US Vice-President Joe Biden is meeting the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah.The Israeli government’s approval of plans for 1,600 more homes in a Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem is expected to dominate the talks. Mr Biden earlier said the substance and timing of the decision had undermined the trust needed for peace Read More…
By Narayan BarethBBC News, JaipurAn Indian charity has sent a team to northern Sri Lanka to provide 1,000 amputees with artificial limbs.Workers from the BMVSS charity, which makes the so-called "Jaipur foot", will spend a month in the town of Vavuniya. The Jaipur foot is regarded as the most inexpensive and cost effective artificial limb Read More…
The father of a British boy kidnapped in Pakistan is returning to the UK, against the wishes of the country’s police, the BBC has learned.Sahil Saeed, five, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was seized by an armed gang while he and his father were staying with relatives in Jhelum, Punjab. Interior minister Rehman Malik told the Read More…
Two European women kidnapped in West Africa have been freed, according to unconfirmed reports from diplomatic sources.Spaniard Alicia Gamez, and Italian Philomene Kaboure, both 39, were seized last year and held by a militant group, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. They were seized separately in Mauritania, and then held in Mali. Two other male Spaniards Read More…
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is shortly expected to meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran in Kabul.It is the Iranian president’s first visit to the neighbouring country since Mr Ahmadinejad and Mr Karzai were re-elected last year. Later, the Afghan president will head to Pakistan for a two day visit. President Karzai has been criticised for Read More…
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has confirmed that the terror suspect Dulmatin was killed in a police raid in Jakarta.Indonesian security forces said they had killed three suspected militants in two raids on Tuesday. But they could not confirm that Dulmatin, alleged mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombings, was among those killed. Mr Yudhoyono is Read More…
Oligarch Boris Berezovsky has won a libel case over allegations he was behind the murder of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.He was awarded £150,000 at the High Court over a claim made by Russian state-owned TV channel RTR Planeta. Mr Berezovsky, who said he was a friend and supporter of Mr Litvinenko, said the comments Read More…
A court case brought by the family of Rachel Corrie, a US protester killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003, is due to begin in Israel.The civil action against the Israeli defence ministry will decide whether damages should be paid for her death in Gaza at the age of 23. Ms Corrie and other Read More…
Unidentified gunmen have attacked the office of a Western aid agency in Pakistan, killing up to five people, the police said.The victims, including two women, were all Pakistanis, reports say. The attack took place on the office of the World Vision in Mansehra district, 65 km (40 miles), north of Islamabad, the police said. Islamic Read More…
The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has said he pities Nigel Farage, the British MEP who called him a "damp rag" last month.Mr Van Rompuy said his popularity had soared in Belgium, following the tirade from the Eurosceptic Mr Farage. "I found it so ridiculous that I was not even really angry… Read More…
