Former Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul on Thursday after two decades in hiding, calling for peace with Taliban insurgents and criticising the Western-backed government, which he said was not working. Hekmatyar’s comments in a ceremony at the presidential palace highlighted the complications likely to face President Ashraf Ghani, who signed a peace deal […]
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A British man who stored material about missile systems on data sticks disguised as cufflinks and created an extensive online manual for members of Islamic State was sentenced to eight years’ jail on Tuesday. Samata Ullah, 34, an unemployed man from Cardiff in Wales, had admitted five terrorism charges including membership of Islamic State (IS). […]
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A mob in India beat to death two Muslims who were accused of trying to steal cows for slaughter, police say, the latest incident in a surge of violence blamed on hard-line Hindu groups. Samantha Vadas reports. A brutal attack in India’s northeastern state of Assam. A mob of 20 people beating two young Muslims […]
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Pope Francis warned against religious fanaticism on Saturday, wrapping up a brief trip to Cairo where he urged Muslim leaders to unite against violence by Islamic militants threatening to rid the Middle East of its ancient Christian communities. Francis’ trip comes three weeks after Islamic State killed at least 45 people in attacks on two […]
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French intelligence has concluded that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on April 4 in northern Syria and that Assad or members of his inner circle ordered the strike, a declassified report showed. The chemical weapons attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun killed scores of people, […]
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Pedestrians and traffic in downtown Jerusalem, and across Israel, stood still Monday morning (April 24) as a two minute siren wailed to commemorate victims of the Holocaust. A day earlier, survivor Zwi Nigal shared his experiences during World War Two with a few dozen people who gathered in an apartment in central Israel on Sunday […]
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Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are set to face each other in a May 7 runoff for the French presidency after coming first and second in Sunday’s first round of voting, according to multiple projections. Though Macron, 39, is a comparative political novice who has never held elected office, opinion polls […]
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Three women dressed in burqas killed a man who had been accused of blasphemy in 2004 in a northeastern Pakistani town, police said on Thursday, the second brutal killing over alleged insults to Islam in a week. Blasphemy is a highly charged topic in Pakistan where there have been at least 66 murders over unproven […]
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Gunmen attacked security forces near St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s south Sinai on Tuesday, killing at least one police officer and injuring four others, the Health Ministry said, just a week after two deadly church bombings killed 45. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on a police checkpoint several hundred metres (yards) from the […]
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Members of Egypt’s Christian minority flocked to traditional services this Easter weekend in sombre mood following attacks last Sunday that killed 45 people, and security was especially tight at the two churches hit by the bombers. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on Palm Sunday targeting Egypt’s nearly 2,000-year-old Coptic Christian community and has […]
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