Gaza's Christians bury their first casualty of the war
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Jalila Ayyad's widower George still had a black eye and bloodstains on his shirt as he processed ahead of her coffin, hours after the air strike that destroyed their home.
Jalila, 60, was the first Christian casualty of a bloody Gaza war.
She is also survived by two sons, but one could not be at her funeral because he is in hospital with serious wounds suffered in Sunday afternoon's Isra ...
more
US weapons for Afghans may end up with Taliban: audit
Washington (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Washington and Kabul have failed to keep track of hundreds of thousands of weapons provided to Afghanistan, raising the risk that some could end up in the hands of insurgents, a US audit said Monday.
The United States also had delivered more weapons than Afghan forces now needed, partly because Kabul officials had revised their requests over time, the report said.
Since 2004, the Americ ...
more
Libya issues plea for outside help as violence escalates
Tripoli, Libya (UPI) Jul 28, 2013 -
The Libyan government said Monday it needed outside help to control new clashes in the capital, near where several oil storage tankers were hit by rocket fire.
The severity of new clashes in Libya prompted the U.S. State Department to suspend diplomatic activities at its embassy in the Libyan capital. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the precautionary move was made in response to ...
more
No show for North Korean defector artist in China
Beijing (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
An art exhibition in China by a North Korean defector has been cancelled, gallery staff said Monday, with reports saying the show had been dismantled on official orders.
Sun Mu, who slipped out of North Korea in 1998 and uses a pseudonym because of concerns for his safety, paints satirical imitations of Pyongyang's propaganda imagery.
An exhibition of his works had been due to open at th ...
more
Britain plans major exercises in Poland amid Ukraine crisis
Warsaw (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
Britain on Monday announced major joint manoeuvres in Poland in October, part of a string of NATO exercises in the region aimed at reassuring eastern Europe members jittery over a resurgent Russia.
"I can announce today exercise Black Eagle, which will be a significant Polish and UK armoured exercise with over 350 British armoured and other vehicles and some 1,350 British personnel," Britis ...
more
Ex-military attache at Taiwan US mission under scrutiny
Taipei (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
A senior Taiwanese military officer who served at the island's de facto US embassy has been placed under investigation after failing a lie detector test, the defence ministry said Monday.
From late 2012, all Taiwan's defence attaches serving abroad have had to take a lie detector test, a move designed to stem a wave of military espionage cases, usually involving arch-rival China.
"He fai ...
more
Ukraine army wrests control of part of MH17 crash site: rebels
Donetsk, Ukraine (AFP) July 28, 2014 -
The Ukrainian army has seized control of part of the vast crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in the east of the country, pro-Russia rebels said on Monday.
"The Ukrainians have taken over a part of the crash site," said Vladimir Antyufeev, self-styled first deputy prime minister of the "Donetsk People's Republic".
Ukraine's military said its troops are battling separatist fighter ...
more
