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Middle East

Israel praises Azerbaijan's stand in Iran crisis
Israel's president on Monday praised Azerbaijan for playing a key role in countering Iran's influence in the Middle East as the Muslim country's ...
Egypt probes prosecutor who ordered drunk flogged
An Egyptian prosecutor who cited the Quran as he ordered police to flog a man with 80 lashes for public drunkenness has been suspended and put under ...
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 ...
Hagel: US committed to Israel's military edge
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel assured Israel on Monday that the Obama administration is committed to preserving and improving the Jewish state's ...
Iraq Sunnis stage day of civil disobedience
Many of Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority held a day of civil disobedience on Monday to protest what they see as discrimination by the Shiite-led ...
Libyan officers demand dismissal of military chief
Libyan military officers are demanding the dismissal of the army chief of staff, pledging to go on strike if he is not replaced. Hundreds of officers ...
Kuwait ex-MP freed to fight emir insult sentence
A defense lawyer in Kuwait says a former parliament member was granted bail and will remain free while fighting a five-year sentence for a speech ...
Syrian opposition calls on Hezbollah to stay out
The Syrian opposition called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the country, as activists said regime troops supported by gunmen linked to the ...
Kerry pushes Turkey-Israel rapprochement
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Turkey to speed up and cement an American-brokered rapprochement with Israel, and he explored with ...
Egypt justice minister submits resignation
Egypt's justice minister submitted his resignation Sunday, a Cabinet spokesman said, in a move that signaled strong disapproval of the president's ...
Iraqis see some irregularities in provincial vote
Iraqi election monitors on Sunday reported multiple irregularities in the country's first provincial vote since U.S. troops left, but were unclear as ...
Palestinians hold first Bethlehem marathon
Hundreds of people on Sunday took part in the West Bank's first marathon, looping around the biblical city of Bethlehem four times on a course that ...
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel wins Bahrain GP
Sebastian Vettel gave a reminder of how dominant he can be when he's at his best. The Red Bull driver won his second straight Bahrain Grand Prix on ...
Israeli official says drones could replace planes
Israel's air force is on track to developing drones that within four to five decades would carry out nearly every battlefield operation executed today ...
Israel approves 'Open Skies' deal with EU
Israel's Cabinet on Sunday approved a deal to allow more EU flights, hours after the country's airlines went on strike out of concerns that the ...
Top Gadhafi aide to face trial in Egypt
A cousin and onetime top aid of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi will face trial in Egypt on charges of attempted murder. Prosecutor Hamdi ...
Iran says election will not affect nuclear stance
An Iranian nuclear negotiator is saying that Iran's coming presidential election will not affect its stance in nuclear talks with world powers.
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 ...
Egypt resumes hot air balloon sightseeing
Egypt resumed hot air balloon sightseeing in the ancient city of Luxor on Sunday, weeks after a fiery accident led authorities to halt the flights.
Red Bull's Vettel wins Bahrain GP
Three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix Sunday, easily beating Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean in a ...
Yemen officials: US drone kills 2 militants
Yemeni army officials say a U.S. drone strike has killed two suspected al-Qaida militants east of the capital, sparking a retaliatory attack on a ...
Israel: Gaza militants fired from Sinai last week
Israel's prime minister is accusing Gaza militants of carrying out a rocket attack from Egypt's Sinai desert on a southern Israeli resort last week.
US doubles aid to Syrian rebels, who want more
The United States said Sunday that it will double its non-lethal assistance to Syria's opposition as the rebels' top supporters vowed to enhance and ...
Egypt's Morsi to reshuffle Cabinet amid turmoil
Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi defended his handling of some of the nation's most pressing problems in a nearly two-hour television interview on ...
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 ...