Featured

Woman deputy set to become new German agriculture minister

Berlin, GermanyBerlin - A female legislator from the sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats was picked Thursday to become Germany's new minister of agriculture and consumer affairs.

Ilse Aigner, 43, was nominated by Horst Seehofer, who resigned from the post on Monday to become prime minister of the southern state of Bavaria.

"I'm very pleased," said Aigner, who like Seehofer hails from Bavaria and is a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Court demands Morocco's largest newspaper pay record fine

Rabat, MoroccoRabat, Morocco  - A Moroccan appeals court Thursday let stand a ruling that would require the nation's largest newspaper and its publisher to pay record amounts of damages in a defamation case.

The ruling requires the al-Massae newspaper and its chief editor, Rashid Ninny, to pay damages of up to 6 million dirham (more than 700,000 dollars) to a group of four district attorneys. It is the largest damages ruling in Morocco's media history.

ETA accused of northern Spain car-bomb attack, 17 injured

ETA accused of northern Spain car-bomb attack, 17 injured Madrid  - Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba held the Basque separatist group ETA responsible for a car bomb attack that injured 17 people Thursday in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona.

The vehicle exploded in a car park in the grounds of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, capital of the Navarra province which borders on the separatist Basque region.

Afghanistan, Pakistan pledge to build better relations

Nine Turkish police officers hurt in suicide bomb attack in Mersin Ankara - Pakistan and Afghanistan leaders on Thursday reiterated their pledges to cooperate towards promoting peace, security, stability and economic development in the region.

UN lashes out at governments for failing their citizens

United NationsNew York - The UN General Assembly president criticized governments on Thursday for failing their responsibility in building up a strong economy to protect their people's living conditions.

A one-day debate on the world economic crisis began at UN headquarters in New York with Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, leader of the 192-nation body, saying that the complex economic crisis has exposed failure by the dominant markets.

Bank robber arrested, hostage safe after flight across

AustriaVienna  - Police seized a Bosnian bank robber Thursday who had taken a female hostage in Feldkirch in the westernmost part of Austria, and forced her to drive him across two thirds of the country by car.

After the hostage, a 37-year-old bank employee, had persuaded the armed kidnapper to let her use a bathroom at a rest stop near the town of Enns, police arrested the 43-year old suspect, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Police monitored the robber's car as it drove for around 470 kilometres east from the crime scene, where the unmasked Bosnian had robbed 3,055 euros (3,905 dollars).

Pages