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Middle East

Dutch to send Turkey 2 Patriot systems
The Dutch government approved a NATO request Friday to send two batteries of Patriot missile defense systems to Turkey, following in Germany's ...
Rights group says UAE detains teen blogger
A human rights group says authorities in the United Arab Emirates have detained an 18-year-old blogger as part of a widening crackdown on perceived ...
Iran commander claims sanctions are helpful
A senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard claimed Friday that Western sanctions are helpful because they promote Iranian ...
Rights group: Israeli strike on Gaza home unlawful
A leading human rights group on Friday accused Israel of violating the laws of war when it killed 12 civilians in an airstrike during its recent ...
Egypt's president offers nothing to defuse crisis
An angry Mohammed Morsi refused Thursday to call off a referendum on a disputed constitution that has sparked Egypt's worst political crisis in two ...
Egypt crisis tests opposition ahead of key votes
Egypt's latest political crisis over a disputed constitution is posing a difficult test for the mostly secular opposition: Can it maintain its ...
With war shifting, US, Russia talk Syria's future
Diplomatic efforts to end Syria's civil war moved forward Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joining Russia's foreign ...
Hamas chief's Gaza visit sign of regional embrace
The supreme Hamas leader's first-ever visit to the Gaza Strip this weekend signals growing regional acceptance of the Islamic militant movement in ...
Tensions mount as UN climate talks near end
U.N. climate talks are heading into the final stretch with a host of issues unresolved, including a standoff over how much money financially stressed ...
Syrian capital a maze of checkpoints, blast walls
Instead of a quick half-hour trip home from her class at Damascus University, Lama Issa says she now must maneuver through security checkpoints, army ...
NATO moves toward deployment on Syria border
As fears grow in the West that Syrian President Bashar Assad will unleash chemical weapons as an act of desperation, NATO moved forward Thursday with ...
Hackers said to hit UN telecoms talks in Dubai
Organizers of a U.N. conference on global telecommunications said Thursday that hackers apparently blocked their website and disrupted the talks, a ...
Baghdad, Kurds said to reach security agreement
Iraq's prime minister said Thursday that Baghdad and Kurdish officials reached a preliminary agreement to allow inhabitants of disputed northern areas ...
Clooney: Village burnings in Sudan a war crime
Actor George Clooney and a group of U.S. genocide scholars in the United States are warning that war crimes are taking place in an obscure conflict ...
Jordan king in West Bank to support Palestinians
Jordan's King Abdullah II paid a rare visit to the West Bank on Thursday in a show of support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' successful bid ...
Oil stays below $88 on ample US stocks
The price of oil hovered below $88 a barrel on Thursday as mounting evidence of ample seasonal U.S. crude stocks was partly offset by ongoing worries ...
Netanyahu: Israel will keep settlement corridor
Israel's prime minister brushed off international uproar over a planned new settlement project near Jerusalem, claiming Thursday that Israel will keep ...
Israel bars academic from Berlin diplomatic event
Israel barred a dovish Israeli academic from taking part in a science symposium in Berlin on Thursday that was part of Prime Minister Benjamin ...
Party of former Israel FM gets boost from defector
Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has added a big name to her new political party after a former defense minister defected from the Labor ...
Standard Chartered expects $330m US fines
Standard Chartered bank says it expects to pay $330 million in fines to U.S. agencies to settle charges of violating sanctions against Iran. The bank ...
Germans OK Patriot missiles to defend Turkey
Germany's Cabinet on Thursday approved sending German Patriot air defense missiles to Turkey to protect the NATO member against possible attacks from ...
Death toll in latest Iran quake rises to 6
Iran's state TV says the death toll from an earthquake near the border with Afghanistan has risen to six. The report also says 14 people were injured ...
Middle East beginning to embrace solar energy
Covering nearly 300 football fields in a remote patch of desert, the Shams 1 solar project carries off plenty of symbolic significance for the United ...
Islamists battle opponents as Egypt crisis grows
Egypt descended into political turmoil on Wednesday over the constitution drafted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, and at least 211 ...
Syrian civil war spills over into Lebanon
The families of Lebanese men killed in Syria last week say their relatives were more interested in nice clothes and vacations than fighting a civil ...