 | Lockerbie remembers Pan Am bombing 20 years on
Hundreds of people have commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing, in which terrorists blew up an airliner over Scotland, killing 270 people. Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York exploded in the skies above the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988. All occupants, as well as 11 people from the town, were killed. Memorial services have been held in Lockerbie, Heathrow, from where the aircraft took off, and the United States. In 2001, a former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel al-Megrahi was convicted of mass murder in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands. The 56-year-old is due to serve another 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole. He has always said he was innocent. |  | | Rocket barrages from Gaza hit Israeli towns
Israeli rescue services say Palestinian militants have fired at least eight rockets and mortar shells from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel. They said one rocket hit a house in the town of Sderot without causing any injuries. The Israeli military says one foreign worker was wounded by a mortar round that landed in a field. The attacks come after a six-month truce ended on Friday between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. An Israeli military spokesman said at least 49 rockets and mortars have been fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel since the truce ended. Palestinians in Gaza have demanded a lifting of the Israeli blockade on the territory. Israel has threatened to carry out a larger military action in Gaza if the attacks continue. | | | Heavy fighting in Sri Lanka kills at least 12 soldiers
Sri Lanka's defence ministry says at least 12 soldiers have died in fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels over the weekend in the north of the country. It said 16 others were missing. The government has denied rebel claims that at least 60 soldiers were killed in clashes near the rebels' political headquarters in the town of Kilinochchi. Neither side's claims can be independently verified. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting for almost four decades for a state for Sri Lanka's ethnic minorityTamils. | | | US to send up to 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan
The United States plans to send up to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the beginning of next summer. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul that they had agreed on the requirement of 20,000 to 30,000 additional troops. Washington is already sending some 3,000 extra troops in January and another 2,800 by spring. The US currently has about 31,000 troops in Afghanistan, some operating independently and some as part of the 51,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. US president-elect Barack Obama has pledged greater focus on Afghanistan, where US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, following the September 11 attacks on the US.
| | | Greek rioters clash with police at Athens university
Hundreds of Greek rioters have been fighting pitched battles with riot police in central Athens, two weeks after the fatal shooting of a teenager by a police officer sparked the worst civic unrest in Greece in several decades. The latest violent outburst followed a memorial gathering at the site where the 15-year-old died on December 6. Meanwhile in a separate development, German police on Saturday arrested 10 people after clashes with protesters in Hamburg. Around 1,000 demonstrators marched to the Greek consulate in support of protests in Greece against police violence. Four police officers were injured. | | | Reports say ousted Mauritanian president freed
Supporters of ousted Mauritanian president Sidi Ould Sheikh Abdallahi say he has been released from house arrest. They said Sidi was taken to the capital, Nouakchott, and freed after having been confined in his home village of Lemden since mid-November. They say he has now decided to return to Lemden, some 200 kilometres south of the capital. Sidi had been under arrest since being ousted in an August 6 coup. The coup drew international condemnation, with both the United States and France cancelling aid to the country in protest. Mauritania's ruling junta had been expected to free Sidi in the coming days to allow him to participate in a so-called "national consultation meeting" on December 27. Abdallahi has however told the French newspaper Le Monde that he will not participate in the talks, saying this would be a legitimation of the coup. | | | Merkel calls for concerted effort amid downturn
Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Germans to make a concerted effort in the new year to overcome the difficult economic conditions. In her weekly Internet video message, the Chancellor also said the government's second economic stimulus package expected in January would include investments in education and broadband communications networks. Last week, Merkel said her government was planning a second stimulus package once US president-elect Barack Obama takes office in January. Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück of the Social Democratic Party, partners of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union in the grand coalition, has also called for additional investment in education, communications networks, infrastructure and the energy sector. | | | Zimbabwe's Mugabe says his party should be preparing to win early elections
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says his party should be preparing for early elections. Mugabe made the remarks during a speech at the close of his ZANU-PF party's two-day conference. He told about 5,000 party loyalists new elections would be held if a power-sharing plan collapsed. The unity government agreement Mugabe signed in September with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has stalled. Mugabe told supporters Saturday they should mobilize to avoid a repeat of the March defeat.
| | | German FM calls for clampdown on neo-Nazi groups
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for a tougher policy against right-wing groups following the assassination attempt on a police chief in southern Germany. Alois Mannichl, chief of police in the city of Passau was stabbed in the chest outside his home last Saturday by a man who shouted right-wing slogans at him. Mannichl had authorized a series of raids against extreme right-wing groups in the city earlier this year. Steinmeier told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper the hunt for neo-Nazis should be stepped up, with the police authorities rigorously tracking down every right-wing act. Steinmeier said a closer scrutiny of regional authorities and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution was needed. | | | Belgian king holds consultations amid political crisis
Belgium's King Albert II is holding political consultations to resolve a leadership crisis a day after the government of Prime Minister Yves Leterme offered to stand down. The government request to resign follows accusations that it tried to prevent a court from blocking the sale of the country's troubled Fortis bank to BNP Paribas of France. Leterme's administration has denied interference in the bank affair. King Albert can either reject the offer to resign, call for early elections or explore ways to form a new government based on the current legislature. The political crisis comes at the worst possible time, with the economy sliding into recession and investors' confidence at a low as a result of the global financial crisis. | | | Mumbai hotels re-open after attacks
Two luxury hotels at the centre of the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai have reopened amid tight security. The Trident and Taj Mahal hotels were stormed by Islamist militants in attacks that left 172 people dead and nearly 300 injured. The attacks have been blamed on the banned Pakistan-based Laskhar-e-Taiba group. Officials said it could take seven months for the Oberoi Hotel adjoining the Trident to resume functioning. The attacks have strained relations between India and Pakistan, with Delhi blaming Islamabad for not doing enough to rein in anti-Indian militants. | | | | |
German Official Urges Berlin to Accept Guantanamo Inmates
