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Middle East

Egypt court gives Christian 3 years for blasphemy
A Cairo court on Wednesday convicted a Coptic Christian blogger who shared an anti-Islam film on social networking sites and sentenced him to three ...
Egypt opposition urges 'No' vote on constitution
Egypt's main opposition alliance called for a "No" vote in the referendum on a disputed constitution rather than a boycott, hours after Islamist ...
OPEC keeps output target on hold amid weak economy
OPEC ministers agreed to keep their daily crude production target unchanged at a meeting Wednesday. But in a sign of internal rivalries, they failed ...
Kuwait names new government with no major changes
Kuwait's ruler has named a new Cabinet that makes no major changes in membership and reinstates the finance minister who resigned earlier this year ...
UN group to pick global emergency number
Negotiators at a conference on U.N. telecommunications regulations say they've found one bit of common ground — how to call for help. Envoys from 193 ...
Iran says it can make copy of captured CIA drone
Iran is now capable of manufacturing its own copies of an advanced CIA spy drone captured last year, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Wednesday.
Israeli minister: World would sacrifice Israel
Israel's hawkish foreign minister lashed out at the international community on Wednesday, criticizing its policies toward the Palestinians and ...
A look at North Korea's missile arsenal
North Korea's missile program is a point of national pride, with state TV regularly broadcasting past liftoffs set to rousing military anthems.
Vandals spray hate graffiti on Jerusalem church
Vandals have spray-painted "Death to Christianity" and "Jesus, son of a whore" on a Greek Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem. The overnight attack on the ...
Iran indicts 18 American officials, ex-officials
Iran's deputy judiciary chief says the Islamic Republic has issued indictments against 18 unnamed current and former American officials on charges of ...
Gaza's tunnels rebound from Israeli offensive
Rafah's biggest industry is back in business: Gazans are rebuilding the network of underground smuggling tunnels crisscrossing the Egyptian border ...
Chicago man gets 10 years in suicide-bomber plot
A Chicago man who pleaded guilty to a plot to attend a Somalia training camp with the dream of becoming a suicide bomber was sentenced Tuesday to ...
Panetta: Obama weighing US presence in Afghanistan
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that President Barack Obama will decide in the next few weeks how many U.S. troops will stay in ...
Obama: US recognizes Syria's main rebel group
President Barack Obama declared Syria's main opposition group the sole "legitimate representative" of its country's people Tuesday, deeming the move ...
Egypt judges say most will boycott referendum
Most Egyptian judges rejected any role Tuesday in overseeing the country's constitutional referendum, a move likely to cast further doubt on the ...
US defends $1.9B deal with British banking giant
American authorities on Tuesday cited "astonishing" dysfunction at the British bank HSBC and said that it had helped Mexican drug traffickers, Iran, ...
Extremists among Syrian rebels who seized base
Syrian rebels including Islamic extremists took full control of a sprawling military base Tuesday after a bloody two-day battle that killed 35 ...
Egypt opposition fears violence from Brotherhood
They showed a military-style precision: Crowds of bearded Islamists proclaiming allegiance to Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi and chanting "God is ...
Winter brings more troubles for displaced Syrians
This tent camp sheltering Syrians uprooted by their country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: The ground under white tents is ...
South Sudan army blamed in deaths of 23 civilians
South Sudan soldiers are being blamed for the deaths of up to 23 civilians in two separate regions in the world's newest country. A South Sudanese ...
Govt outlines HSBC ties to drug money laundering
British bank HSBC violated the Bank Secrecy Act in connection with the laundering of money from narcotics drug traffickers in Mexico and intentionally ...
Egypt asks IMF to delay loan due to turmoil
Egypt has asked for a one-month delay for a $4.8 billion loan it had agreed with the International Monetary Fund because of the current political ...
Experts: Russia likely to stay course on Assad
Recent hopes that the Kremlin would end its support of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad melted quickly, and analysts say Moscow ultimately may change its ...
Iran arrests 28 over links to religious networks
Tehran's chief prosecutor says authorities have arrested 28 Iranians for alleged links to foreign-based TV networks advocating the Baha'i religion, ...