February 6, 2012
RAMALLAH, West Bank: The leaders of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a deal in Qatar on Monday to form a unity government of independent technocrats for the West Bank and Gaza, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The move, following the failure of exploratory Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at reviving stalled peace negotiations, was condemned by Israel, which says the Islamist Hamas cannot be part of any peace efforts.
International
February 6, 2012
PERTH: Thousands of Australians were forced from their homes on Monday because of floods that have risen to record levels in some areas and killed one person, and authorities issued warnings for more than a dozen rivers in Queensland and New South Wales states.
Australia’s coal industry, which is concentrated in Queensland and New South Wales, was largely unaffected, easing concern about a repeat of last year’s disastrous floods that sent global coal prices soaring.
International
February 6, 2012
LONDON: A British court ruled Monday that an extremist cleric described as one of Europe's leading al-Qaida operatives should be released on bail.
After six years in custody, Abu Qatada could be freed within days for three months under stringent conditions, a judge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in London said.
Abu Qatada, 51, has been fighting to be released after the European Court of Human Rights ruled last month he should not be deported to face terror charges in Jordan because of concerns that evidence obtained by torture would be used against him.
International
February 6, 2012
MANILA: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake off the central Philippine island of Negros killed at least seven people on Monday, including two children, with government offices and schools ordered to close after at least 40 aftershocks.
A grade-six pupil died after being plucked out from a collapsed chapel wall while a nine-year-old girl was killed when the concrete wall of a school collapsed, officials said.
International
February 6, 2012
LONDON: Britain has recalled its ambassador from Syria for consultations on the escalating violence in the country, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday. The decision was announced after the US said it has closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled all American diplomats out of Syria.
Hague told lawmakers that Britain is using multiple channels to express its ”abhorrence” at the violent crackdown on dissent by President Bashar Assad’s regime, and has summoned Syria’s ambassador to the Foreign Office to convey that message.
International
February 6, 2012
KIEV: The deadly cold snap that has gripped Europe for more than a week wrought more havoc across the continent on Sunday, straining emergency services, grounding flights and pushing the death toll past 300.
The homeless population has borne the brunt of the suffering, with dozens of transients freezing to death in unheated apartments, fire escapes or in makeshift street shelters.
French authorities on Sunday found the body of a homeless man who had frozen to death, bringing to at least 306 the number of cold-related deaths reported across Europe.
International
February 6, 2012
NICOSIA: Syrian army deserters destroyed a military control post in the northeast overnight, killing three officers and capturing 19 soldiers in the process, a rights group said on Monday.
The attack happened in the village of Al Bara in the Edleb region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that none of the army deserters involved was killed.
The regular army post was completely destroyed, according to the London-based group.
International
February 6, 2012
CAIRO: Protesters and police clashed again outside Cairo’s security headquarters on Monday in the wake of deadly football violence and amid calls by activists for civil disobedience in Egypt.
Overnight, police fired birdshot at demonstrators in roads leading to the interior ministry, the scene of days of clashes sparked by the deaths of 74 people on Wednesday in football-related violence in the northern city of Port Said.
International
February 6, 2012
NEW DELHI: Google India has removed web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world’s largest democracy, media reported Monday.
The action follows weeks of intense government pressure for 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text considered ”anti-religious” or ”anti-social.”
A New Delhi court Monday gave Facebook, Google, YouTube and Blogspot and the other sites two weeks to present further plans for policing their networks, according to the Press Trust of India.
International
February 6, 2012
BEIRUT: Syrian troops shelled neighbourhoods in the restive city of Homs on Monday, a day after President Bashar Assad’s government vowed to continue its deadly crackdown on the country’s uprising, activists said.
The bombardment comes two days after another attack on the central Syrian city that activists say killed 200 people, the highest death toll reported for a single day in the 11-month uprising.
International
