Tag Archives: the-country

Blast at Sri Lankan mosque kills 10, wounds 20

A suicide bomber detonated explosives at a mosque in southern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, killing 10 people and wounding 20 others, authorities said. The explosion occurred in the Matara district, the defense ministry said on its Web site. The blast targeted Muslims attending Milad-un-Nabi celebrations, which observe the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

Mugabe hosts lavish party despite national crisis

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish all-day party Saturday despite the fact that the country is gripped by an economic and health crisis. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party said it raised at least $250,000 to hold the party in Mugabe’s hometown of Chinhoyi, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) outside of the capital, Harare. Critics of the president say the country is desperate for that amount of money to be spent instead on its citizens, who are suffering from a cholera outbreak, food shortages, and spiraling hyperinflation.

Blaze erupts at Marriott Hotel in Pakistan

A fire broke out at a major international hotel in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad Thursday, five months after it was hit by a deadly suicide bombing. Smoke could be seen pouring from the upscale Marriott Hotel, close to the country’s presidential palace