Middle East
Israel 'routinely tortures prisoners'
Published: 07 May 2007
Israel's Shin Bet security service tortures Palestinian prisoners during interrogations in defiance of a 1999 court ruling outlawing such practices, two of the country's human rights groups said yesterday.
Stoning to death of girl provokes wave of killings
Published: 07 May 2007
The stoning to death of a teenage girl belonging to the Yazidi religious sect because she fell in love with a Muslim man has led to a spiral of violence in northern Iraq in which 23 elderly factory workers have been shot dead and 800 Yazidi students forced to flee their university in Mosul.
Building catches fire on Dubai's manmade palm island
Published: 07 May 2007
A fire broke out yesterday in a building under construction on Dubai's iconic Palm Jumeirah resort island, injuring at least three people and sending clouds of smoke towering over the city's beachfront neighborhoods.
One killed in Palestinian militant attack at Gaza school event
Published: 07 May 2007
Palestinian militants in long Islamic robes and beards threw a bomb near a children's festival at a UN-operated elementary school in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, killing a bodyguard of a local Fatah leader and wounding seven other people, medical officials said.
The Great Wall of Baghdad may be going up, but there's still carnage on the streets
Published: 06 May 2007
The first thing Said, a small contractor, did on visiting a military prison in west Baghdad was to pay a $2,000 bribe. The money went to an officer in return for a promise not to torture Said's brother and business partner, Ali. The main payment comes later. For Ali's release, Said will pay a further $100,000.
Lady in red brings abrupt end to US-Iran gala dinner date
Published: 05 May 2007
It was billed as a chance for rapprochement between two countries - Iran and the United States - which have been estranged for almost three decades.
The kiss that brought immorality debate to a head
Published: 05 May 2007
Scores of Iranian women have been arrested over the past few weeks for improper dress, known as "bad hijab", and even the country's President has found himself on the wrong end of the conservatives' wrath.
Britain protests to Olmert about illegal settlement
Published: 05 May 2007
The British Government has directly intervened in the controversy over Jewish colonisation in Arab East Jerusalem after the formation of plans to build an illegal settlement within 50 metres of its Consulate General in the city.
Troops detain 16 in raids on Baghdad arms smugglers
Published: 05 May 2007
US-led forces detained 16 suspected militants during raids in Baghdad's main Shia district, targeting a cell allegedly smuggling a weapon from Iran into Iraq that can pierce armoured vehicles, the US military said yesterday.
Protesters vent anger over Olmert at rally
Published: 04 May 2007
Her parents' house in the northern town of Kyriat Shimona was hit by a Katyusha rocket in the war last summer. Two of her brothers were fighting in Lebanon when it happened.
Beleaguered Iraqis now fear their own security forces more than the insurgents
Published: 04 May 2007
"Be careful," warned a senior Iraqi government official living in the Green Zone in Baghdad, "be very careful and above all do not trust the police or the army."
Mother of all pearls: A very precious gem
Published: 04 May 2007
After war in Lebanon... the battle for Israel
Published: 03 May 2007
Former spy fighting to step into the front line
Published: 03 May 2007
"Do you ever see male hormones raging around you?", Israel's Foreign Minister was asked a few months ago. Rather than fudge the answer, she responded frankly: "Sometimes there are guy issues." But she didn't stop there. When the interviewer from Haaretz pressed her to find out whether there had been "a guy problem" in the war on Lebanon, Tzipi Livni replied: "Not only in the war. In all kinds of discussions, I hear arguments between generals and admirals and such and I say, 'Guys, stop it'."
Minister quits as pressure grows on Olmert over conduct of Lebanon war
Published: 02 May 2007
Ehud Olmert is struggling to control a deepening crisis over his premiership after a minister in his coalition government resigned and two MPs from his own party called for him to quit amid the fallout from an official report into the Lebanon war.
Insurgents reported to have killed al-Qa'ida commander
Published: 02 May 2007
The leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq may have been killed fighting other insurgents, according to the Iraqi government, which has been trying to recover his body.
Iraq's al-Qa'ida leader 'killed'
Published: 01 May 2007
The leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been killed in a gun battle between militants north of Baghdad, news reports said today.
Olmert fights to save career as inquiry cites 'serious failings'
Published: 01 May 2007
Ehud Olmert was fighting for his political survival last night after a government commission excoriated the Israeli Prime Minister for his leading role in the "very serious failings" in last summer's Lebanon war.
Rifleman, 18, named as latest victim of insurgency
Published: 01 May 2007
He was eight years old when Tony Blair came to power in 1997. He was 18 when he died, the latest casualty of the bloody mission in Iraq which will define the Prime Minister's legacy.
Damning war report puts Olmert on the brink
Published: 30 April 2007
Ehud Olmert came under growing pressure to resign after media leaks that an inquiry is to blame the Israeli Prime Minister for the failures of last summer's Lebanon war.
Death toll up to 68 after blast in Shia holy city
Published: 30 April 2007
US forces fired an artillery barrage in southern Baghdad yesterday morning, rocking the capital with loud explosions. In the Shia holy city of Karbala, the death toll from a suicide car bomb attack rose to 68.
Lebanese politicians in show of unity after sectarian murders
Published: 28 April 2007
Walid Jumblatt may be one of the more charismatic figures in Lebanese political life but when he tells his people to avoid violence, they do as they are told.
Saudis seize scores of militants 'primed for terrorist attacks'
Published: 28 April 2007
Police have arrested 172 Islamist militants, some of whom were being trained abroad as pilots so they could fly aircraft in attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil fields, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.
Authorities mobilize police after skirmish with Sinai Bedouins
Published: 28 April 2007
Authorities mobilized hundreds of policemen in eastern Sinai yesterday after armed Bedouins trying to cross into Israel wounded an Egyptian security officer, police said.
Doubts raised over Prince Harry's war-zone posting deployment to Iraq
Published: 27 April 2007
The question of whether Prince Harry will be sent to Iraq, and whether he will resign from the Army if he is not sent, was mired in confusion yesterday. The Ministry of Defence said it was reviewing the issue of the Prince's deployment to Iraq after a rise in attacks against British troops and threats by insurgents to abduct him and cut off his ears.
Independent Offers
A-Z site map
Indy 100 prices
MORE: Travel podcasts
SAVE: Travel offers
FREE: Email headlines