General News

Jordanians protest attempts by Jews to enter Islamic shrine

Jordanians protest attempts by Jews to enter Islamic shrineAmman - Hundreds of Jordanians staged a sit-in Thursday to protest what they called attempts by extremist Jews to storm Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine.

The protest was organized by the Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest political party and an arm of the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Participants raised placards and chanted slogans urging the government to sever diplomatic ties with Israel and to close down the Israeli embassy in Amman.

Twenty nine killed in Zimbabwe bus crash

Twenty nine killed in Zimbabwe bus crash Harare  - Twenty-nine people di

German vessel rescues 75 from sinking ship off East Africa

German vessel rescues 75 from sinking ship off East Africa Hamburg - A German container ship rescued 75 passengers from a sinking passenger ship off the coast of Tanzania on Thursday, a spokesman for the German ship's operators said.

He said the MS Dorian responded to an SOS from the stricken vessel after other ships in the vicinity declined to provide assistance, fearing the call was a trap set by pirates.

The incident happened in an area where pirates have often attacked commercial shipping and held their crews for ransom.

Nobel laureate's papers found in rubble of German archives

Nobel laureate's papers found in rubble of German archivesCologne, Germany - A novelist's papers, including the scroll awarding him the 1972 Nobel Prize for Literature, have been recovered from a pile of rubble in the German city of Cologne, officials said Thursday.

Manuscripts and letters by Heinrich Boell, who died in 1985, had been placed in the city archives for safekeeping. But the building collapsed, killing two people, on March 3, apparently after a pothole had formed in a construction site under the street outside.

Polish hostel where 22 died is ruled unsafe

Polish hostel where 22 died is ruled unsafe Warsaw  - A Polish hostel where a fire killed 22 failed to meet fire safety standards, firefighters said Thursday after an inspection.

Deputy Premier Grzegorz Schetyna said those responsible for the technical state of the building will be held accountable.

The commission ruled that the building's construction was a life hazard to residents, the Polish Press Agency PAP reported. The hallways, for example, were lined with easily inflammable furniture. The head of the commission called the building unlivable.

ROUNDUP: Suicide bomber injures 17 in Iraq

Suicide bomber injures 17 in IraqBaghdad  - Iraq's Defence Ministry said on Thursday that 17 were injured when suicide bomber blew himself up at a military base in western Iraq, contradicting earlier reports that 16 were killed.

It was reported earlier that the bomber blew himself up inside a restaurant in al-Habania military base in Anbar province, killing 16 and injuring more than 50.

The defence ministry statement said there were no fatalities.

The attack took place at lunchtime when officers and soldiers were eating in a big dining hall, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

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