Pakistan: Tribal leaders agree to talks with Taliban (AKI) - By Saleem Shahzad - For the first time a credible regional forum comprising Pakistani and Afghani officials and tribal leaders has tacitly recognised the Taliban's right to resist foreign forces inside their country. The tribal council meeting or jirga ended two days of talks in Islamabad aimed at finding solutions to
Kosovo: Local Albanians and Serbs oppose UN proposal (AKI) – Majority ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs reached rare agreement on Tuesday, when both opposed reported moves by the United Nations to divide Kosovo administratively. Local media reported that a special UN envoy, Andrew Ladley, had proposed Kosovo's administrative division in order to win Belgrade’s acceptance of the
Israel: General elections scheduled for early 2009 (AKI) - Israeli parliamentarians from various parties agreed on Tuesday to hold general elections on 10 February 2009 after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's failure to form a coalition government. Israeli Knesset members met on Tuesday with the Speaker of the Parliament Dalia Itzik to set the election date after Israeli President Shimon
Turkey: Warplanes target Kurdish militants in Iraq (AKI) - Turkish warplanes bombed suspected Kurdish separatist strongholds in northern Iraq on Tuesday, the army said on its website. The jets targeted suspects linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Hakurk, Avasin-Basyan and Zap regions of northern Iraq."The planes returned safely to base after successfully
Rome Film Festival: Crime drama premieres outside US (AKI) - A new movie American movie focusing on a New York corruption scandal premiered at the Rome Film Festival on Tuesday. 'Pride and Glory' stars Colin Farrell, John Voigt, Edward Norton and Noah Emmerich. It is a gritty and emotional portrait of a multi-generational police family that finds itself on opposite sides of an
Middle East: 'Top militant killed' in US airstrike against Syria (AKI) - A top Syrian militant, Budran Hisham, died in the alleged US raid on a village near the Iraqi border that killed at least eight people, satellite Arabic TV channel Al-Arabiya reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed border police. Hisham is believed to have been responsible for a series of attacks and murders in
Vatican: Call for peace between Hindus and Christians (AKI) - The Vatican's top body for promoting religious dialogue has used the occasion of the Hindu festival of Diwali to promote peace between Hindus and Christians. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, has written a message to Hindus for Diwali, entitled, 'Christians and
Bosnia: Karadzic asks tribunal for more time to prepare defence (AKI) – Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Tuesday asked the United Nations' Hague-based war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for more time to defend himself against charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during Bosnia’s 1992-1995 civil war. At a 15-minute pre-trial hearing on Tuesday,
Cinema: Story of Pakistani child slave to become a cartoon (AKI) - The story of Iqbal Massih, the murdered Pakistani boy who became a symbol in the fight for children's rights, is being turned into an animated cartoon. Production will begin soon on 'The story of a Boy who had no Fear', an animated cartoon to be created by Frenchman Michel Fuzellier and Iranian Babak Payami. The film
Italy: Deported Romanians 'finding safe haven in Spain' (AKI) - Dozens of Romanian citizens who have been deported from Italy have moved to the outskirts of Spain's capital Madrid, Spanish police claim.According to Spanish daily ABC, Romanians have recently begun arriving in Spain by bus and settling in Canada Real and San Sebastian de los Reyes, areas traditionally inhabited by