Fierce battles raged in northern Lebanon on Sunday between rival clans as the Hezbollah-led opposition said it was ending its takeover of west Beirut. The opposition announced that it was ending its takeover of large swaths of west Beirut after the army revoked government moves against the Shi’ite group that sparked days of deadly fighting.
An overnight curfew has been imposed on Khartoum after Darfur rebels attacked a suburb of Sudan’s capital on Saturday, state television said. Heavy gunfire was heard in the west of Khartoum and helicopters and army vehicles headed towards the area, witnesses said. It is the closest the rebels have come to the centre of Khartoum.
Darfur rebels and Sudan’s army fought heavy battles in the North Kordofan province near Khartoum on Saturday, a local government official and witnesses said. The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement said it was strengthening its forces in Kordofan but not attacking government troops — to avoid causing civilian casualties.
Lebanon was steeped in tension on Saturday after Hezbollah seized control of west Beirut in three days of deadly fighting with pro-government forces, triggering fears of all-out civil war. At least 18 people were killed in the violence that erupted on Wednesday and quickly escalated.
Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah took control of the Muslim part of Beirut on Friday, tightening its grip on the city in a major blow to the United States-backed government. Security sources said at least 11 people had been killed and 30 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah.
Regional mediator and South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday for talks on the country’s disputed elections ahead of a possible run-off that has raised concerns of further violence. The South African leader’s ”quiet diplomacy” approach towards the crisis in Zimbabwe has triggered criticism at home and abroad.
Hezbollah-led opposition fighters seized control of pro-government strongholds in Beirut on Friday as gun battles rocked the Lebanese capital for a third day, edging the nation dangerously close to all-out civil war. Gunfire and the thump of exploding rocket-propelled grenades echoed across west Beirut.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Thursday the United States-supported Beirut government had declared war by targeting its communications network. Hezbollah launched a new street campaign on Wednesday, piling pressure on the government after it declared the network illegal.
Pressure mounted on the Zimbabwe government on Thursday to admit foreign observers to oversee a presidential election run-off amid fresh claims that pro-government militias were instilling terror in communities in the countryside. Meanwhile, there was still no word on when a second round should take place.
The Burundian army said that about 50 rebels from the National Liberation Forces were killed in heavy fighting on Wednesday that also left two government soldiers dead. The clashes were among the worst since hostilities resumed three weeks ago, dashing hopes of a breakthrough in peace efforts.
Social tensions in Egypt over the past year have eroded overwhelming expectations that Gamal Mubarak will succeed his father President Hosni Mubarak at the helm of the most populous Arab country. An unprecedented wave of labour strikes and public anger over high prices and poor wages, may eventually drive the main pillars of the ruling elite to look into other scenarios.
Disease, hunger and thirst pose a major threat to hundreds of thousands of survivors of Cyclone Nargis, aid agencies said on Wednesday, urging Burma’s military rulers to open the doors to international humanitarian relief. Aid officials estimate hundreds of thousands are homeless in the swamplands of the delta south-west of the biggest city Rangoon.
A powerful cyclone that slammed into Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta triggered a massive wave that gave people nowhere to run, killing at least 15Â 000 and leaving 30Â 000 others missing, officials said on Tuesday. ”More deaths were caused by the tidal wave than the storm itself,” Minister for Relief and Resettlement Maung Maung Swe told a news conference.
Burma’s military authorities a foreign aid workers struggled on Monday to assess the damage from a devastating cyclone that killed more than 350 people and left tens of thousands homeless. The death toll is likely to climb as the authorities slowly make contact with islands and villages in the delta, the rice bowl of Burma.
A cyclone killed more than 350 people in military-ruled Burma, ripping through Rangoon and the Irrawaddy delta where it flattened at least two towns, officials and state media said on Sunday. Packing winds of 190km per hour when it hit on Saturday morning, Cyclone Nargis devastated the Burma’s leafy main city, littering the streets with overturned cars.
BUrma’s military government declared disaster areas in five states on Sunday after a large tropical cyclone pounded the Irrawaddy delta region and killed at least four people in Yangon, state newspapers said. Cyclone Nargis, which was packing 190km per hour winds when it hit on Saturday, left the streets of Burma’s main city littered with debris from fallen trees and battered buildings.
Southern Sudan’s Minister of Defence and a presidential adviser were among at least 23 people killed on Friday in a plane crash blamed on engine failure, officials said. ”Two engines failed and there was nothing the pilot could do,” First Vice-President Salva Kiir told a news conference.
Zimbabweans are bracing for a bloody second round of elections after government sources on Wednesday said a recount of the presidential vote held a month ago showed that President Robert Mugabe lost to Morgan Tsvangirai, but that neither won an outright majority.
The Zimbabwe government savoured a rare diplomatic victory on Wednesday after the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on how to respond to the country’s post-election crisis. Western countries such as former colonial power Britain had been trying to steer the council to adopt a common strategy on the situation in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s army is supplying militants with weapons to intimidate voters to ensure that Robert Mugabe wins a possible run-off in the presidential election, Human Rights Watch said. In a statement released late on Tuesday, it said military forces had equipped war veterans with weapons and trucks to scare Zimbabweans into backing Mugabe.
Darfur rebels accused the government on Tuesday of bombing areas under their control and said attacks this week showed Khartoum was not serious about seeking peace. But the army denied the accusations, which come during the visit of a Sudanese delegation to London to follow up on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s offer to host Darfur peace talks.
Zimbabwe’s main rights group accused the government on Tuesday of unleashing violence to help President Robert Mugabe cling to power as the wait for election results stretched into a second month. While the United Nations prepared to meet in New York to discuss the post-election crisis, Mugabe’s regime warned it would crack down on violence.
Guatemala is investigating radio advertisements seeking elite ex-soldiers, who have been known to work for drug cartels, to smuggle goods into Mexico, officials said on Thursday. The ads were broadcast in the lawless northern jungle region of Peten, home to a tough military training centre for Kaibil soldiers, infamous during Guatemala’s civil war as a brutal guerilla-fighting
Israeli soldiers on Thursday dispersed about 50 Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators who briefly took control of a wildcat settlement near Ramallah to protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The protesters had raised a Palestinian flag in place of an Israeli one.
Authorities are boosting security at Table Mountain to fight crime, which has caused a drop in tourist numbers, a Cape Town city official said on Thursday. Councillor Simon Grindrod said the mountain’s Signal Hill area — popular with lovers seeking a secluded spot or tourists wanting unparalleled views across Table Bay — will have 24-hour security.
Ahead of talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma on Wednesday refused to condemn Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe over the ongoing failure to publish presidential election results and widespread post-election violence.
Burundian rebels fired a dozen shells at the capital, Bujumbura, overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, hitting the residence of the Vatican’s ambassador, an army spokesperson said. The attack by the National Liberation Forces came the day after the Burundian military bombed rebel strongholds north of the capital.
It is an overcast morning in the Bulaq neighbourhood of Cairo, three hours after the muezzin’s call to prayers. The streets are choked with honking cars, while goats — and a few ragged-looking people — pick at piles of stinking rubbish overflowing from metal wheelie bins.
The alleged downing by a Russian MiG-29 of a Georgian reconnaissance drone could be a foretaste of battles to come as Georgia seeks Nato membership and protection from the West, analysts say. The dramatic confrontation in the skies over Abkhazia pitted one of the most modern Russian fighter planes against the unmanned aircraft.
Zimbabwe’s Health Minister, Dr David Parirenyatwa, armed himself with a Kalashnikov and threatened to kill opposition supporters forced to attend a political meeting unless they voted for President Robert Mugabe in a second round of the presidential election, according to witnesses.
Kenyan authorities should prosecute murderous militias implicated in the country’s devastating post-election violence, but also address any ”genuine grievances” they may have, former United Nations leader Kofi Annan said on Saturday.
Uganda’s army have killed 13 armed Karamojong tribal warriors in two separate attempted raids in the north-east of the country, a military spokesperson said on Thursday. ”Some warriors were going to raid and loot the trading centre,” said Henry Obbo, army spokesperson for north-east Uganda.