Baghdad - The British military on Tuesday formally transferred control of its base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to US forces in a military ceremony attended by Iraqi leaders.
The transfer follows Britain's agreement last year to withdraw all but 500 of the 4,100 troops it had stationed in Iraq ahead of its complete military withdrawal from the country in July.
The 500 remaining British soldiers will train Iraqi forces, the Iraqi navy in particular.
Sana'a - Armed tribesmen kidnapped a Dutch couple in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Tuesday, according to Sana'a governor Noman Dwaid and security officials.
Security authorities had located the area east of Sana'a where the hostages were being held, a local official said in remarks published on the website of Yemen's ruling party.
"Urgent measures were taken to secure the safety and release of the two tourists," Dwaid said.
Security sources initially said they believed the man and wife were Italian nationals.
Damascus - A court in Damascus has sentenced three men to death after finding them guilty of murdering a "senior diplomat" from an unidentified country's embassy, a Syrian newspaper reported Tuesday.
The diplomat met one of the men, a 26-year-old identified only as Amjad, at a bathhouse in Damascus and agreed to pay him for sex, Syria's official al-Thawra daily reported Tuesday.
The court found that the two met several times at the diplomat's flat before Amjad plotted to rob the man with the help of two friends.
Sana'a - Armed tribesmen kidnapped a Dutch couple in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Tuesday, Sana'a governor said.
Security authorities located the area where the hostages are being held east of Sana'a, a local official said in remarks published on the website of the ruling party.
"Urgent measures were taken to secure the safety and release of the two tourists," he said.
Security sources earlier told the German Press Agency dpa that the man and wife were believed to be Italian nationals.
Manila /Geneva - The Red Cross on Monday issued an emotional plea for the lives of its staff members being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Philippines who threatened to behead one of the aid workers.
"Our message to Abu Sayyaf is: Please spare and release Mary Jean, Eugenio and Andreas," Jakob Kellenberger, the president of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement.
Baghdad - The British military on Tuesday formally transferred control of its base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to US forces in a military ceremony attended by Iraqi leaders.
Sana'a - Armed tribesmen kidnapped a Dutch couple in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Tuesday, according to Sana'a governor Noman Dwaid and security officials.
Damascus - A court in Damascus has sentenced three men to death after finding them guilty of murdering a "senior diplomat" from an unidentified country's embassy, a Syrian newspaper reported Tuesday.
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Sana'a - Armed tribesmen kidnapped a Dutch couple in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Tuesday, Sana'a governor said.
Manila /Geneva - The Red Cross on Monday issued an emotional plea for the lives of its staff members being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Philippines who threatened to behead one of the aid workers.
