The pope is responsible for the Vatican’s growing hostility towards Turkey joining the EU, according to previously secret cables. UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that latest WikiLeaks US cable revealed Pope Benedict 16. wanted to keep Turkey out of EU.

Hundreds of Egyptian activists and members of opposition groups have protested against what they said were violations during last month’s parliamentary vote that handed victory to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

British police have said they were searching a London property in connection with the bomb blasts in Stockholm, the Swedish capital, amid reports that a man linked to the attacks used to live in the country.

At least 17 people, including a number of police officers, have been killed in a suspected suicide car bomb attack on a government building in Iraq, according to officials.The explosion took place in the centre of the city of Ramadi in the western Anbar province on Sunday.

Two explosions have rocked central Stockholm, the Swedish capital, killing one person and injuring two, according to rescue officials. The first blast came from a car that exploded near Drottninggatan, a busy shopping street in the centre of the city, Ulf Goransson, a spokesman for the Swedish police, told Al Jazeera on Saturday.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded in Oslo, Norway, but without the presence of laureate Liu Xiaobo, a jailed Chinese dissident. An empty chair represented the 54-year-old writer and former professor, after the Chinese government barred him and his wife from attending the ceremony on Friday.

Hundreds of Kashmiris have staged demonstrations in Indian-administered Kashmir to protest against the mass human rights abuses in the disputed Himalayan valley.Demonstrations were held in Srinagar and several other major towns on Thursday to protest against human rights violations by Indian troops.

CAIRO: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas Thursday stood firm on his demand for a halt to settlement building before talks with Israel can resume, as US officials scrambled to rescue the collapsing peace process.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the strikes were aimed at three separate targets. No casualties were reported. The air strikes were launched overnight after a mortar fired by Gaza fighters wounded an Israeli man at a farm.

TEHRAN, (PIC)– An Asian convoy loaded with humanitarian material to the besieged Gaza Strip has arrived in the Iranian city of Zahedan after passing through many cities to rally support for the trip.