ISTANBUL - For more than a decade Turkey and Israel have enjoyed close military cooperation including joint naval exercises that have taken place since they signed a military cooperation agreement in 1996. But relations between the two countries have cooled since Ankara criticized Israel’s offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December and January. Most […]
UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings says the use of armed unmanned aircraft by the United States to hunt down terrorists could be a violation of international law. Philip Alston said Tuesday that Washington must explain how it is sure the United States is not killing people indiscriminately with these aircraft.
U.S. […]
PARIS - The French chapter of the Church of Scientology has been convicted of fraud and fined nearly $1 million. Its top members have also been handed suspended prison sentences. The verdict by a French court stops short of dissolving the church, as the prosecution requested.
A Paris area court fined the Church of Scientology and […]
WASHINGTON - For the first time in 30 years, Social Security recipients in the United States will not receive an annual adjustment in benefits. More than 52 million older Americans depend on Social Security for all or part of their retirement income. As pension funds and the stock market have declined in the last decade, […]
CAPITOL HILL - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday his chamber’s health care reform bill will include a government-run insurance plan that states could participate in voluntarily. A government-run alternative to private health insurance has been extremely controversial in the national debate over reforming America’s health care system.
Attention has been focused on Senator […]
ADANA - Reconciliation efforts between the Turkish government and Kurdish rebels were given a boost last week when a small group of rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party crossed over from Iraq and turned themselves into Turkish security forces. Some observers have called the largely symbolic event a turning point, but key challenges remain. […]
WASHINGTON - John Kerry, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says a proposal to send as many as 40,000 more American troops to Afghanistan “goes too far and too fast”.
Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, Senator Kerry praised U.S. President Barack Obama’s current review of the nation’s strategy in Afghanistan.
Kerry […]
BAGHDAD - An al-Qaida-linked group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s devastating car bombings in Baghdad that killed at least 155 people and wounded more than 500 others.
The militant group named the Islamic State in Iraq announced it was behind the twin suicide bombings in a statement posted on a militant Web site.
Iraqi Prime […]
KABUL - NATO forces in Afghanistan are reporting that three coalition helicopters crashed in two unrelated incidents Monday, killing at least 11 U.S. troops and three American civilians.
A NATO statement said one helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan after U.S. and Afghan troops raided a militant hideout and killed 12 suspected enemy fighters.
The statement said seven […]
BAGHDAD - Iraqi officials say the toll from Sunday’s two powerful car bombs in central Baghdad has risen to 155 killed and more than 500 others wounded.
The near-simultaneous attacks hit near the heavily-guarded Green zone and appeared to target a provincial government building and the Ministry of Justice.
The blasts caused heavy damage to the […]
KABUL - A crowd of about 1,000 Afghans burned an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama in Kabul Sunday, over allegations that Western troops burned a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
Afghan police fired shots in the air to try to disperse the crowd of mostly students who chanted “Death to America” and […]
JERUSALEM - There was violence today at the most sensitive holy shrine in Jerusalem revered by both Muslims and Jews. At least 15 Palestinians were arrested, but there were no serious injuries.
Israeli police stormed into a disputed holy place in Jerusalem’s Old City and threw stun grenades to disperse Palestinian stone throwers. The clash took […]
WASHINGTON - The United States has asked Switzerland to extradite film director Roman Polanski, so he can face court sentencing in California for having sex with a child in 1977.
The Swiss justice office said authorities in Zurich will hold a hearing to decide whether Polanski should be sent back to the United States. The justice […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama has declared the spreading H1N1 swine flu virus to be a national emergency.
Mr. Obama has signed a proclamation which gives U.S. hospitals more flexibility if they need to handle large numbers of flu patients.
A White House statement Saturday said the proclamation allows hospitals to request waivers of some government […]
RAMALLAH - The Palestinian Authority has announced a date for elections, throwing a wrench into national unity talks with its Islamic militant rivals.
Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree that presidential and parliamentary elections will take place on January 24. But the announcement only deepened Palestinian divisions.
The vote is supposed to take place in the […]
WASHINGTON - A U.S. senator is asking Americans whether a current proposal to overhaul the American health-care system would actually make things better.
Speaking in the weekly Republican address Saturday, Senator Mike Johanns from the state of Nebraska said the proposal could negatively impact “each and every” American.
President Barack Obama, from the majority Democratic Party, is […]
ISLAMABAD - Taliban insurgents have warned Afghans not to vote in the November 7 presidential runoff, threatening violence against those who participate.
In a statement Saturday, the Taliban denounced the election as an “American process,” and vowed to take action to stop it. The group said militants will cut off main roads on election day and […]
BUDAPEST - Hungary is commemorating its crushed 1956 Revolution against Soviet domination and the 20th anniversary of its declaration as a republic and the end of communism. The ceremonies come however as opinion polls show a growing number of Hungarians are dissatisfied with the political changes that have occurred since then.
The Hungarian flag was raised […]
NEW YORK - Popular U.S. television comedian Soupy Sales has died. He was 83 years old.
Sales died Thursday at a hospice in New York City. He suffered from a number of health problems.
The U.S. comedy icon was wildly popular in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best remembered for his pie-in-the-face acts, with thousands of […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has secured the Czech Republic’s support for U.S. missile defense plans after winning the backing of fellow NATO allies Poland and Romania.
Biden met Friday with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, who said his country is ready to participate in the new plan.
Biden said Washington will send a high-level […]
JERUSALEM - Israel has complained that it is getting unfair treatment at the United Nations amid allegations that it committed war crimes against the Palestinians.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke on the telephone with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and accused the world body of “prejudice” and “hypocrisy.” He was referring to a resolution […]
TEHRAN - Iran has failed to accept a United Nations-backed proposal for uranium enrichment and has instead offered its own counterproposal.
Iranian state television is quoting an unidentified Iranian negotiator as saying Tehran has proposed that it purchase nuclear fuel for its reactor. The negotiator says Iran is awaiting a “positive and constructive” response to its […]
WASHINGTON - NATO defense ministers Friday endorsed the kind of broad counterinsurgency approach for Afghanistan that is the basis for the pending troop request by the NATO and the U.S. commander there, General Stanley McChrystal. The ministers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, are meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the […]
WASHINGTON - U.S. law enforcement officials say they have launched the largest single strike ever at a notorious Mexican drug cartel operating inside the United States. The crackdown resulted in the arrest of more than 300 people in 19 states.
The target of the combined federal, state and local law enforcement effort is the notorious Mexican […]
