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Ban Uses 9/11 to Call for Global Anti-Terror Treaty
September 10, 2011
CANBERRA - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has used the approaching 10th anniversary of September 11 attacks on the United States to renew his call for a global counter-terrorism treaty, which has been thwarted for a decade amid arguments over what constitutes ...
Turkey Suspends Commercial, Military, and Defense Industry Relations with Israel: Erdogan
September 07, 2011
ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey has suspended its commercial, military and defense industry relations with Israel.
"We have already taken some steps.
And we are determined to maintain ...
Europe, U.S. Need More Economic Stimulus: IMF
September 06, 2011
BERLIN - The United States and European countries should mull new stimulus measures to shore up their economies, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christina Lagarde said Sunday.
In an interview with the Spiegel magazine, she said there are fears about another financial crisis, but the gloom can be averted if ...
Merkel’s Coalition Faces Rough Ride in Regional Election
September 05, 2011
BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition could face a further drubbing at the polls Sunday in a regional election in Germany's poorest state, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) have been junior coalition partners to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in the sparsely ...
Turkey will Challenge Gaza Blockade: Davutoglu
September 04, 2011
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey is preparing to challenge Israel's blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice, the foreign minister said Saturday, racheting up tensions between the once close allies.
Ahmet Davutoglu's comments came a day after Turkey expelled the Israel's ambassador and severed military ties with the country, angered
Turkey Expels Israeli Ambassador
September 03, 2011
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador and said Friday it is cutting military ties with Jerusalem over last year's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed nine people.
Turkey's move came before the anticipated publication Friday of a U.N. report on violence aboard a Gaza-bound protest flotilla. The ...
Iran Warns Against “Change in Syria’s Government”: Salehi
August 29, 2011
TEHRAN - Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi warned against "dire consequences of change in Syria's government," the English language satellite Press TV reported on Sunday.
Syria has highly-sensitive neighbors and therefore (any) change in ...
Russia, China Resists U.N. Syria Sanctions Push: Envoys
August 28, 2011
UNITED NATIONS - A U.S. and European push to impose U.N. Security Council sanctions on Syria for its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators is meeting fierce resistance from Russia and China, U.N. diplomats said. The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal have circulated a draft resolution that calls for sanctions against Syrian ...
No Place for Israel in Region: Ahmadinejad
August 27, 2011
TEHRAN, Iran— The Iranian president said on Friday there will be no room for Israel in the region after the formation of a Palestinian state, and that once the state is established, the liberation of all Palestinian lands should follow. The comments by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reflected his typical ...
Gaddafi Still Has Influence, Military Potential: Medvedev
August 25, 2011
MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi still has influence and military potential despite some successes by the rebels.
He said there were still two powers in Libya, where Gaddafi and his supporters still had a certain influence.
The Russian president made ...
IAEA Seeks Safety Checks in All Atomic Energy States
August 24, 2011
VIENNA - The UN atomic agency wants to carry out at least one safety check mission in each country with nuclear power in the coming three years under proposals aimed at preventing any repeat of Japan's nuclear crisis. The draft document from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a revised version of a plan presented to IAEA member states this month, ...
Gaddafi Forces Must End Fighting in Libya: Ban
August 23, 2011
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to stop fighting and allow a peaceful transition of power in the oil-producing North African state."It is crucial now for the conflict to end with no further loss of life and retribution," he said. "I welcome the ...
Biden Tells China: US will Never Default on Debt
August 22, 2011
US Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the world's biggest economy would never default on its debts, during a visit aimed at boosting Chinese confidence in America's beleaguered finances.
In a speech to hundreds of university students in the vast southwestern city of Chengdu, Biden also urged China to 'cherish' a ...
Kyrgyz President Promised to Step Down Peacefully
August 21, 2011
BISHKEK - Kyrgyz President for the interim period RozaOtunbayeva said on Friday that she will step down after the upcoming presidential election."As soon as the presidential election is over, I will hand power over peacefully. I am not clinging to power," she said during ...
Turkish PM on Humanitarian Visit to Somalia
August 20, 2011
MOGADISHU - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family on Friday arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu to assess the humanitarian crisis brought about by the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa nation. The Turkish prime minister, accompanied by a large high level delegation, visited the refugee camps in the Somali capital Mogadishu ...
Tehran Ready to Resume Nuclear Talks: Iranian FM
August 18, 2011
MOSCOW — Iran is ready to resume negotiations on its nuclear program and a Russian proposal will aid the process, Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday. Ali Akbar Salehi spoke at a news conference in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, but neither side gave new details ...
US, S. Korea Begin War Drills Aimed at N. Korea
August 17, 2011
SEOUL, South Korea — The United States and South Korea on Tuesday began joint war games that North Korea has warned would choke off budding diplomacy and drive the Korean peninsula to war.
After months of hostility and threats, diplomats from the United States and the two Koreas have held talks meant to restart long-stalled ...
IAEA Wants Wider Nuclear Safety Checks
August 16, 2011
VIENNA - The UN atomic agency would carry out international safety checks of ten percent of the world's reactor units over a three-year period, under a draft action plan to prevent any repeat of Japan's nuclear crisis. The document from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), obtained by Reuters on Monday, outlined a series of measures in 10 ...
Iran Will Never Seek N-Weapons: Ahmadinejad
August 15, 2011
TEHRAN - Describing nuclear arms as "inhuman weapons" of the past century, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said his country will never seek atomic arsenal which is a waste of money.
"Never, never. We do not want nuclear weapons. We do not seek nuclear weapons. This is an inhuman weapon," Ahmadinejad said in ...
Don’t Wait Till Too Late: Gul Tells Assad
August 14, 2011
ISTANBUL - Turkish President Abdullah Gul has warned Bashar al-Assad not to leave reforms until it is too late in a letter delivered to the Syrian president earlier this week, state-run Anatolian news agency reported on Friday. Part of a campaign of Turkish pressure on neighbor Syria, for whom ...
Kadhafi Unable to Launch Offensive: NATO Commander
August 13, 2011
Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi are no longer able to launch a credible military offensive, the commander of NATO-led Libyan operations told AFP in an interview Thursday.
"The Kadhafi regime's forces continue to be weakened, both in strength and their will to fight," Canada's Lieutenant-General ...
UK Won’t Let ‘Culture of Fear’ Take Over: Cameron
August 11, 2011
>LONDON — Britain's prime minister hammered out a tough line against rioters Wednesday, determined to restore order and confidence on Britain's streets as extra police officers flooded the capital for a second day. Even as Prime Minister David Cameron promised not to let a "culture of fear" take hold, tensions flared in Birmingham ...
Violence erupts outside London but capital quiet
August 10, 2011
Violence flared in English cities and towns on Tuesday night but London, where thousands of extra police had been deployed, was largely peaceful after three turbulent nights in which youths rampaged across the capital virtually unchecked.Groups of youths in hooded tops fought running battles with police in Manchester in northwest England, smashing...
Ban Calls for Strengthened Nuclear Safety
August 09, 2011
TOKYO - The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for strengthened nuclear safety after visiting Japan's disaster-hit zone in Fukushima on Monday. Ban said at a joint press conference with Japanese foreign minister Takeaki Matsumoto in Tokyo that the Fukushima nuclear power accident "has underscored the importance of strengthened ...
Europe Has ‘Thrown Away’ Recovery: Brown
August 08, 2011
LONDON - Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel have used the wrong measures to resolve the eurozone debt crisis and thrown away the chances of recovery, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Sunday. Brown said the French president and the German chancellor were exacerbating the financial crisis, which he said was ...
Salehi Hopes for Release of 2 Americans
August 07, 2011
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's foreign minister said Saturday he hoped that a final court verdict will lead to the release of two American men who have been held for two years in Tehran on espionage charges.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, have been held in Iran's Evin Prison since shortly after their July 2009 arrest after straying off a ...
Only Direct Talks Lead to Mideast Peace: W.H
August 06, 2011
WASHINGTON - The White House on Thursday stressed direct negotiations as the path to Middle East peace as the Palestinians are pushing hard for their statehood through recognition by the UN General Assembly."We absolutely believe, and I don't think anybody can credibly suggest otherwise, that the path to Middle East peace lies ...
Trial of Mubarak Grips Arab World
August 04, 2011
Egypt - Egyptians and their fellow Arabs were enthralled on Wednesday by the unprecedented sight of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, a leader of the region for three decades and the Arab Spring's biggest scalp, being wheeled into court to face trial.Outside the courtroom in Cairo, they watched on a big screen as the octogenarian, who ruled ...
Iran, Russia Likely to Discuss Iran’s Nuclear Issue
August 03, 2011
TEHRAN - Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that Iran and Russia will possibly discuss Iran's nuclear issue in the upcoming visit of a senior Russian official to Tehran, the local satellite Press TV reported. In the upcoming visit to Tehran by Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of Russian National Security Council, "Various...
EU Extends Sanctions against Syria
August 02, 2011
BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) decided to extend sanctions against Syria on Monday, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on five more Syrian officials "in view of the gravity of the situation" in that country."The EU has decided to impose further restrictive measures, in the forms of an assets freeze and ...
Syria army kills 80 people in storming of Hama - activists
August 01, 2011
Syrians began the Muslim Ramadan fast in somber mood on Monday after troops stormed into Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre, in one of the bloodiest days in a five-month-old uprising against President Bashar ...
US Military Trainer’s Presence Won’t Need Parliament Approval: Maliki
July 31, 2011
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki said on Saturday that presence of U.S. military trainers for the Iraqi forces will not need approval from the parliament, but any other U.S. mission must be agreed by the parliament."Clearly and accurately, I say the existence of trainers will not need approval from the parliament, but any soldier to ...
India, Pakistan Ministers Hail ‘New Era’ in Ties
July 28, 2011
NEW DELHI - India and Pakistan's foreign ministers insisted relations were back on track Wednesday after peace talks that highlighted a "new era" of cooperation over the ruptures of the past.
Although their meeting in New Delhi produced little in the way of substantive agreements, the tone was one of forward-looking optimism ...
Salehi to Visit Russia for Nuke Talks
July 27, 2011
TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will visit Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss Tehran's controversial nuclear drive, an official said on Tuesday.
"Regarding Mr Lavrov's invitation to Mr Salehi ... the topics of discussion will be elevating bilateral relations, studying regional and ...
IAEA Chief Visits Japan’s Stricken Nuclear Plant
July 26, 2011
The head of the UN atomic watchdog agency visited Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant on Monday to survey efforts to contain the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), wore a radiation protection suit on his visit to study...