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Health officials in the Gaza Strip confirmed the territory's first five cases of H1N1 swine flu earlier today. The territory's Health Ministry is working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to obtain the supplies needed to treat the potentially deadly virus. Neighbouring Israel has a blockade on Gaza, and Egypt restricts movement across its border with the territory as well. Health officials say that isolation likely kept the H1N1 virus from affecting Gaza sooner. Mahmoud Daher, a senior official for the WHO, said that Gaza has around 1

Gunmen killed two United Nations peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region on Saturday, one day after three others were killed in the same area. A spokesman for the UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Kemal Saiki, said two Rwandan peacekeepers were killed at a refugee camp in the northern part of the city. Saiki said the soldiers were distributing water in the Shangil Tobaya settlement, when at least one gunman opened fire on them. He added that it is currently unclear who carried out the attack and why. "Some men in the crowd were hiding guns

Iraqi lawmakers passed a law on Sunday needed to conduct parliamentary elections early next year, in a nearly unanimous vote. The new law expands parliament from the current 275 seats to 325 seats. The bill took shape during several months of intense debate over how much parliamentary representation should be given to Iraq's minority groups. "The seats of the new Parliament will be 310 seats plus fifteen seats for the minorities, making a total of 325," said the deputy parliament speaker. Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said the law re

An explosion yesterday in a Russian nightclub killed at least 94 people and injured a further 139, according to police reports. The incident happened in the "Lame Horse" bar in the city of Perm near the Ural mountains. According to the regional security minister, Igor Orlov, the club's plastic ceiling caught fire, ignited by firecrackers. Security officials, however, commented that the blast could not have been terrorism. "We are not talking about a terrorist attack, we are talking about a failure to observe fire regulations," said an official

Final results from Namibian presidential and parliamentary elections have indicated that the incumbent president, Hifikepunye Pohamba, has been reelected by a large margin. The ruling party, South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), also retained a majority in the parliamentary elections. Pohamba won 76.4% of the vote in the presidential ballots; meanwhile, SWAPO obtained 75.27% in the parliamentary polls. The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) party came in a distant second at 11.31%. SWAPO won 54 out of 72 seats in the National As

US president Barack Obama decided to arrive to Copenhagen climate change summit on December 18, contrasting with his previous plan to arrive on December 9. Obama's Nobel Peace Prize events take place in Oslo around December 1. He decided not to go to Copenhagen before them, delaying his arrival instead. The purpose of the summit is to finalize a treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Robert Gibbs, the White House official press secretary, commented, saying that presence of the USA president at later days might encourage more serious resul

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that unemployment in the country edged down from 10.2% to 10% in November, with fewer jobs lost in the previous two months than anticipated. The latest monthly figure was discussed at a congressional hearing yesterday as president Barack Obama welcomed the news but said he is still not satisfied. At a hearing of the bipartisan Joint Economic Committee at the Senate, lawmakers from both major US political parties cited the November unemployment figure as welcome progress. However, they also n

Soldiers in Guinea are searching for the former head of the presidential guard whose men are accused of shooting and wounding the country's military leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. Camara is being treated at a hospital in Morocco, where he is reportedly in "stable" condition. The country's security forces are searching for former aide-de-camp Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, whose men opened fire on military ruler late on Thursday, according to officials. The former aide, who is also known as Toumba, escaped after the assassination a

Official results from Equatorial Guinea have indicated that Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the president of the country, has been reelected another term. The election, held on November 29, saw Obiang take 95.37% of the ballot, or 260,462 votes, according to a statement released on the government website yesterday. An opponent, Placido Mico Abogo, finished a distant second, with 3.6% of the vote. Obiang said that he was going to make human rights, education, and health reforms in his next term. Equatorial Guinea, the third largest producer of oil in A

A snowstorm, in many areas the first of the season, has impacted much of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada today and is expected to continue until early on Sunday morning. Cities closer to the coast first received rain this morning and early afternoon, but precipitation has changed over to snow as the low pressure system moves northeastward and gains strength. Forecasters say the storm is related to the same system that brought record-breaking snowfall to the Houston, Texas region a few days ago. Most locations will pick up

According to a spokesman for UNAMID, a peacekeeping force in Darfur, Sudan, three Rwandan soldiers were killed by gunmen in an ambush earlier today. Two other soldiers were hurt. The spokesman, Kemal Saiki, commented that the ambush occurred close to a government checkpoint in the town of Saraf Umra, near Darfur. The peacekeeping troops returned fire at the gunmen, wounding one, but they evaded capture. The identities of the assailants was not immediately known. Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary General, released a statement in which

Philippine officials have put a southern province under martial law today, and arrested the patriarch of a powerful clan, following last week's massacre of 57 people. Government officials say President Gloria Arroyo suspended civil rights in the Maguindanao province. This comes soon after the Philippine authorities received reports that some groups were arming themselves to resist arrests by security forces. Officials said that troops took Andal Ampatuan Senior, the local governor, and his son Zaldy Ampatuam, into custody at their home in Mag