مدونة ام النور omelnor jesus

  U.S. President Barack Obama AFP WASHINGTON - The United States will send a delegation led by Vice President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia to offer condolences for the death of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the White House said Sunday. U.S. President Barack Obama announced the visit of the delegation to ailing Saudi King Abdullah in a telephone call on Sunday, during which he also expressed his "personal condolences" to the king over his half-brother's death. Obama "praised Crown Prince Sultan's many contributions over the past five decades, including his critical role in building the strong and enduring partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia," the White House said. "The president informed the King that a senior delegation, which will be led by Vice President Biden, will travel to Riyadh to pay condolences durin...

Muammar Gadhafi AFP TRIPOLI - Libya's interim government will hand the body of slain despot Muammar Gadhafi to his relatives after consulting with them on the location of his burial, a senior government advisor said on Sunday. "The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family are present at this moment," Ahmed Jibril told AFP. "The NTC (National Transitional Council) are in consultation with his family. It is for his family to decide where Gadhafi will be buried, in consultation with the NTC," he added. Jibril, who is an advisor to the new regime's interim premier Mahmud Jibril, declined to say when the transfer would take place. Since he was killed on Thursday, as he tried to flee his hometown of Sirte, Gadhafi body has been held in a refrigerated chamber outside Misrata, drawin...

Barak: Israel needs new rules for prisoner swaps Gilad Shalit AFP JERUSALEM, AFP - Israel must set new rules governing prisoner exchanges such as the one implemented to secure soldier Gilad Shalit's release, Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday. "I'm happy about the deal on the exchange for Gilad Shalit, but we must set new rules," he told the free daily newspaper Israel Hayom. Barak spoke a little less than a week after Shalit, who was held captive in Gaza for over five years, returned to Israel in return for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners to be freed over two months. The deal had broad support inside Israel but was criticized in some quarters as a capitulation that strengthened Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza and was among the groups that captured Shalit in 2006. On Sunday, Israeli opposit...

By ASHRAF AZOOZ - Translated by BISHOY RAMZY REYAD The social unrest and increasing strikes in Egypt since the January 25 Revolution have affected Egypt’s economic activities and brought the unemployment level to 12 percent, said Cleopatra Henry, an official in the International Labor Organization (ILO). The Egyptian government must increase investments from 16 percent to 23 percent of its GDP and attract foreign investments, Henry demanded at a seminar about international labor standards on Tuesday. The next parliament should develop the Ministry of Manpower as a cornerstone for providing required information about the labor market, she said, adding that it would serve as the authority for the state. Despite the challenges Egypt is facing after its revolution, the ILO expects that the government can respond to the demands raised by the Egyptian people during the popular uprising, she sai...

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi By MENA - Translated by ANAS HABIB Head of the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces (SCAF) Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi today flew to Saudi Arabia with a delegation to offer condolences on behalf of Egypt on the occasion of Sultan Abdel Aziz’s death. The delegation includes the Minister of Electricity Hussan Younis, General Reda Hahiz and SCAF member Maj. Gen. Harb Mokhtar. Meanwhile, chief of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi also flew to Saudi Arabia today to mourn the death of the Crown Prince.

April 6 Movement spokesman, Tareq el-Kholi By NOURA FAKHRI - Translated by SAMAR SAMIR CAIRO: Egyptian April 6 Movement will stage a protest outside the office of the Public Prosecution on Wednesday over the disappearance of one of its members. They will also stage an open-ended sit-in if the member of political bureau of the April 6 Movement, Sherif el-Roubi, does not appear. El-Roubi has been missing since October 22. "We all exerted efforts to find our fellow member but in vain and we have nothing except protesting and staging open-ended sit-in until he appears again," said April 6 Movement spokesman, Tareq el-Kholi.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin  Netanyahu By HATEM ATTEIA - Translated by ANAS HABIB Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today confirmed his approval of the exchange deal between Israel and Egypt for alleged Israel spy Ilan Grapel. Egypt will receive 25 detained prisoners in return. The Prime Minister’s office released a statement confirming Netanyahu’s approval of the swap, Israeli newspapers and Hebrew radio reported today. Yitzhak Molcho, an advisor to the Prime Minister, member of the Knesset and former agent in Shabak, yesterday arrived in Cairo to complete the deal with Egyptian authorities, political sources in Israel today confirmed. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman today said that both Ilan and Ouda are not spies and are wrongfully accused.

High-profile leader of the Islamic Group Tarek al-Zomor By RAMY NAWAR - Translated by BISHOY RAMZY REYAD CAIRO: High-profile leader of the Islamic Group Tarek al-Zomor, will head to Egypt's Council of State to gain his constitutional right to vote and participate in Egypt's political life. Al-Zomor told Youm7 the council will consider his appeal, which he filed with a number of leaders of the group, to participate in politics and to vote during the next parliamentary elections. He clarified he has the right to practice his political rights 15 years ago since the decision to deprive him from participating in political life was dropped in 1996. He expressed his fears of issuing any judicial rules that could prevent any figures of his group from voting or running for the next elections in Egypt. It is important to mention al-Zomor was the first to support the initiative calling to sus...

former president Hosni Mubarak By YOUM7 STAFF - Translated by AMANY SABER Youm7 learned that former president Hosni Mubarak is suffering from very poor health at the International Medical Center. Doctors are attempting to avert a health crisis. Mubarak is being treated at the center while he he undergoes trial for killing protestors during January 25 Revolution .

Archive AP SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A Yemeni security official says four people were killed and 11 injured when the military plane they were on crashed shortly before landing at an air base in the country's south. It's unclear what caused Monday's crash but the official says it took place at al-Ammad air base near the southern city of Aden. The official says a technical problem might have caused the crash. He says there were eight Syrians and seven Yemenis on board. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Tunisia's Islamist party claims election victory Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A moderate Islamist party claimed victory Monday in Tunisia's landmark elections as preliminary results indicated it had won the biggest share of votes, assuring it will have a strong say in the future constitution of the country whose popular revolution led to the Arab Spring. The Ennahda party's success could boost other Islamist parties in the North Africa and the Middle East, although Ennahda insists its approach to sharia, or Islamic law, is consistent with Tunisia's progressive traditions, especially in regards to women's rights. Party officials estimated Ennahda had taken at least 30 percent of the 217-seat assembly charged with writing a new constitution for the country. Other estimates put the party's share from Sunday's vote closer to 50 perc...

Explosion at fuel deport near Libyan town of Sirte Explosion at fuel deport AP MISRATA, Libya (AP) — A Libyan official says there has been an explosion at a fuel depot near the central city of Sirte. Jalal al-Gallal, a spokesman for Libya's National Transitional Council, said Tuesday he did not have further details about the blast a day earlier. He said Ali Tarhouni, a Cabinet minister, would provide details in a news conference later in the day. Tirana Hassan, a researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, says she was in Sirte on Monday when she saw a huge black cloud of smoke in the distance. She says 11 people with serious burns were brought to Sirte's Ibn Sina Hospital, and nurses there said they were injured in the blast at the fuel depot. Ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was captured in Sirte there last week.

Libyan official says Gadhafi buried at dawn Gadhafi AP MISRATA, Libya (AP) — A Misrata military council official says Moammar Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and a top aide have been buried in a secret location, with a few relatives and officials in attendance. In a text message read to The Associated Press, spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal is quoted as saying the burial took place at 5 a.m. Tuesday, and that Islamic prayers were read over the bodies. The information could not be independently verified. The three bodies had been held in cold storage in Misrata since Gadhafi was captured near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday. Gadhafi died in unclear circumstances within hours of his capture, and Libya's new leaders have promised an investigation. Beitalmal has said the burial site would remain secret to prevent vandalism.

Searchers in Turkey hope for more quake survivors AP ERCIS, Turkey (AP) — Thousands of people have spent a second night outdoors in near-freezing conditions in eastern Turkey, afraid to return to their homes following a deadly earthquake that has been followed by hundreds of aftershocks. Searchers are picking through the ruins in the cities of Ercis and Van in hopes of finding more survivors. The Dogan news agency says rescuers pulled five people out of the rubble alive in the early hours of Tuesday. Volunteer Mahir Yatagan says his search and rescue organization, AKUT, is still hoping to receive phone calls or text messages from people trapped in the debris. The death toll from Sunday's earthquake currently stands at 279, with 1,300 injured.

Israeli FM says Abbas is 'obstacle' to peace Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas AP JERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is an "obstacle" to peace, and he hopes Abbas will soon resign. Avigdor Lieberman lashed out at the Palestinian leader in a briefing with reporters Monday. He said Abbas has been leading a campaign to delegitimize Israel internationally and that he has become an "obstacle that needs to be removed." In the past, Abbas has repeatedly threatened to resign. Lieberman called on him to carry out his threat, adding that "whoever comes after him will be better." Abbas is leading a drive for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state. Israel is hotly opposed. Lieberman said he was "100 percent" sure that in the current climate, establishment of a Palestinian state would lead to rocket fire...

2-week old baby rescued after Turkish quake Associated Press ERCIS, Turkey (AP) — A 2-week-old baby girl on Tuesday was pulled alive from the rubble of an apartment building and rescue workers struggled to save her mother, nearly 48 hours after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that toppled some 2,000 buildings in eastern Turkey. Television footage showed rescuers in orange jumpsuits clapping as the baby, Azra Karaduman, was removed from the wreckage. A rescuer cradled the naked infant, who was wrapped in a blanket and handed over to a medic. The baby's mother, Semiha, was still alive, pinned next to a sofa inside the flattened building. Rescuers in two cities, Ercis and Van, raced to free people trapped inside mounds of concrete, twisted steel and construction debris. Authorities have warned survivors of the quake that killed at least 366 people not to enter damaged b...

US pulls envoy out of Syria, citing safety concern U.S. envoy to Syria Robert Ford  Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has pulled its ambassador home from Syria, arguing that his support for anti-Assad activists put him in grave danger — the most dramatic action so far by the United States as it struggles to counter a Mideast autocrat who is withstanding pressure that has toppled neighboring dictators. Syria responded quickly Monday, ordering home its envoy from Washington. American Ambassador Robert Ford was temporarily recalled on Saturday after the U.S. received "credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," the State Department said, pointing directly at President Bashar Assad's government. Ford, who already had been the subject of several incidents of intimidation, has enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful...

Ilan Grapel  AP JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders have approved a deal to swap 25 Egyptian prisoners for a U.S.-Israeli citizen jailed in Egypt on suspicion of espionage. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says Israel's Security Cabinet unanimously approved the deal on Tuesday afternoon. It says Ilan Grapel, who was arrested in Cairo in June, is expected to return to Israel on Thursday. Israel and Egypt first announced the deal on Monday.

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu By MAHMOUD MOHIEE - Translated by BISHOY RAMZY REYAD Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today ratified a deal with Egypt that secures the release of alleged Israeli spy Ilan Grapel, who was imprisoned four months ago in Cairo, reported Israeli media. Grapel will be released in exchange for 25 Egyptian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot reported, adding that the deal will be executed on Thursday. The deal is also an attempt to strengthen Egyptian-Israeli relations, the paper added. Recently Egypt helped secure an exchange deal between Israel and Hamas wherein Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was returned in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli Cabinet will meet on Tuesday to ratify the deal with Egypt, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office today said. Grapel has not ...

  Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading member of al-Qaida's Yemen branch MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, AP CAIRO — A statement from the family of a Yemeni militant and his son, both U.S. citizens killed in separate airstrikes, criticizes the American attacks as unjustified. Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading member of al-Qaida's Yemen branch, was killed in a Sept. 30 airstrike. His son Abdul-Rahman was killed along with six others on Friday. In the statement posted Tuesday on a militant website affiliated with al-Qaida, the family said the son was just 16 years old and was searching for his father when he was killed. "The American administration is trying to absolve itself of killing innocents," the statement said. There has been some criticism of the killing of the militant because he was a U.S. citizen, but the Obama administration has defended it as legitimate anti-terror activity.

BlackBerry - Archive By YOUM7 STAFF Last week’s three-day BlackBerry outage has been directly linked to substantially lower numbers of road accidents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to United Arab Emirates news website the National. In Dubai, traffic accidents decreased by 20 percent during the outage, which affected internet services and BlackBerry Messaging (BBM). In Abu Dhabi, accidents fell 40 percent and there were no fatal accidents, reported the National. Brig Gen Hussein Al Harethi, the director of the Abu Dhabi Police traffic department, told the National, “Accidents were reduced by 40 per cent and the fact that BlackBerry services were down definitely contributed to that."

Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italian riot police fired tear gas and water cannons in Rome on Saturday as violent protesters hijacked a peaceful demonstration against corporate greed, smashing bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles. Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands nicknamed "the indignant" marched without incident in cities across Europe, as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests linked up with long-running demonstrations against European governments' austerity measures. Heavy smoke billowed in downtown Rome as a small group broke away and wreaked havoc in streets close to the Colosseum and elsewhere in the city. Clad in black with their faces covered, protesters threw rocks, bottles and incendiary devices at banks and Rome police in riot gear. With clubs and hammers, they destroyed bank ATMs, set trash bins on fire and assaulted at le...

  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon By DBA- Translated by ANAS HABIB OSLO, Norway: The upcoming elections in Egypt must be fair and democratic, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon Monday during a visit to Norway. "The Egyptian and Tunisian people managed to realize their dreams and ambitions by achieving a democracy," he said. "The two oppressors in both countries, Ben Ali and Mubarak, were toppled by the people's power." The Secretary-General said that he is in contact with Egyptian political leadership, and emphasized that the next elections must be fair and democratic. He did not comment on Sunday’s clashes between protesters and military police outside of Maspiro, the building hosting Egyptian television. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store expressed his concerns about the clashes, and said that the transitional process must continue.

  U.S. President Barack Obama AFP WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama was Friday to hold talks with Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, the first of the new generation of Arab spring leaders to be welcomed to the White House. Obama was to meet Essebsi at 3:45 pm (1945 GMT) for talks in the prestigious Oval Office, before a brief joint press appearance. Essebsi's visit comes two weeks before key October 23 elections, the first since the toppling of long-time dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Ben Ali's ouster in January sparked the so-called Arab Spring and Tunisia will be the first of the countries where popular revolts took place to go to the polls. "This is a moment of great promise for the Tunisian people, and the president is pleased to welcome the prime minister... to underscore his support for this transition," said National Security Council spokesman To...

  Moammar Gadhafi AP BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO's top commander says he will recommend the end of the alliance's Libya mission. Adm. Jim Stavridis made the announcement Friday before a meeting of the alliance's North Atlantic Council. Stavridis called it "a good day for NATO. A great day for the people of Libya." The recommendation comes a day after Moammar Gadhafi was killed in Libya.

  Gadhafi body in freezer RAMI AL-SHAHEIBI - Associated Press MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi's blood-streaked body has been stashed in a commercial freezer at a shopping center as Libyans try to keep it away from crowds as they figure out where and when to bury the hated leader. An AP correspondent saw the body Friday at the shopping center in the coastal city of Misrata, home of the fighters who killed the ousted leader a day earlier in his hometown of Sirte. The body, stripped to the waist and wearing beige trousers, is laid on a bloodied mattress on the floor of a room-sized freezer where restaurants and stores in the center keep perishables. A bullet hole is visible on the left side of his head and in the center of his chest. Dried blood streaks his arms and head.

FRANK JORDANS- Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office called Friday for an investigation into the death of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured alive by rebel forces in his hometown of Sirte before shaky amateur footage showed fighters standing over his bloodied body. "We believe there is a need for an investigation," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. "More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture." "The two cell phone videos that have emerged, one of him alive, and one of him dead, taken together are very disturbing," he told reporters in Geneva. A Libyan official said Friday that the burial of Gadhafi has been delayed until his death can be examined by the International Crimin...

DOUGLAS BIRCH - Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi now joins the ranks of powerful foreign figures who have battled the United States only to come to a bad end. But even with the demise of the Libyan dictator, plus Osama bin Laden, Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, there are still autocrats around the world hostile to the U.S., notably in Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and Iran. America's most determined foes have been bucking more than just the world's sole surviving superpower, which spends as much on its military as all other countries combined. All faced social and technological trends that made their work more difficult by opening more borders to trade and travel, promoting ethnic and religious tolerance and wiring the world for high-speed Internet. But as long as the U.S. maintains its leadership role in wo...

  Archive SLOBODAN LEKIC - Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO's governing body meets Friday to decide when and how to end the seven-month bombing campaign in Libya, a military operation whose success has helped reinvigorate the Cold War alliance. Meanwhile, a NATO official said commanders were not aware that Moammar Gadhafi was in the convoy that was struck Thursday in Sirte by missiles fired from a French warplane, and which led to his subsequent death. "The convoy was a clear military target," said the official who could not be named under standing rules. "We later learned that Gadhafi was in the convoy. Therefore the strike likely contributed to his capture." After Libya's former rebels killed Gadhafi, officials said they expected the aerial operation to end very soon. But the North Atlantic Council may also decide to keep air patr...

  Muammar Gadhafi has been killed AFP BENGHAZI - Veteran Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi has been killed by new regime forces in their final assault on the last pocket of resistance in his hometown Sirte, a National Transitional Council spokesman said. "We announce to the world that Gadhafi has been killed at the hands of the revolution," Abdel Hafez Ghoga said. "It is an historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gadhafi has met his fate," he added.

  TUNIS AFP TUNIS - Polls opened Sunday in Tunisia's first-ever free elections, with an Islamist party poised to win nine months after the surprise toppling of strongman Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali that sparked the Arab Spring. Some 7.2 million people are eligible to elect a 217-member assembly that will write a new constitution after decades of autocratic government under Ben Ali, ousted in a popular revolt. Polls opened at 7:00 am, with the independent elections body (ISIE) urging voters to turn out in numbers "to continue the work of the martyrs and to realize the objectives of the Tunisian revolution.” "I am very excited about voting in the first democratic elections. Freedom was expensive, we have to pay our dues!" hotel employee Mondher Hamdi, 23, told AFP. "I didn't sleep at all last night from excitement," Houcine Khlifi, 62, said while queuing outsi...

  Salah Diab By MAI ANANY - Translated by NOURHAN MAGDI South Giza prosecution, headed by Judge Megahed Ali Megahed, continued investigations into the Manial Shiha incident in South Giza. Around 5,000 residents gathered outside businessman Salah Diab’s villa in Abu Al-Numrus in South Giza, after his men fired on residents, injuring 15. Clashes began after a dispute broke out between the residents and Diab about a fence. Head of South Giza prosecution, Hani Abdel Tawab, and deputies Abdel Hamid el-Garf and Mohamed el-Tamawy listened to the testimonies of the defendants. A source from public prosecution told to Youm7 that if the defendants agreed to reconcile they would be released. The defendants agreed to reconciliation. Source added that to defend the rights of the injured, the case would be transferred to the criminal court.

Bothaina Kamel By MENA - Translated by HEBA HABIB A number of Egyptian activists in attended a conference in Washington organized and funded by Egyptian-American organizations Friday to discuss the latest developments in Egypt and the prospect for the transfer of power to a civilian authority. The conference called for Egypt's political forces to unite and cast aside their differences to achieve the objectives of the January 25 Revolution . The conference opened Friday night and ends Sunday. Several organizations participated, including the Egyptian Society for Change, We are All Khaled Said , and the April 6 Youth Movement . Participants discussed issues of citizenship and the right of Egyptians abroad to vote, as well as Egypt’s social and economic challenges. The head of the conference, Adel Kubi, said that "Wherever they are, whether in Washington or Suez, Egyptians must con...

Gadhafi Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Energized by the killing of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, thousands of protesters in Syria and Yemen poured into the streets and said their longtime rulers will be next. Syrian President Bashar Assad's security forces opened fire on the protesters, killing at least 24 people nationwide on Friday, according to activists. It did not stop the crowds from chanting, "Your turn is coming, Bashar." Yemenis delivered a similar message to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who survived an assassination attempt in June. "Gadhafi is gone, and you're next, oh butcher," they chanted. The armed rebellion that drove Gadhafi from power — with NATO air support — appears to have breathed new life into the uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. "Our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you, Libya!" Syrian protester...

Archive AFP GENEVA - Switzerland headed to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament, with fears over immigration and the impact of the eurozone's public debt crisis set to lean voters far-right. With an unemployment rate of just 2.8 percent and healthy public finances and output figures, the alpine state is an island of prosperity in Europe. Nevertheless, the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) appears to have struck a chord with the population through its aggressive campaign claiming that the "mass immigration" of foreigners was taking away Swiss jobs. Voters had already received their ballot slips over two weeks ago, and with school holidays underway in many cantons, most have already cast their votes by post. Polling stations were to remain open for a few hours on Sunday morning, with ballot boxes to be sealed by midday and sent to counting centers. Results are...

  Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas By DENDRAWI EL HAWARY - Translated by HEBA HABIB Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces , met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his accompanying delegation visiting Egypt Saturday. Abbas thanked the council, the government, and the Egyptian people for their efforts in the prisoner exchange, their ongoing support for the Palestinian people and, their promotion of reconciliation among Palestinian factions. The meeting discussed the regional events and their impact on the peace process, and Palestinian efforts in the international arena towards realizing the legitimate rights through the General Assembly of the United Nations. The meeting was attended by Lieutenant General Sami Anan, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Kamel Amr, intelligence ...

Google AFP WASHINGTON - US Internet giant Google is mulling a bid for rival Yahoo! and has talked to at least two private-equity firms to consider how the deal would be financed, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. "Google and prospective partners have held early-stage discussions but haven't put together a formal proposal," the newspaper said, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter. The report, however, stated that Google might end up not pursuing a bid for Yahoo!, once seen as the Internet's leading light but which has struggled to build a strongly profitable, growing business out of its global web presence. Yahoo! has been the subject of massive interest from other companies since the sacking last month of chief executive Carol Bartz, less than three years after she was brought in to help turn around the struggling Intern...

  Archive AFP ANKARA - Turkish military strikes have killed 49 Kurdish rebels in two days during a major offensive in the country's mainly Kurdish south, the army announced on Saturday. "A total of 49 terrorists were rendered ineffective over the last two days," said the General Staff in a statement posted on its website, adding that the operation was continuing. Kurdish rebels on Wednesday killed 24 soldiers and wounded 18 along the Iraqi border, the army's biggest losses since 1993. The simultaneous attacks prompted the Turkish military to launch air and land operations against bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Around 10,000 troops on the ground were involved in Turkey's operations, backed by jets and helicopters. The army statement said "operations continue in a few areas across the border (northern Iraq) and two sepera...

  Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz by Assad Abboud, AFP RIYADH - Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz has died, a palace announcement on state television said on Saturday, throwing his brother Prince Nayef into line to succeed King Abdullah as leader of the key oil producer. The crown prince, aged around 86, who had served as the kingdom's defence chief for nearly five decades, had been in the United States since mid-June for medical treatment. He was operated on in July but no information had been released on his health since then. A half brother of King Abdullah, Sultan had spent long periods abroad for medical treatment. He died while the monarch himself, 87, remains in hospital in Riyadh, a week after he had an operation on his back. State television aired footage Wednesday of King Abdullah in hospital as he received royal dignitaries. The kin...