Advertise With Us

9,000 displaced in Somalia violence

At least 9,200 people have been displaced in a fierce battle raging between the coalition forces and the insurgents near the Somali capital, the UN refugee agency said here Saturday.

The fighting erupted in Afgooye, a stronghold of the Al-Shabaab insurgent group, some 30 km from Mogadishu. People have fled to Mogadishu, Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba regions to avoid the fighting, the UNHCR said.

Africa Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia said that its forces and the Somali Army have secured all major roads leading in and out of Afgooye town, Xinhua reported.

Permalink

“This appalling and brutal crime, involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centres and violence in all its forms.”

UN leader Ban Ki-moon and UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan have condemned a massacre of more than 90 civilians in Syria as an “appalling and brutal” breach of international law.

Ban and Annan “condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children” in Houla, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Saturday.

The UN mission said 92 bodies, 32 of them children aged less than 10, had been found in Houla after the artillery offensive on Friday.

Permalink

Egypt election: early results - live updates via the Guardian The continuing count of Egypt’s presidential election show a tight race for a place on the runoff ballot between the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Morsi (left), the leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabahy, (centre) and Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq (right). [Photograph: EPA Photograph: EPA/AP via Guardian] Latest tally includes counts from 18 of the 27 governorates. Sabahy was in second after counts from 15 governorates. Morsi 3,451,433 (25.59%) Shafiq 3,378,998 (25.05%) Sabbahi 2,862,143 (21.22%) Abul Fotouh 2,362,956 (17.52%) Moussa 1,431,239 (10.61%)

The continuing count of Egypt’s presidential election show a tight race for a place on the runoff ballot between the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Morsi (left), the leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabahy, (centre) and Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq (right). [Photograph: EPA Photograph: EPA/AP via Guardian]
Latest tally includes counts from 18 of the 27 governorates. Sabahy was in second after counts from 15 governorates.
  1. Morsi 3,451,433 (25.59%)
  2. Shafiq 3,378,998 (25.05%)
  3. Sabbahi 2,862,143 (21.22%)
  4. Abul Fotouh 2,362,956 (17.52%)
  5. Moussa 1,431,239 (10.61%)

Permalink

Israel PM: illegal African immigrants threaten identity of Jewish state The Israeli prime minister has stoked a volatile debate about refugees and migrant workers from Africa, warning that “illegal infiltrators flooding the country” were threatening the security and identity of the Jewish state. “If we don’t stop their entry, the problem that currently stands at 60,000 could grow to 600,000, and that threatens our existence as a Jewish and democratic state,” Binyamin Netanyahu said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “This phenomenon is very grave and threatens the social fabric of society, our national security and our national identity.” Israel’s population is 7.8 million.

Israel PM: illegal African immigrants threaten identity of Jewish state

The Israeli prime minister has stoked a volatile debate about refugees and migrant workers from Africa, warning that “illegal infiltrators flooding the country” were threatening the security and identity of the Jewish state.

“If we don’t stop their entry, the problem that currently stands at 60,000 could grow to 600,000, and that threatens our existence as a Jewish and democratic state,” Binyamin Netanyahu said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “This phenomenon is very grave and threatens the social fabric of society, our national security and our national identity.” Israel’s population is 7.8 million.

Permalink

Lockerbie bomber Megrahi dies in Tripoli | Al Jazeera Eleven years after being convicted of planting a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi has died in the Libyan city of Tripoli, his brother has said. Megrahi was found guilty of killing all 259 people on board the flight, along with 11 other victims on the ground, by a special court set up in The Netherlands in 2001. Magrahi has insisted his innocence throughout, claiming he was an airline executive, while prosecutors at his trial described him as an intelligence officer for the Libyan Intelligence Services, which the court accepted.

Lockerbie bomber Megrahi dies in Tripoli | Al Jazeera

Eleven years after being convicted of planting a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi has died in the Libyan city of Tripoli, his brother has said.

Megrahi was found guilty of killing all 259 people on board the flight, along with 11 other victims on the ground, by a special court set up in The Netherlands in 2001.

Magrahi has insisted his innocence throughout, claiming he was an airline executive, while prosecutors at his trial described him as an intelligence officer for the Libyan Intelligence Services, which the court accepted.

Permalink