AFP News

DUBAI (AFP) - Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a new video calling for Islamic fighters to strike Western interests worldwide and for regime change in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. ... [visit website]

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - The captured leader of Pakistan's besieged Red Mosque urged his followers to surrender Thursday, as the government said "terrorist" gunmen were holding women and children as human shields inside. ... [visit website]

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin played the star role as the Black Sea resort of Sochi won the battle for the 2014 Winter Olympics on Thursday, bringing the event to Russia for the first time. ... [visit website]

LONDON (AFP) - World oil prices surged on Thursday to new ten-month high points amid unrest in key crude producer Nigeria and jitters about tight motor fuel reserves in the United States. ... [visit website]

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AFP) - Armed men kidnapped a three-year-old British girl on Thursday, heightening a foreign hostage crisis in Nigeria's troubled main oil producing zone. Police said Margaret ... [visit website]

NEW YORK (AFP) - Private equity giant Blackstone Group will buy Hilton Hotels Corporation in an all-cash deal worth 26 billion dollars (19 billion euros), one of the largest such takeovers ever, the hotel chain said. [visit website]

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AFP) - Armed men kidnapped five foreigners in oil-rich southern Nigeria at dawn, police and industry officials said Wednesday. [visit website]

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - More than 700 militant students surrendered Wednesday to Pakistani troops besieging a pro-Taliban mosque in Islamabad after clashes that killed 16 people, but a hardcore of 1,000 remained inside. [visit website]

NEW YORK (AFP) - Leveraged buyout giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) announced it intends to raise 1.25 billion dollars in a stock offering, less than two weeks after private equity rival Blackstone went public. [visit website]

MONTREAL (AFP) - Ancient ponds in the Arctic tundra in northern Canada are drying up and some will disappear in less than a quarter-century due to global warming, Canadian researchers report in a new study. [visit website]

LYON, France (AFP) - Screening embryos for chromosomal defects, a fast-growing practice aimed at helping older women to have a baby, in fact reduces the chance of a successful pregnancy, doctors reported here on Wednesday. [visit website]

FRANKFURT (AFP) - Germany's SAP -- the world-leading business software group -- on Tuesday rejected accusations by its US rival Oracle that it had stolen software, but admitted "some inappropriate downloads." [visit website]

PARIS (AFP) - French group Danone, whose LU cookies have accompanied the snacks of generations of French children, said Tuesday it was in exclusive talks with US rival Kraft Foods about the sale of its biscuit unit for 5.3 billion ... [visit website]

LONDON (AFP) - Police held up to six doctors in connection with the failed bombings in London and Glasgow after an Indian physician was detained Tuesday in Australia, officials and reports said. [visit website]

BEIJING (AFP) - Research showing that 750,000 people die prematurely in China each year from pollution was cut from a World Bank report following pressure from Beijing, the Financial Times said Tuesday. [visit website]

DES MOINES, Iowa (AFP) - With her nearest rival gaining momentum in the 2008 US presidential race, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton brought in her biggest weapon yet in her race for the presidency: her husband Bill. [visit website]

SANAA (AFP) - Yemeni police were hunting on Tuesday the masterminds of a suicide car bombing which killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemeni drivers, after officials said it was clearly the work of Al-Qaeda. [visit website]

KENNEBUNKPORT, United States (AFP) - After a speedboat ride and a lobster meal, US President George W. Bush and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are to hold new talks Monday aimed at defusing tensions over missile defense and other irritants. [visit website]

NOBBYS BEACH, Australia (AFP) - Salvage crews were Monday preparing to dislodge a massive coal carrier from an Australian beach, after an operation overnight succeeded in swinging it around towards the open sea. [visit website]

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese business confidence held steady close to a two-year high and firms set aside more cash to invest in new plant and equipment, a key survey showed Monday, underpinning confidence in the economy. [visit website]