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  • Poll opens for first UAE elections

    The United Arab Emirates is holding its first elections with a restricted number of voters choosing half the members of an advisory council, a small step in a tightly controlled reform process.The elections, starting on Saturday and running over the course of three days, has begun in two of the UAE's seven emirates: Abu Dhabi and Fujairah. Polls opened.. More

  • Somalis brace for all-out war

    Residents of the town housing Somalia's interim government are stocking up provisions as troops test weaponry before a feared attack by the Council of Islamic Courts.Islamic Courts fighters have threatened to attack Baidoa if Ethiopian troops protecting the government do not leave by Tuesday.Hassan Aweys, the Islamic Courts leader, said on Friday his.. More

  • Blair defends Saudi arms decision

    Tony Blair, the British prime minister, has said he takes full responsibility for the decision to abandon an investigation into alleged corruption and bribery.The decision to abandon a two-year corruption inquiry into BAE Systems came after Saudi Arabia suggested it might cancel an order for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from BAE Systems.On Friday,.. More

  • Hamas accuses rival of PM attack

    The Palestinian Hamas group has accused a key figure in the rival Fatah faction of trying to assassinate Prime Minister Ismail Haniya as he returned to Gaza. Hamas accused Mohammad Dahlan of orchestrating the attack as Mr Haniya crossed Gaza's border with Egypt. Clashes have now broken out between Hamas and Fatah supporters in Gaza City and the.. More

  • Siniora seeks Moscow's help

    Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, has arrived in Russia to meet Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Arab ambassadors to Moscow.They will discuss relations between Syria and Lebanon ahead of the Syrian president's visit next week.Upon his arrival, Siniora said Russia could be an influential mediator: "Syria contributed to the withdrawal.. More

  • Iranians go to the polls

    Iran is to hold elections for its municipal councils as well as the Assembly of Experts, the body that selects and supervises the supreme leader.The elections, held on Friday, are the first test of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, at the polls since he was elected in June 2005.Ahmadinejad said on state TV: "I am sure that our people will once.. More

  • Dozens killed in Iraq violence

    Iraqi leaders have discussed new security plans for Baghdad as bombs and shootings killed at least 37 people across the country in the run-up to national unity talks. Multiple car bombs in Shia districts and a truck bomb aimed at Iraqi soldiers guarding oil pipelines in the north claimed 20 lives alone on Wednesday. Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister,.. More

  • Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian, claiming he stabbed officer

    IOF soldiers Wednesday evening shot and killed a Palestinian man after claiming he stabbed an IOF officer in the neck at the Qalandia roadblock northwest of occupied Jerusalem. Local sources said that Hamdi Sidki Al-Rajabi was martyred after the soldiers manning the infamous roadblock fired at him. IOF sources said that Rajabi stabbed an officer before.. More

  • Moussa hopeful after Beirut talks

    Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said he was hopeful of resolving the stalemate in Lebanon after talks with government and opposition leaders in Beirut. "We have made a step forward," Moussa said after talks with Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, whose government is under pressure to resign. After almost two weeks.. More

  • Catholic priest jailed over Rwanda genocide

    A former Catholic priest has been jailed for 15 years for participating in Rwanda's 1994 genocide. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted Athanase Seromba for ordering militiamen to burn down and then bulldoze a church where 2,000 ethnic Tutsis were hiding. About 800,000 people died during the country's genocide. According to.. More

  • Car bomb strikes eastern Baghdad

    A car bomb has exploded in an eastern suburb of Baghdad, killing 10 people and injuring at least 25. The attack comes after a day of bloodshed in the capital in which at least 70 died in a city centre bombing. The latest attack occurred in the suburb of Kamaliya, a predominantly Shia area of the capital. The city is now widely seen to be in the.. More

  • Iran: Israel 'will end like USSR'

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told a conference in Tehran questioning the Holocaust that Israel's days are numbered. "Just as the USSR disappeared, soon the Zionist regime will disappear," he said to the applause of the participants. The two-day conference provoked widespread international outrage. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned.. More

  • Gaza gunmen kill Hamas judge

    Unidentified men have shot dead a judge of an Islamic tribunal in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Bassam al-Farah was a prominent member of the Hamas movement. The killing comes amid growing tensions between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.Witnesses said four men ambushed al-Farah, 45, opening fire.. More

  • Bush delays new Iraq strategy

    The White House announcement was made after Bush held talks with US military commanders. Tony Snow, a White House spokesman, said: "He decided that, frankly, it's not ready yet." Aides had previously said that Bush hoped to announce a new strategy next week.Labourers slaughtered Witnesses described how a pair of vehicles were involved in what Nuri.. More

  • Hariri inquiry makes headway

    An inquiry into the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, is turning up significant links between his death and 14 later attacks in Lebanon, the chief investigator says. Serge Brammertz, who leads the UN inquiry into the killing of al-Hariri, also said he continues to demand interviews and evidence from Syria. Investigators.. More