Daily News Channel
Somalia’s hard-line Islamic group Al-Shabab seized control of Jowhar, the president’s hometown, after a battle with pro-government forces Sunday. Jowhar is a major town 55 miles (88 kilometers) southeast of Mogadishu, the capital. “All businesses are closed and residents are already fleeing while Al-Shabab are roaming the streets,” a local journalist said.
Kuwait elected its first female lawmakers in the conservative Gulf state where men have dominated parliament for nearly five decades. Four women won parliamentary seats in the general elections Saturday, the official Kuwait News Agency said
President Obama will rack up plenty of frequent flyer miles this summer with planned trips in Africa, Russia and Italy. Obama, along with his wife, Michelle, will visit Accra, Ghana, on July 10 and July 11, the White House said Saturday. It will follow Obama’s trip to the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, from July 8 to July 10.
The economy is losing between 600,000 and 750,000 jobs every month by every measure that the government and analysts use.
Diminishing supplies of oil and natural gas will push countries into violent competition, the Kremlin predicted in a long-awaited national security strategy paper released this week. The document foresees these struggles playing out in the Arctic as well as the Middle East, the Barents Sea, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia — and states that Russia is prepared to fight for its share of the world’s resources
A Nigerian militant group tangling with government forces in the country’s southern oil-producing region on Friday declared "an all-out war" after what it said was a deadly bombing raid on civilians. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, in e-mail messages to reporters, said it sank six army gunboats, destroyed three others, and captured three in the restive Niger Delta region. “Many soldiers have been killed and the military has made a hasty retreat,” said the group — which is calling on “men of fighting age to enlist” in its fight against government forces.
Clashes between Somalia’s transitional government and the Al-Shabab militia left 103 people dead and 420 others wounded, Somali officials said Friday. The fighting in Mogadishu between the rebel group and the government has raged for nine days, said Farhan Ali Mohamud, information minister of the Somali government. The new round of fighting stems from an interpretation of sharia law, or Islamic law, the spokesman said
Pakistani civilians were given a brief window on Friday to flee the ongoing fighting between government forces and Taliban militants in the country’s north, according to military officials.
Sri Lanka’s quarter-century-long civil war is in its final phase, the government suggested Friday, as its troops pounded Tamil Tiger rebels in the country’s north.
To its fans, paintball may seem like a harmless enough sport, a game of skill and tactics in which teams of players shoot colored paint pellets at one another. But under controversial new gun laws and other measures being considered by the German government, games that are deemed to “simulate the killing” of your opponent — which, according to some, could include paintball — may be banned.