Daily News Channel
Yitzhak Shamir, who served two terms as Israeli prime minster 1983 to 1984, and from 1986 to 1992, died Saturday, the prime minister’s office said. Born in Poland, Shamir moved to Palestine and fought for Israeli independence. He joined the Likud movement, serving as a member of Israel’s parliament, and also worked […]
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, thanking his nation’s fighting forces for a job "well done." “This has been the most difficult summer in Afghanistan because the Taliban have tried to prevent the elections taking place and I think our forces who I’ve been meeting today have shown extraordinary courage during this period,” Brown said in a televised interview, taped in Afghanistan and aired in Britain. Brown dropped by Camp Bastion in Helmand province, where the country’s service members are based in Afghanistan
Unemployment in Japan has hit 5.7 percent in July, the highest on record since World War II. Joblessness in the world’s second-largest economy has been steadily rising from 4.8 percent in March to 5.4 percent in June. The record July number exceeded analyst predictions of 5.5 percent, which would have matched the previous postwar record
The recession’s latest victim in Japan may not be corporate earnings but the political careers of the ruling party in the country’s parliament. This Sunday in Japan, voters go to the ballot box in what poll after poll shows will be a historic shift in political power, booting out the ruling party. The Liberal Democratic Party, or the LDP, has been in nearly continuous control of Japan’s parliament for more than five decades
Americans are being urged to boycott Scottish products as continued outrage over last week’s release of the Lockerbie bomber prompted an emergency meeting of parliament. A Web site set up to vent anger at the decision to send Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi back to Libya calls on Americans to avoid travel to Scotland and cease buying Scottish products such as whisky
Gentler winds Monday morning gave firefighters in Greece some room to breathe, but the respite was only temporary. Gale-force winds are expected to pick up later Monday, once again re-igniting flames and a race to contain them before they reach the capital, Athens
Ramadan, the holy month of Islam, began Saturday with Iraqis hoping for tranquility but fearful after recent attacks that have shaken the country. Al-Iraqia state TV interrupted regular programming Saturday afternoon to broadcast Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s address to Iraqis on the occasion of the start of the holy month. The prime minister said that as he congratulates Iraqis, his “heart is full of sadness and sorrow.” Four Iraqi soldiers and a government worker were killed Saturday in attacks in Baghdad and Mosul, according to an official of the Interior Ministry.
Israel makes no secret that it sees Iran is its biggest threat but the scale of the threat is less clear cut.
Japan has joined the growing number of major economies that are back in black.
Britons including Prime Minister Gordon Brown have leapt to the defense of their creaking healthcare service after President Barack Obama’s plans for a similar system in the United States were branded "evil" by Republicans. Tens of thousands of people have joined a Twitter group expressing pride in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), which offers free taxpayer-funded medical care to all British residents, while leading politicians have spoken out in support. Republican former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin earlier this week condemned Obama’s plans to introduce a public heath insurance scheme as an “evil” move that would result in “death panels” deciding who would live or die