World News

Somali pirates holding 12-year-old hostage: Spanish skipper

AFP - Monday, November 23

MADRID (AFP) - - A Spanish trawler captain released by Somali pirates said he is haunted by his failure to save a 12-year-old Ukrainian girl held captive for more than six months, a newspaper reported Sunday. More »

  • Incumbent president Traian Basescu casts his vote at a polling station in Bucharest. Basescu and his Social Democrat rival Mircea Geoana will face a run-off as the two top vote-getters in Sunday's presidential election, television exit polls showed.

    Incumbent, rival in Romanian presidential run-off: exit polls

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    BUCHAREST (AFP) - - Romania's President Traian Basescu and his Social Democrat rival Mircea Geoana will face a run-off as the two top vote-getters in Sunday's presidential election, television exit polls showed.

  • Radical Islamist Shebab members ride horses in Mogadishu in September. At least 14 people have been killed in fighting between rival Somali Islamist militia battling for control of the southern town of Afmadow, witnesses have said.

    Rival Somali militia fighting kills 14: witnesses

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    MOGADISHU (AFP) - - At least 14 people were killed Sunday in fighting between rival Somali Islamist militia battling for control of the southern town of Afmadow, witnesses said.

  • Police patrol outside Larne Magistrates court before prominent Northern Ireland republican Colin Duffy arrives in court in Larne, Northern Ireland, in March. A massive car bomb that failed to explode properly was designed to cause widespread destruction, police have said, underscoring the threat posed by dissident groups to Northern Ireland's fragile peace.

    Dissidents suspected in N. Ireland bomb attempt

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    BELFAST (AFP) - - A massive car bomb in Belfast that failed to explode properly was designed to cause widespread destruction, police said Sunday, underscoring the threat posed by dissident groups to Northern Ireland's fragile peace.

  • Pakistani paramilitary soldiers patrol in the remote Mohmmand Agency, February 2009. Pakistani troops on Sunday repulsed an attack by militants on one of their posts in a lawless tribal region, killing 11 rebels.

    Pakistan troops repulse militant attack

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) - - Pakistani troops on Sunday repulsed an attack by militants on one of their posts in a lawless tribal region, killing 11 rebels, officials said.

  • Iranian short-range missile is test-launched during war games in Qom, September 2009. A commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said that air defence forces would

    Iran begins war games to protect atom sites

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - A commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that air defence forces would "annihilate" Israeli warplanes if they attacked the Islamic republic, as the forces began five days of war games.

  • A bomb blast victim is treated at hospital in Guwahati on November 22. Suspected separatists in northeast India set off two explosions on Sunday killing five people and wounding 50 more, police said, as two of the movement's leaders remained under arrest.

    Separatist blasts kill five in northeast India

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - - Suspected separatists in northeast India set off two explosions on Sunday killing five people and wounding 50 more, police said, as two of the movement's leaders remained under arrest.

  • Iranian former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi (left), seen here in August 2009, who has been sentenced to six years in prison in connection with protests over June's presidential election, has been released on bail

    Former Iran VP released on bail

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - Iranian former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who has been sentenced to six years in prison in connection with protests over June's presidential election, has been released on bail, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme.

    Ahmadinejad heads to nuclear-backers Brazil, Venezuela

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - Faced with mounting pressure over his country's atomic ambitions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left on a five nation tour Sunday, including Brazil in a bid to boost ties with Latin America's biggest economy and a rare backer of Tehran's nuclear programme.

  • Israeli President Shimon Peres was heading to Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on the troubled Middle East peace talks, his spokeswoman said.

    Israeli president to Egypt for talks with Mubarak

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    JERUSALEM (AFP) - - Israeli President Shimon Peres was heading to Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on the troubled Middle East peace talks, his spokeswoman said.

  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme.

    Ahmadinejad leaves for tour including Brazil, Venezuela

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme.

  • Palestinian militants with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) train in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed almost 8,900 lives in two decades, the vast majority of them Palestinians, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said in a statement published on Sunday.

    Israel-Palestinian conflict kills 8,900 in 20yrs: NGO

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    JERUSALEM (AFP) - - The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed almost 8,900 lives in two decades, the vast majority of them Palestinians, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said in a statement published on Sunday.

  • President Traian Basescu (L), Social Democratic Party candidate Mircea Geoana (R) and National Liberal Party candidate Crin Antonescu wave to supporters after their final debate. Polls opened Sunday in Romania's presidential election, as the country struggles with a severe recession and the political turmoil following the government's fall mid-October.

    Polls open in Romanian presidential election

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    BUCHAREST (AFP) - - Polls opened Sunday in Romania's presidential election, as the country struggles with a severe recession and the political turmoil following the government's fall mid-October.

  • Thousands throng rival Nicaragua rallies, 12 hurt

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    MANAGUA (AFP) - - Thousands of pro- and anti-government protesters took to the streets of Nicaragua's capital, protesting and backing President Daniel Ortega's bid to remain in power.

  • A Cuban soldier takes part in a parade at Revolution Square in Havana in 2006. Nearly 50 years after a botched US-directed invasion of Cuba, the communist nation said Saturday it is holding a military exercise next week to boost preparedness against any future US attack.

    Cuba: military exercise braces island for US attack

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    HAVANA (AFP) - - Nearly 50 years after a botched US-directed invasion of Cuba, the communist nation said Saturday it is holding a military exercise next week to boost preparedness against any future US attack.

  • Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban.

    Setting Afghan exit date defeatist: defense panel

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    HALIFAX, Canada (AFP) - - Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts on Saturday decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban.

  • Venezuelan police are pictured in May 2009. Venezuelan police captured a leader of a Colombia-linked paramilitary force, the interior minister announced Saturday amid sky-high military tensions between the South American neighbors.

    Venezuela seizes Colombia-linked paramilitary chief

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    CARACAS (AFP) - - Venezuelan police captured a leader of a Colombia-linked paramilitary force, the interior minister announced Saturday amid sky-high military tensions between the South American neighbors.

  • A view of the Galeras volcano in 2005. A thousand people were evacuated and traffic was stopped after the Galeras volcano erupted in southern Colombia without causing casualties, officials said Saturday.

    1000 people evacuated after Colombia volcano erupts

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    BOGOTA (AFP) - - A thousand people were evacuated and traffic was stopped after the Galeras volcano erupted in southern Colombia without causing casualties, officials said Saturday.

  • Anglican leader, pope meet amid tensions

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    VATICAN CITY (AFP) - - Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams sought to ease tensions between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches at "cordial" talks at the Vatican on Saturday.

  • A policeman stands along a road in the county of Cork, Ireland. Ireland battled floods on Saturday described as a

    Ireland battles severe flooding

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    DUBLIN (AFP) - - Ireland battled floods on Saturday described as a "once in 800 years event", with the government rushing to provide shelter and drinking water and soldiers sent to assist those affected.

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