MOGADISHU: A health official says at least 14 people, including women and children, have been killed overnight in Somalia's capital, as fierce weekend battles have continued into the new week.Rufai Mohamed says the ambulance services he leads in Mogadishu collected the bodies of mostly civilians. Hospital officials say they have admitted at least 45 wounded people from the fighting.Battles between Islamic insurgents and pro-government forces began Monday afternoon and continued through the night. The fighting has died down early Tuesday, but sporadic gunfire can be heard in parts of the city. The weekend saw some of the worst fighting in recent weeks, with at least 35 people killed. A local human rights body says as of Monday afternoon 17,200 resident had fled their homes.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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