SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- The monarch will sign the 16-point charter on Monday at an event to mark Commonwealth Day. The Mail on Sunday said the document declares: "We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination." Backed by 54 nations, it also covers democracy, rule of law, international security and freedom of expression. Prime Minister David Cameron has in the past pressed Commonwealth leaders on the issue of gay rights. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "At a…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) --  Facebook plans to announce on Thursday a substantial redesign of its News Feed — a makeover aimed at both keeping users glued to the social network and luring more advertising dollars. Company executives have broadly said they want to make the News Feed, the first page every user sees upon logging in, more relevant. In an earnings call with Wall Street analysts in January, the company’s founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, offered some…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- WITH the death of Hugo Chávez, tearfully announced on March 5th by Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s vice-president, the country is now headed for an election that will determine whether chavismo can outlive its charismatic creator. After serving as president since 1999, Mr Chávez was diagnosed with an unspecified cancer in June 2011. He insisted that he had been cured while running for re-election last year, and easily won a third six-year term in October. But two…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- A gas explosion has occurred inside a hospital in the Spanish capital, Madrid, where King Juan Carlos has been recovering from a hip operation. Five people were injured in Wednesday's blaze that resulted from an oxygen tank explosion which was stored on the ground floor of the hospital. A palace spokesman said the fire started before 8am local time on Wednesday on the opposite side of La Milagrosa hospital. The royal palace said that the monarch was…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was hospitalized Sunday after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis that had already sidelined her weekend plans, Buckingham Palace announced. The 86-year-old monarch was taken to King Edward VII's Hospital in London "as a precautionary measure" and is expected to stay for two days, said a palace spokesman, speaking with customary anonymity. "She is otherwise in good spirits and good health," the spokesman said. Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the lining of…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Cardinals from around the world gathered Monday inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, amid scandals inside and out of the Vatican and the continued reverberations of Benedict XVI’s decision to retire. Cardinals were treated like rock stars as they entered the Vatican on Monday morning, with television crews swarming around the red-capped churchmen and their handlers pushing their way through the crowds. “A…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- "It kills me not to be there, not to be in the White House doing what needs to be done," Mr Romney told Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday, his first since losing to President Barack Obama last November. The former Massachusetts governor blamed the Democratic president for the latest crisis to hit the US capital – the so-called sequester spending cuts totalling $85 billion this year. Mr Romney said Mr Obama is…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Up to 15 miners have been fired for performing the "Harlem Shake" dance craze underground in an Australian gold mine, according to reports. The West Australian newspaper said the miners lost their six-figure salaries over the stunt in the Agnew Gold Mine last week. A dismissal letter cited by the paper says mine owner Barminco considered the stunt a safety issue. Barminco did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. A YouTube…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- At least five Malaysian policemen have been killed by unidentified gunmen in a coastal town on Borneo island where a deadly government standoff with about 200 Filipino armed fighters continues, according to an official. Two of the attackers were also killed in the shooting on Saturday night that occurred 150 km from the Lahad Datu district in eastern Sabah state. On Friday, 14 other people were killed after members of a Philippine Muslim royal…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Four foreign men have been executed in China for the murder of 13 Chinese fishermen on the Mekong river in 2011, after being paraded on state TV. The men were put to death by lethal injection in Kunming, Yunnan province. CCTV News broadcast live footage of the men being taken from their cells to the execution site, though it did not show the moment of death. Many social media users in China have reacted…