Abbas' move reflects deep Palestinian despair
AP - 5 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AP) - By saying he wants to step down as president, Mahmoud Abbas has highlighted a deep Palestinian despair rooted in decades of failed peace initiatives and fruitless violence.

Egypt stops opposition leader from traveling to US
AP - 11 hours ago

CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian authorities have prevented a leading political dissident from traveling to the U.S., saying Friday that the conditions of his early release from prison do not permit him to travel abroad.

Rights group: Iran covered up rape of detainees
AP - 12 hours ago

CAIRO (AP) - An international human rights group said Friday it has documented three cases of sexual assault against detainees arrested during Iran's postelection turmoil, including one that was supported by an official report but not investigated further.

Cousin: US shooting suspect felt anti-Muslim bias
AP - 13 hours ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - A cousin of the man suspected of shooting fellow soldiers at a Texas military base says he had little contact with his Palestinian relatives in the West Bank but had told family there that he suffered discrimination in the U.S. Army because he is a Muslim.

Saudi: Airstrikes near Yemen targeted infiltrators
AP - 15 hours ago

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia said Friday it carried out airstrikes against "infiltrators" from Yemen that were limited to areas inside Saudi territory, and vowed to press on with the military action until the border with its restive neighbor was secure.

Israel rejects UN vote approving Gaza report
AP - 1 day ago

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel said on Friday that a U.N. General Assembly decision to endorse a report accusing the Jewish state of war crimes lacked the support of the world's "moral majority."

Palestinian shock: President says he wants to quit
AP - 1 day ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pushed Mideast peace prospects into unknown territory Thursday, announcing he doesn't want another term and opening the way to a succession battle that could play into the hands of his rival, the militant Hamas.

Israel: Weapons would let Hezbollah fight a month
AP - 1 day ago

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel said Thursday that Hezbollah could have bombarded the Jewish state for a month with the weapons confiscated in the country's largest-ever arms seizure, and called on the world to focus on the Lebanese militants' chief backer, Iran, rather than assailing Israel.

Saudis launches offensive against Yemen rebels
AP - 1 day ago

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) - Saudi Arabia sent fighter jets and artillery bombardments across the border into northern Yemen Thursday in a military incursion apparently aimed at helping its troubled southern neighbor control an escalating Shiite rebellion, Arab diplomats and the rebels said.

Student stuns Iran by criticizing supreme leader
AP - 1 day ago

BEIRUT (AP) - An unassuming college math student has become an unlikely hero to many in Iran for daring to criticize the country's most powerful man to his face.