RAMADI — Crouched around the camera’s high-tech screen, the US Marines watch flames burn the camouflage netting around one of their lookout posts on a nearby roof, just hit by a burst of machinegun fire.

ERBIL (AFP) — The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan raised fresh calls on Thursday for a referendum to decide the future of the country’s crucial oil hub of Kirkuk, warning that Kurdish patience had limits.

BEIT LID, West Bank — Urban warfare exercises by Israeli troops in full battle gear have been giving Palestinians in this West Bank village some sleepless nights.

Explosives looted from Iraq munitions sites probably will continue to support terrorist attacks throughout the region, a congressional report said Thursday. It said some sites were still not secure more than 3 1/2 years after the war started.

The Saudi-proposed Arab peace initiative could be used as a basis for negotiation between Israel and moderate force in the Arab world, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday.

Iranians residing in Japan celebrated Norouz (New Year) here on Wednesday.

Iran’s representative to an international conference in Russia, Seyed Reza Hashemi, stressed on Thursday on the need to transfer Russia’s remarkable experiences to Iran in the scientific and technological fields.

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has recently said that Iran’s ties with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf region was as important to Syria as its bilateral relations with Iran, it was reported here on Thursday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited unsupported children and young adults living in a social welfare complex in southern Tehran on thursday.

India welcomes formation of the Palestinian National Unity Government resulted from efforts made by all Palestinian parties, it was reported here Thursday.