Heavy fighting rages in centre of Mogadishu

Heavy fighting rages in centre of Mogadishu


Heavy fighting rages in centre of Mogadishu

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 08:21 PM PST

MOGADISHU - Heavy fighting raged early Friday in the centre of Mogadishu between Islamist insurgents and soldiers of the African Union's peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM).

Read more...


Tony Blair braced for grilling over Iraq war

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 06:00 PM PST

LONDON - Former British prime minister Tony Blair faces a public grilling Friday over his decision to wage war on Iraq, seven years after a bloody conflict that still divides his country.

Read more...


Karzai government invites Taliban to peace meeting

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:42 PM PST

LONDON (Reuters) - The Afghan government on Thursday invited the Taliban to a peace council as its Western allies worked out plans to try to end the war in Afghanistan.


Israel kills top Hamas commander in Dubai - Hamas

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:11 PM PST

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai, an official in the Palestinian Islamist group said Friday.


Gas Boom Boosts Halliburton

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:52 PM PST

The U.S. has lots of shale gas. That's lots of business for Halliburton.


Palestinians irate over new Jerusalem tram (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 11:04 PM PST

AP - Jerusalem's first light rail starts test runs this spring, with its sleek silver cars gliding across the city and promising to relieve the perpetual congestion.


Hamas: Israel assassinated operative in Dubai (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:56 PM PST

AP - The Palestinian militant group Hamas says Israel has assassinated one of its veteran operatives in a killing carried out in the Gulf city of Dubai.


Myanmar journalist jailed for 13 years (AFP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 11:01 PM PST

Guards stand at an entrance of the notorious Insein prison in Yangon in September 2009. A Myanmar court has handed down a 13-year jail term to a man accused of working with exiled media, his legal counsel said Friday, as the ruling junta continues its crackdown on dissent.(AFP/File)AFP - A Myanmar court has handed down a 13-year jail term to a man accused of working with exiled media, his legal counsel said Friday, as the ruling junta continues its crackdown on dissent.



Australian writer boycotts China over jailing of dissident (AFP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:38 PM PST

A protestor holds a picture of Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in Hong Kong in November 2009. Award-winning Australian author Frank Moorhouse said on Friday he would boycott an upcoming tour of China to protest the jailing of dissident critic Liu Xiaobo.(AFP/File/Mike Clarke)AFP - Award-winning Australian author Frank Moorhouse said on Friday he would boycott an upcoming tour of China to protest the jailing of dissident critic Liu Xiaobo.



Taliban to decide soon on joining Afghan talks

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 11:06 PM PST

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban's leaders will decide soon about joining talks with the Afghan government, a spokesman said on Friday, after President Hamid Karzai invited them to a peace council as part of efforts to end years of fighting.


New Russian fighter makes test flight

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 11:06 PM PST

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A new fighter aircraft seen as Russia's response to U.S. advances in military aviation made a successful first test flight on Friday, plane maker Sukhoi said.


Gunmen holed-up in building in southern Afghanistan

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:22 PM PST

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Four gunmen wearing suicide vests were locked in a gunbattle with Afghan security forces inside a building in southern Afghanistan on Friday, a police official said.


13 countries craft plan to save tigers (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:10 PM PST

In this photo taken Jan. 20, 2010, two adult male tigers look on at Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The monastery and its Buddhist Monks dedicated to what has become a wildlife sanctuary for tigers. Estimates for the number of tigers in the wild has fallen in the past decade to somewhere between 3,600 to 3,200 according to the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society. Many of the tigers at the Thai temple are the cubs of parent tigers that have been killed in the wild. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)AP - More than a dozen Asian nations aim to double the numbers of wild tigers by 2022 and prohibit the building of roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects that could harm their habitats.



Israel kills top Hamas commander in Dubai - Hamas

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:28 PM PST

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai, an official in the Palestinian Islamist group said on Friday.


China car craze won't dent gasoline exports

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:28 PM PST

BEIJING (Reuters) - Gasoline demand in China this year is forecast to grow half the rate at which citizens drive shiny new cars out of showrooms, but refineries will be more than able to keep pace, and exports will mop up the excess fuel.


Heavy fighting rages in centre of Mogadishu

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 08:21 PM PST

MOGADISHU -Heavy fighting raged early Friday in the centre of Mogadishu between Islamist insurgents and soldiers of the African Union's peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM).

Read more...


Gunmen holed-up in building in southern Afghanistan (Reuters)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:22 PM PST

Arry, a 4-year-old French army sniffing dog, trains at biting a suspect at the Tora Forward Operating Base housing the French Foreign Legion in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday,  Dec. 6, 2009. Handlers and explosives experts say dogs appear to be the best means to detect the increasingly stealthy explosive devices used by the Taliban. (AP Photo / Alfred de Montesquiou.)Reuters - Four gunmen wearing suicide vests were locked in a gunbattle with Afghan security forces inside a building in southern Afghanistan on Friday, a police official said.



Machu Picchu tourists evacuated

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 09:16 PM PST

More than 1,400 airlifted from Peru mountain village following floods and mudslides.


Obama 'to scrap Nasa moon plans'

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:38 PM PST

Officials say revised US space agency budget will focus on different goals.


North Korea fires more artillery toward South

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 10:00 PM PST

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Friday fired artillery toward South Korean islands near a disputed sea border for the third straight day, a South Korean broadcaster said.