Baghdad, Dec 18 (IANS) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Thursday urged Arab nations and the world to work even more closely with Baghdad in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group. Abadi made the statement at a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart Abdullah Ensour, who is on an official visit to […]
Tehran, Dec 18 (IANS) Iran backs talks between the Syrian government and the opposition groups, a senior Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying by media Thursday. Iran supports Russia’s recent initiative to host a “Syrian-Syrian dialogue” in an attempt to end the three-year-old conflict in the country, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, according […]
Vatican City, Dec 18 (IANS/EFE) Pope Francis Thursday welcomed the decision of the US and Cuba to take steps towards normalizing relations, noting that “we are all happy to see how two peoples who had been distant for years have moved a step closer”. US sources credit the Vatican and Pope Francis personally for acting […]
Beijing, Dec 18 (IANS/EFE) The inhabitants of Shufangya, a village in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, have been collecting signatures on a petition to expel an eight-year-old boy from the village because he is infected with the HIV virus. The official newspaper Global Times reported Thursday that more than 200 people, including the boy’s own grandfather, […]
Islamabad, Dec 16 (IANS) Following the Pakistani Taliban’s attack on a school in Peshawar in which scores of people, mostly children, died, Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif Tuesday vowed to continue the fight against the militants until they are completely eliminated from the country. “Its a cowardice act this clearly shows that they are […]
Washington, Dec 16 (IANS) US President Barack Obama has condemned in the strongest possible terms Tuesday’s attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, that claimed scores of lives, mostly those of children. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and loved ones,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “By […]
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 15 (IANS) The Congress-led ruling UDF, after heated discussions Monday, finally gave the nod for ‘practical changes’ to the liquor policy announced in August. Since the new liquor policy aiming at total prohibition was announced, numerous organisations have opposed it but Congress president V.M. Sudheeran was unyielding. However, Monday Sudheeran found himself alone […]
okyo Dec 14 (IANS) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner Komeito Party were confirmed to have secured 246 seats in the 475-seat lower legislative chamber, according to local reports Sunday. Voting for Japan’s House of Representatives (the lower house) started at 7 a.m. Sunday at over 48,000 polling stations […]
Kabul, Dec 13 (IANS) Taliban militants attacked and killed 12 deminers and injured 12 others in the Shurab area of southern Helmand province on Saturday, police spokesman Farid Ahmad Abid said. “A group of deminers were busy sweeping mines and unexploded ordnance in the Shurab area today when the Taliban rebels attacked them at noon […]
Damascus, Dec 13 (IANS) The son of an ex-commander of the rebels’ Free Syrian Army (FSA) was killed by Syrian troops in the country’s northern province of Aleppo, media reported Saturday. Muhammad al-Asaad, the son of Riad al-Asaad, was killed by Syrian troops in Aleppo, Xinhua reported citing the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV, but giving no […]