The United States ordered an aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf and laid out specific ways for Iraq to show it is forging the national unity necessary to gain assistance in its fight against insurgents. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday ordered the USS George HW Bush from the northern A

Washington: US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that his national security team was "looking at all the options" as the crisis in Iraq unfolds, with Arab jihadists pushing towards Baghdad. "Iraq is going to need more help from us and it's going to need more help from the international comm

LONDON: A massive reservoir of water three times the size of Earth's oceans have for the first time been located hundreds of miles underneath the surface of the planet. Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico provided the first ever evidence for potentially oceans w

Dubai: It has been posted on many buses in Washington, D.C., for few weeks provoking Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The ad reads, “Islamic Jew-hatred; It’s in the Quran. Two thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop racism. End all aid to Islamic countries.” Muslims in the U

TIKRIT, Iraq: Sunni rebels from an al-Qaida splinter group overran the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday and closed in on the biggest oil refinery in the country, making further gains in their rapid military advance against the Shia-led government in Baghdad. The threat to the Baiji refinery come

KARACHI: A security checkpost outside Pakistan's Karachi airport has been attacked by gunmen on Tuesday, an official spokesman told AFP, a day after an all-night siege at the airport left 37 dead. "Gunmen are exchanging fire with Airport Security Force personnel at a checkpost guarding the airpor

Karachi:  Pakistan's army spokesman declared an end to a military operation following a six-hour-long siege of Pakistan's busiest airport in the southern city of Karachi on Monday. At least 20 people have been killed in the attack. "Update: Area cleared. No damage to aircraft, fire visible in pic

Ex-army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to to tackle "terrorism" and bring security, after being sworn in as Egypt's new president. He said his election after a landslide win in May was "a historic moment", and pledged no reconciliation with those who had "committed violence". The retired f

A 1,000-feet wide “beast” travelling at a speed of 50,400 km-per-hour — enough momentum to wipe out an entire city — will pass by earth on Sunday. The asteroid will safely pass earth at a distance of 1.25 million km — more than three times the distance from earth to the moon. Nicknamed the “Be

Kunduz: Flash floods have killed more than 50 people in northern Afghanistan, washing away hundreds of homes and forcing thousands to flee, officials said Saturday warning that the death toll was expected to rise. The floods in the remote mountainous district of Baghlan province come a month af

An Egyptian court has sentenced 10 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death for alleged offences including inciting violence and blocking a road. The men were not present to face the charges on Saturday and are believed to be in hiding amid a crackdown by the military-led government. It w

Brussels: Western leaders prepared Thursday to deliver their first face-to-face message to President Vladimir Putin since Moscow seized Crimea - stop meddling in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions.   Leaders of the Group of Seven industrialised nations head from a two-day summit in Brussel

Beirut: It was not so long ago that Bashar Al Assad’s enemies thought he was finished. In the summer of 2012, the rebels were not just at the gates of Damascus, but inside the capital, preying on Al Assad’s harried forces. His government had lost big chunks of Syria’s territory and a s

Manama: Kuwaiti authorities are deporting an Egyptian imam for saying in his Friday sermon that the Egyptian presidential elections had been forged. Kuwait had banned “interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries” by referring to them in sermons and warned of a zero-tolerance policy t

CAIRO: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who toppled Egypt's first freely elected leader, swept to victory in a presidential election, provisional results showed on Thursday, joining a long line of leaders drawn from the military. But a lower than expected turnout figure raised questions about Si

MADRID: Hundreds of people forced their way through razor-wire barriers into Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Wednesday, highlighting increasing pressure on a rare land-based route into Europe for illegal migrants. More than 1,000 stormed fences into the enclave at around 0400 GMT and

Cairo:  An Egyptian court jailed 19 supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi for five years on Saturday for storming the offices of the head of the prestigious Al-Azhar Islamic institution, judicial sources said. The army-installed government has rounded up thousands of Morsi's suppo

Blahodante, Ukraine:  Three days before Ukraine holds a key presidential vote, pro-Russia insurgents attacked a military checkpoint Thursday in eastern Ukraine, killing 13 troops in the deadliest raid yet in weeks of fighting, Ukraine's leader said A rebel group who claimed responsibility for the