Israel says to free Palestinians and build more settlementsIsrael will announce plans for new settlement construction next week, coinciding with the release of a third batch of Palestinian prisoners as part of peace talks, an official said Thursday.
27 December 2013
Oil prices up on escalating South Sudan violenceCrude edged higher in Asian trade Thursday on supply concerns following escalating violence in oil-producer South Sudan, but gains were capped as dealers sat on the sidelines awaiting fresh leads after the festive season.
26 December 2013
Turkey PM reshuffles cabinet amid graft scandalTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan replaced nearly half his cabinet in a dramatic reshuffle after a spreading graft scandal forced the resignation of three top ministers.
26 December 2013
US 'concern' over Uganda anti-gay billThe United States voiced concern on Tuesday over a draconian anti-homosexuality bill passed by Uganda's parliament.
26 December 2013
'Thousands' killed as South Sudan slides towards civil warThousands of South Sudanese have been killed in over a week of violence with reports of bodies piled in mass graves, the UN said Tuesday, as the Security Council agreed to nearly double its peacekeepers in the young nation threatening to slide into civil war.
25 December 2013
Turkey's scandal-hit ministers resignTurkey's economy and interior ministers, ensnared in a vast corruption scandal that has roiled the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, resigned.
25 December 2013
Pope marks first Christmas as crowds flock to BethlehemPope Francis held his first Christmas Eve mass in the Vatican on Tuesday by highlighting the role played by humble shepherds in the Nativity, as thousands flocked to the historic site of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem.
US ups pressure in S. Sudan, but no military role likelyThe United States -- a key backer of South Sudan's 2011 independence -- is increasing diplomatic pressure amid an intensifying conflict there but will not consider military intervention, experts said.
Dubai police in record $31 mn drugs haulDubai police have made a record drug seizure of some 4.6 million Captagon pills, an amphetamine-like stimulant, worth more than $31 million (23 million euros), the local press reported Monday.
Syria views Saudi as number one enemySyria now views Saudi Arabia as its number one enemy and accuses it of trying to destroy the country by arming jihadists and other rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
22 December 2013
Mozambique airline captain 'intentionally' crashed: probeA Mozambican Airlines captain had a "clear intention" to crash an airplane that went down in Namibia killing 33 at the end of November, according to a preliminary investigation reported Saturday.
22 December 2013
Suicide attack near Libya's Benghazi kills at least seven: officialsA suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed vehicle into a security checkpoint outside the restive city of Benghazi in eastern Libya on Sunday, killing at least seven people, witnesses and security sources said.
22 December 2013
Uganda adopts tough anti-gay billUganda's parliament on Friday adopted an anti-homosexuality bill that will see repeat offenders jailed for life, sparking an international outcry as lawmakers hailed it as a victory against "evil".
21 December 2013
Scandal-hit Turkey PM presses police purgeTurkish prosecutors have begun charging some of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's closest allies in a huge graft scandal he has responded to with a spectacular purge of the police.
21 December 2013
S. Sudan at 'precipice' amid growing violence: ObamaUS President Barack Obama warned that South Sudan stands at the "precipice" of renewed civil war, amid spiralling violence including an attack on a UN base that killed three Indian peacekeepers.