Anonymous sources
AFP
Kenya police car hits landmine in Dadaab camp - AFP
"The mine was removed and security has been intensified," said the officer, who asked not to be named. Incidents of banditry are common in this region of northeast Kenya but landmines are rare. The incident happened not far from where gunmen seized two ...
Indian graft accuser sent to mental hospital - AFP
LUCKNOW, India — A senior police official was sent to a mental hospital after making accusations of corruption against top state officials in north India, a government official said Saturday. Police officer DD Misra alleged on Friday that the ...
Four dead, 57 missing in China mine accident - AFP
"At present, four mine workers have been confirmed dead and there are still 57 others trapped in the mine shaft," said the spokesman, who refused to be named. "An intense search effort is ongoing." The rock burst happened moments after a 2.9 magnitude ...
S.Leone war criminals complain about Rwanda jail treatment - AFP
Two family sources, who asked not to be named, told AFP they had called on government to intervene and have the prisoners brought back to finish their sentences in Sierra Leone. Government spokesman Ibrahim Ben Kargbo said that the UN-backed Special ...
Canadian banker to head Financial Stability Board - AFP
The newspaper, which cited an anonymous source close to the matter, said Carney's nomination to replace Italian central bank governor Mario Draghi as head of the FSB would be made at the end of the G20 summit in Cannes. Carney, 46, has been credited ...
UNESCO in crucial vote on Palestine membership - AFP
"There's no chance that a Republican-controlled Congress is going to amend that legislation," said a diplomatic source at UNESCO, who asked not to be named. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland spelled out the US position last week. ...
Tunisia's Jews 'discouraged' after Islamic party win - AFP
"Even the Arabs are worried," said a 30-something kosher butcher in the capital Tunis, who declined to give his name. "There is fear that Islam will be imposed ... women forced to walk around veiled. "If there is even the slightest danger, ...
US citizen perpetrated Somali suicide bombing: Islamists - AFP
"We have not been able to verify those reports," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The African Union peacekeeping force (AMISOM) in Mogadishu issued a statement after the attack, saying its troops had "beaten off an attack by ...
Asian Americans most bullied in US schools: study - AFP
He requested anonymity because the data has not been made public. The disparity was even more striking for cyber-bullying. Some 62 percent of Asian Americans reported online harassment once or twice a month, compared with 18.1 percent of whites. ...
UNESCO to vote Monday on Palestine membership: sources - AFP
PARIS — UNESCO's general assembly will vote Monday on whether to grant Palestine full member status, a move that would cut millions of dollars in US funding to the UN cultural agency, UNESCO sources said. The vote is to take place the same day ...
Outraged Brazilians 'occupy' downtown Rio - AFP
"It is not enough to combat the symptoms without addressing the cause," said a female protester who refused to give her name, citing the need to maintain "the horizontal nature of this movement." "The cause of most of the problems in our world is the ...
Mormons defend faith in White House race spotlight - AFP
"Americans will vote with their wallets, and the Mormon community will follow the trend," one Mormon, who asked not to be named, told AFP. "This election is less about religion and more about the economy than the world thinks. ...
Japanese sentenced to hang in Malaysia for drugs - AFP
A customs official who also requested anonymity said the verdict marked the first time a Japanese national had been arrested for smuggling drugs into Malaysia, which is known for its tough anti-drug laws. Drug smuggling carries a mandatory death ...
Flood-hit Thailand declines offer of help: US Navy - AFP
"We are ready to help but we haven't got a request," said a US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "There were two channels (in the Thai government)," the defense official told AFP. "One was saying 'Yes' and one was saying 'No. ...
Germany to vote Wednesday on rescue fund boost - AFP
BERLIN, Germany — The German parliament is to vote on Wednesday on proposals to boost the EU's bailout fund, sources close to conservative CDU and CSU parties said on Monday. Initially, proposed enhancements to the European Financial Stability ...
Customs officials seize a tonne of ivory in Vietnam - AFP
Three people, including two Chinese nationals, were arrested and are currently in police custody, said the official, who declined to be named. "We are investigating whether all of the tusks are from elephants as well as where they came from and were ...
Two Spaniards, Italian kidnapped from Algeria camp - AFP
They "were taken hostage by elements of AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) under the authority of Moktar Bel Moktar (alias Belewar, the Algerian leader of an AQIM branch)," the source said, without detailing the circumstances of the kidnapping. ...
Clinton pushes rights in ex-Soviet Central Asia - AFP
A senior State Department official, speaking to travelling reporters on condition of anonymity, said the Uzbek government was making progress on human rights. "I'd say we do have - we do see more willingness on the part of the Uzbeks to work with us on ...
Saudi crown prince dies amid Mideast turmoil - AFP
A Western diplomat, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Sultan had been hooked up to life support systems at New York Presbyterian hospital and was declared "clinically dead" more than a month ago. Sultan died while the monarch himself, 87, ...
Mauritanian claims death of Qaeda chief in Mali - AFP
Mauritanian national Teyeb Ould Sidi Aly, "the mastermind of the attacks carried out by criminal gangs against our country since 2008," was killed Thursday in "bombing of enemy elements in the Wagadou," a forest in west Mali, the source said. ...
Germany 'slashes 2012 growth forecast' amid crisis - AFP
The government will slash its forecast to 1.0 percent for 2012, compared to the 1.8 percent it had projected in April, the government sources said Wednesday. The revised forecast, if confirmed, would bring Berlin more into line with its leading ...
Greece strike begins with thousands on streets - AFP
"I work in the private sector and I'm in danger of losing my job," said a 45-year-old woman who declined to be named. "Our bosses are taking the opportunity of the crisis to cut wherever they can. I'm desperate. The government's measures are going from ...
Malaysian police free 21 Ugandan 'sex slaves' - AFP
"This is the first time we have such a large number of Africans," said the official, who declined to give his name as he was not authorised to speak publicly about the case. He added there had been previous cases involving individual African ...
Samsung heir to attend Steve Jobs memorial service - AFP
SEOUL — The heir apparent of South Korea's Samsung Group will attend a memorial service for late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs despite an ongoing legal battle with the US technology giant, a source said on Sunday. Jay Y. Lee, the only son of chairman ...
Arms smuggling into Syria flourishes: experts - AFP
A Western diplomat in Beirut who did not wish to be identified confirmed that weapons smuggling from Lebanon into Syria was on the rise but also stressed he believed this was the work of individuals rather than parties. "Those sending weapons may ...