Former French President Jacques Chirac has been ordered to stand trial in a second corruption case regarding his 1977-to-1995 tenure as Paris mayor, officials said today. Chirac is already set to be tried in March in one City Hall jobs scandal. The judicial officials said today a judge in the Paris suburb of Nanterre has [...]

US President Barack Obama began his 10-day trip to Asia on a sombre note today, paying tribute to the victims of the devastating terror attacks that tore through Mumbai two years ago. Speaking at the Taj Mahal hotel, a target of the 60-hour siege that killed 166 people across the Indian city, the president vowed: [...]

Saudi intelligence services have warned of a new terror threat from al Qaida in Europe, “notably France,” Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said today. He said the warning of a potential attack by al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was received “in the last few hours, few days”. Europeans were informed that “al Qaida in the [...]

France looks set for another day of strikes over plans to raise the retirement age. French unions claim they can get millions of protesters out onto the streets, and say that truck drivers have now decided to join in. President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to increase the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.

A senior Taliban commander and two other insurgents were killed in a firefight with Nato-Afghan forces in western Afghanistan, the military alliance said today. Another Taliban leader, Ajmal Agha Jan, also was killed on Saturday in southern Helmand province’s Marjah district after he pulled a pistol on a joint force that raided his compound, Nato [...]

The US ambassador to Pakistan today apologized for a recent helicopter attack that killed Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border. Anne Patterson said in a statement that a joint investigation has established that US helicopters mistook the soldiers for insurgents they had been pursuing. Pakistan has said the attack on September 30 killed three members [...]

Dozens of senior Palestinians today backed President Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to negotiate with Israel as long as it builds in West Bank settlements. Israel refuses to extend a 10-month-old curb on settlement construction, while Abbas says there is no point in negotiating as long as settlements eat up more of the land Palestinians want for [...]

The former head of Nelson Mandela’s children’s charity is being tried on charges of possessing uncut diamonds that featured in a recent war crimes trial. Jeremy Ractliffe appeared in a Johannesburg court on Tuesday, said a prosecutions authority spokesman. The next hearing is October 26. Supermodel Naomi Campbell told the International Criminal Court in August [...]

US President Barack Obama today challenged the countries of the United Nations to unite around peace efforts that could achieve agreement within a year to create an independent Palestine and a secure Israel. Obama, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, urged fellow world leaders to press forward with renewed determination in the quest [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today of growing political polarization and social inequalities and implored UN members to show greater tolerance and mutual respect to bring the world together. In his keynote speech to the opening of the General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting, the UN chief told leaders from the 192-member nations that “today, we [...]