged over murders of Russian lawyer, reporter

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    MOSCOW (AFP) - - Two Russian nationalists have been arrested and charged in the high-profile killings of a human rights lawyer and journalist who were gunned down in Moscow in January, officials said on Thursday.

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) handout satellite image shows Hurricane Ida coming ashore in Nicaragua near Tasbapauni. Ida was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday after slamming into Nicaragua as a category one hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center said.

    Hurricane Ida downgraded to tropical storm off Nicaragua

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    MIAMI (AFP) - - Ida was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday after slamming into Nicaragua as a category one hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center said.

  • Interactive graphic on the genocide trial of Radovan Karadzic, that opened on October 26.

    Lawyer imposed on Karadzic, trial delayed to March 1

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    THE HAGUE (AFP) - - A UN warcrimes court Thursday imposed a lawyer on Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and put off to March 1 the genocide trial he has boycotted since it started last week.

  • The war crimes trial of former Democratic Republic of Congo vice president and ex-rebel Jean-Pierre Bemba, seen here in 2006, will start on April 27, the International Criminal Court said Thursday.

    Congolese rebel's war crimes trial to start April 27: court

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    THE HAGUE (AFP) - - The war crimes trial of former Democratic Republic of Congo vice president and ex-rebel Jean-Pierre Bemba will start on April 27, the International Criminal Court said Thursday.

  • A grenade and landmines are displayed among other weapons by the Israeli military at the port of Ashdod. Israel has called for the international community to take action against Iran, blaming Tehran for dispatching a weapons-laden ship to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

    Israel urges action against Iran over weapons ship

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) - - Israel called on Thursday for the international community to take action against Iran, blaming Tehran for dispatching a weapons-laden ship to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

  • Saudi jets pound Yemen rebel camps: informed source

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    RIYADH (AFP) - - Saudi jets pounded Shiite rebel camps in northern Yemen on Thursday and troops were poised to cross the border against them after they killed a Saudi border guard, an informed Saudi source told AFP.

  • US ready to improve Myanmar ties: envoy

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    BANGKOK (AFP) - - Washington is ready to boost ties with Myanmar but will not lift sanctions until there is progress on democracy, a US diplomat said Thursday after the highest-level talks with the ruling junta in years.

  • An Iraqi woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Baghdad during landmark elections in 2005.

    Iraq MPs to vote electoral law: panel chief

    AFP - Friday, November 6

    BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi MPs are to vote on Saturday on a controversial electoral bill after a compromise text was agreed, a senior lawmaker said, raising hope that a poll can go ahead as planned in January.

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