Egyptian police have closed the main crossing to the besieged Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of several security personnel in the troubled Sinai region. The closure happened after gunmen kidnapped seven Egyptian servicemen in an ambush in the Sinai region on Thursday. Four of the captured men reportedly worked at the crossing. Egyptian police [...]
US President Barack Obama has defended the seizure of phone records of Associated Press news agency by the Department of Justice. “I have complete confidence in Eric Holder,” Obama said Thursday during a press conference with the Turkish Prime Minister in Washington, “He does his job with integrity and I expect he will continue to [...]
US President Barack Obama has summoned top defense officials to the White House for a meeting on the rising number of sexual assaults in the military, a problem that the Army’s top general conceded the armed services had failed to solve. On Thursday, Obama met with the Army chief of staff General Odierno as well [...]
In the wake of the publication of gruesome videos showing the atrocities committed by foreign-backed militants in Syria, an Iranian lawmaker says the terrorists’ crimes “reveal the identity of their masters.” “It seems that the countries beating the hollow drums of human rights have turned a blind eye to the crimes of those who enjoy [...]
As the hunger strike by captives at US military’s Guantanamo prison enters its 4th month, one of the inmates’ attorneys has revealed deliberate abuse and torture tactics adopted against the detainees to discourage them from contacting their lawyers. Clive Stafford Smith, attorney for several Guantanamo captives and founder of legal group Reprieve elaborated Thursday on [...]
The founder of the whistleblower website WikiLeaks says the US spy agencies pose a threat to the sovereignty of Latin American nations as the countries depend on US-based telecommunication technologies. Julian Assange said speaking via videoconference at Uruguay’s University of the Republic that Latin America’s reliance on hardware and traffic handling by Washington was a [...]
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is ready to assist South Africa in developing a ‘comprehensive nuclear power industry.’ “Russia stands ready to help create a comprehensive nuclear power industry in South Africa,” Putin said on Thursday after a meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. The [...]
The families of US commandos killed in a 2011 downing of a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan have blamed Washington for the attack and the ensuing cover-up, a report says. The White House is responsible for the shooting down and subsequent cover-up of the Navy Chinook helicopter carrying 38 people onboard including 17 members of SEAL [...]
Two members of Al Saud royal family are involved in a case of London-based company that allegedly facilitated money laundering, court papers show. According to contested allegations in court documents obtained by the Guardian and Financial Times, a brother and nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz are embroiled in litigation with Jordanian [...]
A European Commission official has censured German finance minister’s criticism of Brussels’ slow reaction to Europe’s challenges. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, condemned on Friday Wolfgang Schaeuble’s “annoying” remarks as “incomprehensible … and even dangerous.” “And it may even be dangerous if it’s interpreted as if Germany was parting from the common [...]