JERUSALEM (AFP) ― Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned his officials to stop “blabbing” about the possibility of an attack targeting Iran’s nuclear program, the newspaper Maariv reported on Monday.Netanyahu is said to have directed the instruction at a number of military officials and government ministers who he believes have been speaking too freely about a potential Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.The newspaper, citing unnamed senior officials, said Netanyahu deliv

PARIS (AFP) ― German Chancellor Angela Merkel threw her weight behind French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his tough re-election battle Monday, saying the two right-wingers were from the same “political family.”Despite accusations in both countries of interference, Merkel used a visit to Paris for a joint Franco-German cabinet session to make clear her support for Sarkozy, who has increasingly cited Germany as a model for France.“We belong to the same political family. He supported me and it is n

DUMAGUETE, Philippines (AFP) ― Rescuers in the Philippines dug through rubble with shovels and their bare hands Tuesday after a powerful earthquake triggered landslides, collapsed homes and killed dozens of people.The 6.8-magnitude quake hit a narrow strait between the heavily populated islands of Negros and Cebu around lunchtime Monday with more than 200 aftershocks, some nearly as strong, causing further panic throughout the day.Local military chiefs said 43 people were confirmed killed, but o

As the night grows older, this part of the city becomes more alive. Women in low-cut, body-hugging clothes start appearing on the streets of Quezon City’s red light district in Metro Manila. Some make their move on potential customers.Also in the area are other women dressed more conservatively in jeans and shirt. They are not around to earn money for the night. Belonging to Bagong Kamalayan Collective Inc. (BKCI), they have come to talk to their scantily clad “sisters” about their rights and to

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) - Around 100 people, including women and children, were feared trapped Monday when a building collapsed in Pakistan's second largest city of Lahore, witnesses and an emergency official said.Witnesses said about 150 people normally worked at the factory in the building in the e

GAZA CITY (AP) ― Hamas on Sunday endorsed a proposal by Qatar that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas assume the role of prime minister in an interim Palestinian unity government that would prepare for general elections in the West Bank and Gaza, according to two officials close to the contacts.Such an arrangement, proposed by Qatar’s emir, would help Abbas and his main political rival, the Islamic militant Hamas, clear a major hurdle in slow-moving attempts to reconcile.Abbas said in meetings

YANGON (AFP) -- A top United Nations envoy on Sunday hailed dramatic changes in Myanmar but said by-elections would be a “key test” of the army-backed regime‘s commitment to reform.U.N. special reporter on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, welcomed a “continuing wave of reforms” since his last visit in August, but said “serious challenges remain”.“The upcoming by-elections on 1 April will be a key test of how far the government has progressed in its process of reform,” he told report

PANAMA CITY (AP) ― Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who was toppled by a 1989 American invasion and later convicted of drug running, was transferred from prison to a hospital on Sunday, possibly because of a stroke, police said.The 77-year-old Noriega has high blood pressure and apparently suffered a brain hemorrhage, Panamanian National Police said in statement. He was taken from the El Renacer prison where he was serving out his sentence to Hospital Santo Tomas in Panama City.One of