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Qatar faces backlash among rebel groups in Syria
In a war-battered suburb of Damascus, a commander for one of the smaller nationalist brigades fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad ...
Israeli focus on Syria gives Hagel respite on Iran
On Chuck Hagel's inaugural visit to Israel as U.S. defense secretary, Syria surpassed Iran as the security threat of greatest urgency to the U.S.
Yemen court sentences 11 al-Qaida militants
A Yemeni court on Tuesday sentenced 11 convicted al-Qaida militants to up to 10 years in prison for forming armed gangs to destabilize the country and ...
Complex history between Iran and al-Qaida
Canadian authorities claim al-Qaida operatives in Iran directed a failed plot to attack a passenger train. Iran denies it has any links to the two ...
'Wadjda' prompts women's rights talk at Tribeca
Haifaa Al Mansour had to go to great lengths to make the groundbreaking Saudi film "Wadjda" — and not only because it is the first feature made ...
Saudi advisers propose Friday-Saturday weekend
Saudi Arabia is taking the first steps to switch its weekend to begin on Fridays to align its banking and business days with most other nations in the ...
Pentagon chief stresses Israel's right to hit Iran
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held out hope Sunday for a nonmilitary way to ending the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, but he also emphasized ...
Hagel on first trip to Mideast as Pentagon chief
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Saturday began a weeklong trip to the Middle East to consult with Israeli leaders on Syria's civil war and Iran's ...
Saudi Arabia appoints new deputy defense minister
The Saudi monarch has appointed a retired army general as the kingdom's new deputy defense minister in a shakeup just days before a visit by U.S.
US finalizing arms sales to Israel, Arab nations
The Defense Department is working out final details of $10 billion in sales of warplanes, transport aircraft and advanced missiles to Israel and two ...
Saudi king condemns Boston Marathon bombings
The king of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned the Boston Marathon bombings, saying no religion or morals would condone such an attack. In a ...
Saudi prince backs letting women drive
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has indicated support of allowing women there to drive. He says that would help the kingdom's campaign to ...
Iran urged to boost nuke safety review after quake
The head of the Gulf states' main political bloc is urging Iran to join an international accord on nuclear safety following an earthquake near the ...
Yemen president orders military shakeup
Yemen's president removed his predecessor's son and nephews from powerful security posts on Wednesday in the most dramatic step yet in sidelining old ...
Al-Qaida denies its No. 2 in Yemen was killed
Al-Qaida in Yemen posted a statement on militant websites Monday saying that its second-most senior commander has not been killed. It was the second ...
Kerry makes new, ambitious Mideast peace push
Secretary of State John Kerry worked Monday to corral Israeli and Palestinian leaders into a new and ambitious peace process that includes reviving ...
Decade-old Mideast peace plan re-emerges
A dormant, decade-old Mideast peace plan has suddenly emerged as a possible key to breaking years of deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians.
Eyeing Syria, White House woos regional rulers
When President Barack Obama meets over the next month with leaders from Mideast and other regional nations, he will have a timely opportunity to try ...
Yemen: Ex-president Saleh leaves for Saudi Arabia
Officials at the airport of Yemen's capital Sanaa say former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has left for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment on a special ...
Saudi religious police lift ban on women on bikes
A Saudi newspaper says the kingdom's religious police are now allowing women to ride motorbikes and bicycles but only in restricted, recreational ...
Officials: Arms shipments rise to Syrian rebels
Mideast powers opposed to President Bashar Assad have dramatically stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in coordination with the U.S.
Saudi Arabia says spy ring worked for Iran
Saudi Arabia says its investigations have shown that members of a spy ring arrested last week were working for Iranian intelligence. The official ...
US training Syrian moderates in Jordan: officials
For months now, the United States has been training secular Syrian fighters in Jordan with the goal of bolstering the array of forces battling ...
Chimps, gorillas, other apes being lost to trade
The multibillion-dollar trade in illegal wildlife — clandestine trafficking that has driven iconic creatures like the tiger to near-extinction — is ...