Jennie Matthew
Matthews is an AFP New York correspondent. Previously in Pakistan/Afghanistan, Sudan and Middle East
No image available
/ 7 August 2007

Iraqis suffer as government collapses

As Iraqis queue forlornly for food and water, or swelter in homes and hospitals without electricity, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s coalition government is collapsing around him. The latest boycott brought to 17 the number of members of the Shi’ite-led coalition to have walked out, tendered their resignations or withdrawn from Cabinet meetings.

No image available
/ 6 November 2006

Jerusalem gay march damned by religious Jews

Thousands of gay Israelis are to rally in Jerusalem on Friday, defying the risk of violence from religious hard-liners outraged by what they brand an abomination to the sanctity of the Holy City. Ultra-Orthodox Jews have staged nightly violent protests, aiming to force the cancellation of an already twice-delayed event.

No image available
/ 3 May 2006

Honeymoon over for Israel’s incoming premier

Israel’s 12th Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has courted early disapproval for a weak coalition few believe can redraw the borders of the Jewish state. A veteran nationalist, who like his coma-stricken predecessor Ariel Sharon, underwent a sea change in his views in late career, Olmert has vowed to guide the nation on the path to peace.

No image available
/ 25 April 2006

Egypt arrests 10 over Dahab bombings

Egyptian forces on Tuesday arrested 10 suspects over the triple bombings that ripped through the Red Sea tourist resort of Dahab and killed 18 people, including foreigners. State media said preliminary investigations pointed to links between the attacks in Dahab and two previous strikes in the Sinai peninsula over the past 18 months.

No image available
/ 17 April 2006

Bomber kills nine in Tel Aviv

Nine people were killed and dozens wounded in Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv on Monday when a Palestinian bomber blew himself up in the deadliest suicide attack of the last 20 months. The blast took place hours before the swearing in of the new Israeli Parliament and prompted a pledge by prime minister designate Ehud Olmert that its perpetrators would not go unpunished.

No image available
/ 15 December 2005

Iraqis vote amid sporadic violence

Iraqis voted on Thursday in a landmark poll to choose a four-year government that many hope will restore security to a nation wracked by violence and sectarian feuding since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Despite blanket security, one man was killed in a grenade attack in the northern city of Mosul.

No image available
/ 26 September 2005

Victims say Hamas lied over blast

Nine-year-old Salama died instantly, his head blown off and his body torn to shreds when a massive explosion ripped through a Hamas military parade, killing at least 15 people. The Islamist faction blamed Israel and fired off dozens of rockets, unleashing a catalogue of Israeli air strikes and three sleepless, frightening nights for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

No image available
/ 23 August 2005

Troops storm defiant West Bank settlers

Troops hacked their way into a barricaded synagogue in the heart of biblical Israel on Tuesday as they evacuated defiant settlers from the northern West Bank after the historic pull-out of Jews from the Gaza Strip. Security forces also cleared several dozen religious students who had taken refuge inside a seminary.