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Pakistan raises Swat militia to fight Taliban

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - By Lehaz Ali - Aug. 06 (News Report) - Pakistan on Thursday showed off teenagers and hundreds of armed men from a private army who vowed Thursday to kick out the Taliban from the Swat valley, officials and witnesses said.

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Afghan MP's Defend Family Law Against "Concerns"

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Apr. 03 (News Report) - A copy of the draft bill, seen by AFP, said: "It is the responsibility of the wife to prepare for sexual satisfaction of her husband and not leave the house without permission, unless there is the need or difficulty." Critics interpreted this as making it illegal for a woman to refuse her husband sex and only in an emergency leave the house without permission.

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Obama hits back at Cheney's attacks

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Mar. 22 (News Report) - President Barack Obama has hit back at criticism by Dick Cheney, disputing the former vice president's claims that closing Guantanamo endangers the United States, according to interview excerpts released Saturday. "How many terrorists have actually been brought to justice under the philosophy that is being promoted by vice president Cheney?" Obama asked on the CBS program "60 Minutes," scheduled to air late Sunday. "It hasn't made us safer. What it has been is a great advertisement for anti-American sentiment."

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Population growth, climate change sparking water crisis: U.N.

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Grist - Mar. 11 (Special Report) - Surging population growth, climate change, reckless irrigation and chronic waste are placing the world's water supplies at threat, a landmark U.N. report said on Thursday. Compiled by 24 U.N. agencies, the 348-page document gave a grim assessment of the state of the planet's freshwater, especially in developing countries, and described the outlook for coming generations as deeply worrying. Water is part of the complex web of factors that determine prosperity and stability, it said. Lack of access to water helps drive poverty and deprivation and breeds the potential for unrest and conflict, it warned.

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Bush: Iraq intelligence failure 'biggest regret'

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Agence France-Presse - Dec. 01 (News Report) - "A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington DC, during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence," Bush told ABC.

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France, India sign major nuclear deal

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Sep. 30 (News Report) - France and India on Tuesday signed a landmark nuclear cooperation pact which opens the way for the sale of French nuclear reactors to New Delhi.

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Crisis slams European banks, stocks as world awaits US vote

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Sep. 29 (News Report) - NEW YORK (AFP) - US lawmakers agreed a 700-billion-dollar bailout of financial groups, but the financial hurricane slammed into European banks and global markets Monday amid doubts over whether the deal would get through Congress.

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Obama faces runaway expectations from US allies

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:47:10 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Jun. 08 (News Report) - No US leader, including Obama if he beats Republican John McCain, can wave a magic wand to bring peace to the Middle East, or halt climate change, or force "rogue states" to renounce their nuclear schemes.

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Obama creeps past McCain in opinion poll

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:45:38 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Jun. 03 (News Report) - Washington - Democrat Barack Obama has pulled ahead of Republican John McCain in the race for the White House, a Gallup/USA Today voter opinion survey published Tuesday shows.

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McCain's lobbyist problem spotlights unpopular crowd

Sat, 24 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - By Jitendra Joshi - May. 24 (News Report) - With strict new ethics rules and a clearout of top aides, Republican John McCain is battling to avoid being tainted by Democrats as a Washington insider in thrall to big business. At least five senior staffers have parted ways with McCain's White House campaign in recent days, after the Arizona senator clamped down on lobbyist activity that might pose a conflict of interest with his presidential bid.

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In US campaign, VP chatter swells

Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - By Jitendra Joshi - May. 22 (News Report) - Republican John McCain sent the rumor mill about his vice presidential pick into overdrive Thursday while Democrat Barack Obama was said to have started his own search for a White House running mate. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for November's general election, is meeting this weekend at his Arizona ranch with at least three potential candidates, according to The New York Times.

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AFP: Unpopular Bush is tonic, toxic for McCain

Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - May. 22 (News Report) - Last week, McCain found out just how hard it can be as long as Bush has the president's traditional "bully pulpit" -- his ability to shape and dominate public discourse through the White House megaphone. On Monday, the senator broke sharply with Bush on climate change and vowed, "I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges" -- a clear rebuke to the president. On Thursday, he also for the first time gave a date for when he would like most US troops home from Iraq -- 2013 -- after months of rejecting, as Bush does, any suggestion of a withdrawal timetable, a key Democratic cause. That same day, however, Bush used a speech to Israeli lawmakers to imply that Obama's pledges to talk to leaders of hostile foreign powers including Iran were akin to pre-World War II efforts to appease Adolf Hitler.

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McCain rejects evangelical leader over Nazi remarks - Yahoo! News

Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - By Stephen Collinson - May. 22 (News Report) - Republican John McCain Thursday faced down a fiery evangelical pastor backing his White House bid who, it was revealed, believed the Nazis did God's will by chasing Jews from Europe. But while McCain disavowed the Texas pastor, John Hagee, the Arizona senator aimed a pointed dig at his Democratic rival Barack Obama's own preacher problems in observing he had never been part of Hagee's flock.

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Pentagon suspends program for military 'media analysts'

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Apr. 30 (News Report) - Washington - The Pentagon has suspended a public affairs program that has come under fire for using retired military "media analysts" as surrogates to get out its messages on the Iraq war, a spokesman confirmed Monday. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the program was undergoing an internal review following criticism that the retired officers offered Pentagon talking points as their own during the run-up to the Iraq invasion and thereafter. "It's temporarily suspended so we can take at look at some of the concerns," said Whitman. Teleconferences and briefings for the military analysts have been halted pending the review, which is being conducted by the Pentagon's public affairs office, he said.

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Australian state to ban plastic bags

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Apr. 17 (News Report) - South Australia state said Thursday it would ban plastic bags from next year after a meeting of environment ministers failed to agree on a national programme to address the issue.

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Iraqi women demand equality, end to violence

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Agence France-Presse - Mar. 08 (News Report) - recent report by US-based Women For Women International said the state of Iraqi women since the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq has become a "national crisis." According to the report, released Thursday, 64 percent of the women surveyed said violence against them had increased since the war. "When asked why, respondents most commonly said that there is less respect for women's rights than before, that women are thought of as possessions and that the economy has gotten worse," it said. The report also found that 76 percent of the women interviewed said that girls in their families were forbidden from attending school.

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Putin party wins landslide in Russian elections

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:18:26 -0800

Agence France-Presse - By AFP Reporter - Dec. 03 (News Report) - President Vladimir Putin's party won a resounding victory in Russia's parliamentary elections, results showed Monday, but the opposition claimed massive vote violations and prepared protests.

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Hundreds rounded up in Pakistan, elections under threat

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:10:33 -0800

Agence France-Presse - By Rana Jawad,Danny Kemp - Nov. 04 (News Report) - The government said Sunday that parliamentary polls scheduled for January could be put back, amid fears that Islamic militants may retaliate with further attacks and that tensions between Musharraf and the army could escalate.

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Turkey pledges strong response to Kurdish attack

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:27:23 -0700

Agence France-Presse - By Mahmut Bozarslan - Oct. 21 (News Report) - Turkey vowed strong action Sunday against Kurdish separatists after 12 of its soldiers and 32 rebels were killed in clashes sparked by an ambush near the tense border with Iraq.

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Greenspan memoir links Iraq war to US thirst for oil

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:47:55 -0700

Agence France-Presse - By Antoine Agasse - Sep. 17 (News Report) - Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, for years an inscrutable seer on the economy, is causing a stir by alleging in his new memoir that "the Iraq war is largely about oil." ADVERTISEMENT Greenspan, who as head of the US central bank was famous for his tight-lipped reserve, is uncharacteristically direct, also accusing President George W. Bush of abandoning Republican principles on the economy.

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US Congress moves to attack foreign oil firms linked to Iran

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:52:29 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Jun. 26 (News Report) - US legislation designed to punish foreign energy companies that do business with Iran was overwhelmingly adopted by a powerful committee of Congress Tuesday. The foreign affairs panel of the House of Representatives passed the proposed law by 37 votes to one, with Democrats and Republicans alike accusing Iran of using energy investment to fund its nuclear drive and "terrorism."

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Experts cast doubt on credibility of JFK terror plot

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 05:40:26 -0700

Agence France-Presse - Jun. 05 (News Report) - An alleged plot to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines at New York's JFK airport had little chance of success, according to safety experts, who have questioned whether the plot ever posed a real threat

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G8 are poised to examine Darfur humanitarian corridor

Thu, 31 May 2007 23:56:50 -0700

Agence France-Presse - May. 31 (News Report) - POTSDAM, Germany) -- The Group of Eight most industrialised nations are prepared to consider a French proposal to create "humanitarian corridors" in Darfur, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday. "It's a risky attempt. Our friends here have accepted this risk and we will try to do likewise," Kouchner told journalists after a meeting with his G8 counterparts in Potsdam near Berlin. Kouchner, the maverick Socialist drafted into the cabinet following the election of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy as president, has said Darfur will be a priority of his time in office. He added that the G8 was also prepared to consider the idea of a "contact group" for Darfur. The four-year conflict in western Sudan has left more than 200,000 people dead and forced more than two million people from their homes, according to the United Nations. Sudan disputes those estimates, saying 9,000 people have died. France is proposing the creation of a humanitarian corridor through neighbouring Chad or the Central African Republic to allow aid to be transported safely to civilians. "This is in no way a military operation," Kouchner said. "It is something the United Nations must do." France already has about 1,000 soldiers as well as helicopters and military hardware in Chad, a former French colony.

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Iran offers to train and arm Iraqi forces

Mon, 28 May 2007 12:38:36 -0700

Agence France-Presse - May. 28 (News Report) - Iran' ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, offered weapons and training to the Iraqi army on Monday after accusing Washington of not supplying Baghdad with the equipment needed to defend itself. 'The Iraqi government is in need of strong military and security structure to confront its security problems and we have offered all forms of assistance such as weapons, training and equipment,' he said following a landmark meeting with his US counterpart.

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Iran says EU nuclear talks postponed

Sun, 27 May 2007 13:22:51 -0700

Agence France-Presse - May. 27 (News Report) - Iran announced on Sunday crunch talks with the European Union to break the deadlock over its controversial nuclear programme have been postponed, amid growing calls for fresh UN action against Teheran. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana were due to meet on Thursday, possibly in Spain, for their second encounter in just over a month. 'For the Larijani-Solana meeting, no date or venue has been set,' Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters. 'With the agreement of both sides it has been postponed.' He said that the delay had been agreed in a telephone conversation between the two men and was required as both sides needed more time to study their options for the talks.

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