OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — With Israel’s blessing, Egypt has delivered a large arms shipment to forces loyal to the embattled Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, officials said Thursday, in the latest Israeli attempt to boost Abbas in his bloody conflict with Hamas.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — In a gesture to Syria, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday said he is open to “any murmur of peace” from Israel’s enemies. Syria has recently signalled that it would like to reopen peace talks with Israel, which broke down seven years ago.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraqi officials backed away on Thursday from suggestions they would hang Saddam Hussein within a month, amid speculation the government is divided over whether to execute the ousted leader quickly.

MOUNT ARAFAT — In his tent in the desert outside the Holy City of Mecca, Suleiman Ibrahim still couldn’t believe his luck. His wife, sitting nearby, broke down in tears of joy Thursday as he recounted the day they learned they would be performing Hajj.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is due to be hanged within weeks but the government has given few details of how, when and where it will hang him.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) — Triumphant Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies marched into Mogadishu on Thursday after Islamist rivals abandoned the war-scarred city they held for six months.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council on Wednesday gave a guarded welcome to Sudanese President Omar Bashir’s readiness to accept the deployment of a joint African Union-UN force in strife-torn Darfur.

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) — President George W.  Bush met with top advisers at his Texas ranch on Thursday to hash out a new Iraq strategy that he plans to unveil next month to an American public weary of the war.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator who spent his last years in captivity after his ruthless regime was toppled by the U.S.-led coalition in 2003, was hanged before dawn Saturday for crimes committed in a brutal crackdown during his reign. The execution took place shortly after …

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Larijani Wednesday appointed a committee to examine restricting Iran’s ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).