News headlines in June 2009, page 10

Christian heads of both the majority and the opposition have raised their stakes ahead of the imminent formation of the Lebanese government headed by Sunni leader Saad Hariri.

After 30 years of enmity that closed off most lines of communication, the recent crisis in Iran has suddenly engendered a boom of U.S. interest in the Islamic Republic.

The U.S. State Department Thursday confirmed that Washington is providing arms and ammunition to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia in a bid to thwart its defeat by a loose coalition of radical Islamist militias which, according to some analysts, are linked to al Qaeda.

When tens of thousands of protesters braved the ongoing government crackdown to gather in Tehran's Baharestan Square in front of the Parliament building Wednesday in response to a call by supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, they were met with some of the harshest violence seen since Iran's post-election turmoil erupted nearly two weeks ago.

The version of the official military investigation into the disastrous May 4 airstrike in Farah province made public last week by the Central Command was carefully edited to save the U.S. command in Afghanistan the embarrassment of having to admit that earlier claims blaming the massive civilian deaths on the 'Taliban' were fraudulent.

Pirated goods - from music and vehicle parts to clothes, perfumes and software - are sold at ridiculously low prices on the streets or in local shops. This is big business in the paradise-like island state Mauritius.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel has accused the Israeli security forces of deliberately shackling Palestinian prisoners in a painful and dangerous manner, amounting to a form of torture.

Osama Bin Laden had made no secret of his intention to attack the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia. He had been calling for such attacks to drive it from the country since his first fatwa calling for jihad against Western 'occupation' of Islamic lands in early 1992.

Africa should ‘‘deny consensus’’ at multilateral level to ensure that the region’s interests are taken seriously, says Professor Patrick Bond speaking on how Africa should approach this week’s high-level United Nations’ meeting on the global economic crisis.

Thousands of workers in the textile and manufacturing industry in Mauritius have been forced into unemployment and poverty within the last few months, as factories announced multiple rounds of job cuts due to the global financial crisis.