July, 2005

• 26 July

  President in message to conference: Culture, art rare phenomena elevating human mind

  TEHRAN – President Mohammad Khatami in a message to the international conference on scripts here Monday pointed to culture and arts as rare phenomena which not only varnish the human soul and body, but elevate man’s mind and thought. The president’s message was fully read at the conference held in …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  Rice begins talks to rescue truce before Gaza pullout

  OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday began hastily arranged talks aimed at rescuing a shaky Israeli-Palestinian truce, to ensure calm when Israel pulls out of the Gaza Strip next month. Rice began talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in Jerusalem Thursday evening, shortly …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  4 blasts hit London transport system

  LONDON (AFP) — London faced a second apparent terrorist attack in a fortnight on Thursday as bombers targeted three subway trains and a bus, a precise mirror image of events on July 7 when at least 56 people died. This time the three blasts reported by witnesses were far less …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  2 Algerian diplomats seized in Iraq

  BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen on Thursday seized two Algerian diplomats — including the country’s top envoy — in the latest attacks aimed at undermining support among Muslim and Arab nations for the US-backed Iraqi government. Meanwhile, efforts to finish the new constitution by an August 15 deadline suffered a setback …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  Security Council debates barrier

  UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council opened a debate Thursday on Middle East tensions ahead of the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, with Israel and the Palestinians clashing over Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. As Israel indicated that the Gaza pullout, due to begin in mid-August, …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  Gov’t apologises after scuffles mar Rice talks

  EL FASHER (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded and received an apology from Sudan Thursday after officials and press accompanying her were “manhandled” by security staff at President Omar Bashir’s residence. “They had no right to manhandle my staff and the press,” Rice told reporters after the …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  Radar finds water for refugees

  A NEW TECHNIQUE using satellite radar images may hold the key to providing the water needs of 200,000 Sudanese living in sweltering heat in camps along the Chadian border. Alain Gachet, a geologist who spent most of his working life exploring for oil and mining companies, has developed a system …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  Operator of mobile company in Iraq says envoy probably still alive

  CAIRO (AP) — The Egyptian owner of a mobile phone network in Iraq said Wednesday he was convinced that Egypt’s top envoy, believed slain by his abductors, is most likely alive, because of information he has obtained. The government said it had no indications he was still alive. Egyptian billionaire …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  Hospitals under strain

  BAGHDAD — It is early afternoon in the emergency room of Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital. Medics are on stand by for a big influx of casualties from a bomb south of Baghdad. But right now they have a more pressing job. Several doctors, blood spattered on their white coats, are calmly …

  Read More »
• 23 July

  Tape shows Saddam complaining about not being allowed to see lawyer

  BAGHDAD (AP) — Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein complained that he has not been allowed sufficient access to his lawyer in a new tape aired on Thursday by an Arabic satellite television station. The footage, broadcast by Dubai-based Al Arabiya, showed the former Iraqi leader complaining to Judge Munir Haddad …

  Read More »