World


Defiant Hamas chief vows ‘victory’ against Israel
GAZA CITY — A top Hamas leader defiantly vowed to win “victory” against Israel yesterday as fighters battled to prevent Israeli troops from taking over their Gaza stronghold. “Victory is coming, God willing,” Zahar said in his first television address since the launch of Israel’s offensive against Hamas on December 27.

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US ex-envoy says Mideast two-state solution unworkable
WASHINGTON — Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said yesterday settling the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution was no longer workable and suggested giving the Palestinian territories to Egypt and Jordan. “Let’s start by recognising that trying to create a Palestinian Authority from the old PLO has failed and that any two-state solution...

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US opens new Iraq embassy, moves to normalise ties
BAGHDAD — The United States opened its new embassy building in Baghdad, a step meant to symbolise its transition from occupying power to an ally of a sovereign Iraqi government. In recent weeks US diplomats have gradually moved into the $592 million newly-built compound, the world’s largest US embassy building, leaving behind a sprawling palace they had inhabited...

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EU-Russia meet set over gas worries
MOSCOW/KIEV — The EU yesterday scheduled talks with Russia to press for a speedy resolution of a dispute with Ukraine that has hit gas supplies to countries in eastern and southern Europe facing freezing temperatures. Russian gas monopoly Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1 in a dispute over debts and pricing that shows no sign of ending.

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Mugabe set to form new govt in February: paper
HARARE — Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is expected to form a new government by the end of February despite stalled talks with the main opposition party, the state-run Herald newspaper said yesterday. The veteran leader, who started
a month-long holiday this week, began preparations for a new administration last week when he fired nine ministers...

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9/11 mastermind on trial
PARIS — A German pleaded innocent yesterday when he and Al Qaeda’s 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed were
put on trial for plotting a bloody 2002 suicide bombing of a Tunisian synagogue. “Every time innocents die, that touches me deeply,” insisted Christian Ganczarski, when he appeared in a Parisian anti-terrorism court to face a charge...

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