World news

'750,000 facing death' as Somalia famine spreads: UN

Nairobi - 06 Sep 2011 (AFP): Three-quarters of a million people are facing death by starvation in Somalia, the UN said on Monday as it reported that famine had spread to a sixth southern region of the beleaguered Horn of Africa state."Tens of thousands of people have already died, over half of whom

7.1 magnitude quake strikes off Alaska

Washington - 03 Sep 2011: A 7.1 magnitudeearthquakestruck on Friday in the Aleutian Islands offAlaska, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it did not see a threat of a widespread destructive tsunami from the quake, which was centered in the Pacific Ocean, 107

Obama declares emergency for New York ahead of hurricane

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama declared Friday a state of emergency for New York state as Hurricane Irene is approaching the US East Coast, Xinhua reported. Obama cut short his vacation in Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts Friday to return to Washington a day ahead of schedule

Chinese Muslims banned from fasting in Ramadan

URUMQI (Friday, 05 August 2011 16:48) - Amid fresh arrests, restrictions on fasting and prayers at mosques, Uighur Muslims are suffering under the latest episode of Chinese government crackdown on their ethnic minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. "If any religious figure discusses Ramad

Powerful quakes hit near Vanuatu in South Pacific

Sydney - 21 August 2011 (AP): A series of earthquakes struck off theSouth Pacificisland nation ofVanuatuon Sunday, causing minor damage, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. Local tsunami advisories were issued but later lifted, and no tsunami was recorded.The US Geological Survey said a

56 killed as wave of violence rolls across Iraq

Kut (Iraq) - 15 August 2011 (AP): Bomb blasts ripped through more than a dozen Iraqi cities this morning, killing 56 people, most of them in the southern city of Kut, in a wave of violence that shattered what had been a relatively peaceful holy mo

Syria ships, tanks blast city, 23 dead

Damascus - 14 August 2011: Syrian military vessels joined an assault that killed more than 20 people on Sunday in the city of Latakia, activists said, the first attack from the sea since an anti-regime revolt erupted in March. The latest bloodshed came a day after world leaders demanded an immedi

US threatens Gaza aid cutoff after Hamas crackdown

Jerusalam - 13 August 2011 (AP): The US will cut $100 million in American aid money to Palestinians inGazaif the territory'sHamasrulers continue with "unwarranted audits" of local American nonprofit organisations, a state department official said on Saturday.The American threat came in response to a

Syrians flee as tanks enter Latakia: activist

Damascus - 13 August 2011 (AFP): Armoured vehicles entered the port city of Latakia and a village near Lebanon Saturday, activists said, causing residents to flee as the West seeks ways to pressure Damascus to end the violence. "Military vehicles including tanks and armoured personnel carriers co

President Obama Hosts an Iftar Dinner to Celebrate Ramadan

White House - 12 August 2011: Continuing a tradition at the White House, last night President Obama hostedhis thirdIftar dinner to celebrate Ramadan. The Iftar is the meal that breaks the day of fasting, when Muslim families and communities eat together after sunset. The President was joined in t

South Asians take a hit in UK riots, 3 Pakistanis killed

London - 11 August 2011: Theriots in Englandclaimed South Asian victims on Wednesday when three young men of Pakistani origin were killed in a "deliberate" hit-and-run incident in the country's second biggest city of Birmingham. While retailers of Indian origin were attacked in Birmingham, in the we

After US, France battles credit rating downgrade fears

Paris - 10 August 2011 (AFP): President Nicolas Sarkozy cut short his holiday on Wednesday to announce new moves to slash France's massive debt amid fears it might be next after theUnited Statesto suffer a credit-rating downgrade.The right-wing leader returned from the Riviera holiday home of his pr

Most Americans think US on wrong track, worst is yet to come: Poll

Washington - 10 August 2011: Americans by a large majority believe theUnited Statesis on the wrong track and nearly half think the worst is yet to come in the economy, aReuters/Ipsos pollsaid on Wednesday.President Barack Obama's approval rating dropped to 45 percent from 49 percent a month ago, acc

At least 50 drown after Comoros boat capsizes

Moroni - 09 August 2011: At least 50 people including children drowned in rough seas when a passenger boat sunk off the Comoros archipelago in the early hours of Tuesday after its engines failed, the country's public prosecutor said.The vessel was ferrying more than 100 people from the capital Moron

Britain burns: London riots spread through UK cities

London - 09 August 2011 (AP): A wave of violence and looting raged across London and spread to three other major British cities on Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain the country's worst unrest since race riots set the capital ablaze in the 1980s. In London, groups of young people ra

Worst US loss of life in Afghan war as helicopter crash kills 38

Kabul - 08 August 2011: Thirty members of the American special forces have been killed in Afghanistan in the deadliest day of the 10-year war for US military personnel when the Taliban shot down a Chinook helicopter. The majority of those killed were from Navy Seal Team 6, the unit that killed O

Riots spread in London, questions raised over security of 2012 Olympics

London - 08 August 2011 (PTI): The British capital continued to smoulder under a series of 'copycat' riots that engulfed the city for a second day, with looting and arson reported in new areas, just miles from the site of next year's Olympic Games, prompting authorities to arrest as many as 160 peop

Syrians pour into the streets despite deadly siege

Beirut - 05 August 2011: Security forces opened fire as tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets across Syria on Friday calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad's regime, defying a deadly military siege on the city of Hama where government tanks blasted residential areas bef