India on Monday formally accused "elements" in Pakistan of being behind the recent Islamic militant attacks in Mumbai and demanded that Islamabad take "strong action."The move came after Indian officials said investigations had shown that all the attackers involved in the 60-hour-long assault.

A spate of attacks targeting security forces in the heart of Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul killed around 30 people on Monday - the bloodiest day in Iraq in three weeks. The bloodshed coincided with the release of official Iraqi figures showing that violence across the nation climbed in November, with 340 Iraqis killed compared with 317 in October.

A Qatari charity said on Monday it plans to ship one ton of medical aid to the Gaza Strip this week in a bid to defy an Israeli blockade on the tiny Palestinian territory. "We intend to send a boat in a symbolic gesture, carrying a ton of medicine to our brothers in Gaza," said Abdallah al-Nimaa, vice president of the Qatar Charity Organization.

The United Nations said Monday Mauritania's ousted President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi should, as the head of state, take part in talks to resolve the country's political crisis. "The international community's position is that President Sidi, as president, should help to find a solution that could be achieved through a transition and elections," said Said Djinnit.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Monday defended Ankara's efforts to improve ties with Armenia during a visit to Azerbaijan, where Turkish overtures to its arch-foe have raised concerns. Following talks with Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, Babacan said better ties between Turkey.

An emirate in the UAE plans to bar workers of certain occupations from driving, a media report said Monday, as the federation shelved a ban on vehicles more than 20 years old. Sharjah, one of seven emirates that make up the UAE, has decided to ban workers in jobs considered menial from driving, the local Gulf News daily reported.

At least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded on Monday after a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car in a restive northwestern Pakistan valley, officials said. The bombing took place at a security checkpoint in the town of Mingora in the scenic Swat Valley, which has been rocked by a violent campaign to impose a strict version of Islamic law.

Dancers,” the Danish winner of the film festival’s Best Director award, appears on the surface as a conventional love story between two lonely people finding solace in each other’s company, and it’s certainly not the most original movie you’ll watch this year. What sets “Dancers” apart from similar

Much like his character Tom (Pepijn Caudron) explains to Nadia (Sana Mouziane) the meaning of irony, “Los” (“Cut Loose”) director Jan Verheyen, who raked the Cairo International ilm Festival’s Silver Pyramid and Best Screenplay Awards, found himself explaining that individual characters in cinema di

TEL AVIV: When I told this to Anwar Sadat, he laughed: “The moment the door of your airplane opened, all Israelis held their breath. I live on a main street in Tel Aviv, and at that moment I looked out at the street below. It was totally empty. Nothing moved, except one cat which was probably hurryi

LONDON: NATO, whose foreign ministers will meet next week, is dying. Death, of course, comes to all living things. And, as NATO approaches its 60th birthday next spring, there seems no immediate urgency about writing its obituary; 60-year-olds may reasonably look forward to another decade, perhaps t

WASHINGTON, DC: The election of Barack Obama to be the 44th president is profoundly historic. We have at long last been able to come together in a way that has eluded us in the long history of our great country. We should celebrate this triumph of the true spirit of America. Election Day celebration

INTEL, Egypt sign deal for motherboards factoryIntel Corp, the world's biggest chipmaker, signed a deal with an Egyptian company on Monday to build the first factory to produce motherboards in Africa, the Egyptian Information Ministry said.The ministry said 85 percent of the production will be expor

CAIRO: Egypt's benchmark stock index sank over 4 percent on Monday as a bout of profit-taking in market heavyweights such as Orascom Telecom cut short a four-day rally ahead of a long Muslim holiday. Shares in the regional mobile operator shed 7.35 percent to last trade at LE 23.70 ($4.30). Orascom

CAIRO: The International Data Corporation (IDC) brought its IT in Government Roadshow to Cairo on Monday.The conference brought together some of the industry’s leading experts in an effort to discuss the state of the IT sector in Egypt, the government’s role in the industry, and how IT businesses wi

CAIRO: Before the close of Egypt’s International Economic Forum this year, chairman Shafik Gabr reminded the audience that the United States was able to force France, Israel and the United Kingdom out of Sinai in 1956 largely because it held so much British debt. The message was that the current fin

CAIRO: Egyptian Football Association (EFA) president Samir Zaher said that he is looking for new faces to be appointed within the Association's board.Former vice president Ahmed Shobeir and former board member Ahmed Shaker have rejected Zaher's proposal to be appointed within the new board.After lav

CAIRO: Zamalek trainer Moemen Soliman defended the coaching staff's decision to field several youth players in the 1-0 defeat to Ismaili on Sunday.Hazem Emam jr., Ahmed Ibrahim, Alaa Ali and Hossam Arafat all started the game, just few weeks after being promoted from the club's under 21 squad.An Abd