• Pakistan blocks mobile phone signals in 15 cities
• French embassies and schools closed in around 20 countries
• Tunisia bans protests against Charlie Hebdo cartoons
Japanese firms close offices in China as islands row escalates
US defence secretary urges restraint as diplomatic dispute over East China Sea islands threatens countries’ close economic ties
Hillary Clinton’s morally superior speech in Africa was deluded
Clinton’s warning about the exploitation of Africa’s resources was hypocritical, given the strings attached to past US ‘assistance’
Syria conflict: rebels withdraw from Salahedin, Aleppo – Thursday 9 August 2012
• Rebels claim Assad’s chief of protocol has defected
• More clashes reported in Aleppo
• All 48 Iranian hostages are alive, Tehran claims