Hafiz Saeed, the leader of a Pakistan-based group blamed for the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, has demanded proof after the US announced a $10m bounty on his head. In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Saeed said the US move was prompted by the fact that he had been organising rallies against the re-opening of supply lines through Pakistan to NATO forces in Afghanistan. "We are not hiding in caves for bounties to be set on finding us," Saeed sai... Continue reading

Western and Arab nations in Istanbul sought to exert more pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [Reuters] The leader of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) has urged the international community to take serious action to halt the government's deadly crackdown on an anti-government uprising at a meeting of the so-called "Friends of Syria" group in Turkey. In an impassioned plea on Sunday at the opening of the meeting in Istanbul, B... Continue reading

Malian military leaders, facing pressure from regional powers and a rebellion in the north that has led to the capture of key towns, have announced they will return the country to constitutional order.Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the capital Bamako, said the coup leaders promised to put in place a "sort of national dialogue" to help the transition from military to civilian rule.The announcement on Sunday was made by Captian Amado... Continue reading

Mullah Dowran, a regional Taliban commander in eastern Afghanistan, has told Al Jazeera that the organisation is now targeting Afghan security forces. "We announced we would forgive them many times. We showed them leniency many times in the fight. We tried to make American targets the priority, but the damage created by Afghan forces has become more and more every day. Now they are our priority," Dowran said. The Taliban are not only targeting ... Continue reading

Clashes have broken out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem amid 'Land Day' demonstrations. At least 121 people have been injured in clashes at the checkpoint, mostly from tear gas, according to medical sources and Al Jazeera's correspondents in Qalandiya. Four medical workers were reported to have been shot with rubber coated bullets and one car was set ablaze. A... Continue reading

Spain's government is set to announce details of new budget cuts intended to reassure Europe that it will not need a bailout. "Spain is going to stop being a problem, especially for the Spanish people but also for the European Union," Luis de Guindos, the economy minister, said as he entered an informal meeting of eurozone colleagues in Copenhagen on Friday. In Madrid, the Spanish cabinet prepared to approve a draft 2012 budget expected to incl... Continue reading

Sarkozy said authorities had some "extremely precise questions to ask a certain number of people". [AFP] French police have arrested 19 people in dawn raids across a number of cities in what President Nicolas Sarkozy described as a crackdown on "radical Islam". Several of the arrests on Friday occured in the southwestern city of Toulouse, where an al-Qaeda inspired gunman carried out a series of attacks earlier this month that left seven people ... Continue reading

Mauritius President Anerood Jugnauth has announced his resignation and plan to join the opposition, after falling out with Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the Indian Ocean island nation's prime minister. "I'm not in agreement with the philosophy of the government and the way the country is run," he told journalists on Friday, adding that his resignation would take effect on Saturday. "When I'm not in agreement, I quit," he said. Jugnauth will be replac... Continue reading

The European Union and United Nations Security Council have joined the AU in calling for an end to the clashes [Reuters] Officials from Sudan and South Sudan are set to meet in the Ethiopian capital on Thursday in a bid by the African Union (AU) to end ongoing clashes and prevent an all-out war between the two neighbours. The pan-African body on Wednesday said it was deeply concerned by an "escalating security situation" on the border between Su... Continue reading

The latest findings renew doubt about the Fukushima Daiichi plant's stability [Reuters] One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials had estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant's stability. A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the containmen... Continue reading