Al Qaeda fighters killed at least eight police in southern Baghdad on Thursday, raking them with machinegun fire from a stolen Iraqi army vehicle, police said.

Lebanon’s parliament is unlikely to elect a new head of state on Friday in the last few hours of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud’s term, because rival leaders have failed to clinch a deal despite French-led mediation.

Working in a classroom on the frontline of the conflict between Israel and Hamas Islamists requires a lot more than good teaching skills.

 Israel plans to reduce electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip beginning December 2, according to a document submitted Thursday to the Israeli supreme court, its latest move against the Hamas rulers of Gaza.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana announced Thursday they will meet late next week, shortly before Solana is due to report to the UN Security Council on Tehran’s willingness to freeze uranium enrichment.

With an ebb in the violence in Iraq, the country’s embassy in Damascus is starting to organise free trips for Iraqis who want to return home, an Iraqi diplomat said Wednesday.

Italy backs Turkish membership of the European Union “100 per cent” but Ankara needs to make progress on key issues such as the Cyprus question, the Italian foreign minister said Thursday.

Lebanese took a day off work on Thursday, 64th anniversary of independence, but with foreign powers hovering over the search for a new president, many Lebanese wonder if they can ever shake off outside intervention.

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted the areas in the vicinity of the port city of Lengeh in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan on Thursday.

Great interest has been generated by a painting and handicrafts exhibition jointly sponsored by Iran and Japan now being held in Tokyo.