BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s rival leaders on Thursday overcame differences relating to the consequences of the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri as they sat together for the first time to resolve divisions that still remain following the end of Syrian domination.The leaders — Muslim and Christian, pro- and anti-Syrian …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen attacked the disabled car of Iraq’s top Sunni politician on Thursday, killing one bodyguard and wounding five after the Sunni leader sped away in another vehicle. Thirty-five other people died in a new round of violence.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s foreign minister said Tuesday it would be premature to cut off international aid for a Palestinian government, even if Hamas is at its helm, dashing Bush administration hopes for a unified front as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stood stiffly at his side.

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas formally tasked Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday with forming the first government controlled by Islamists one month after the faction’s election victory. Abbas gave an official nomination letter to Haniyeh at his Gaza City office, an arrangement agreed in talks between the …

MOGADISHU (AFP) — At least 15 people were killed and 23 wounded Tuesday in fighting between gunmen loyal to warlords controlling the Somali capital and Islamic court security militia, witnesses and medical sources said.This brings the death toll to 33 and dozens wounded since the clashes erupted on Saturday, pitting …

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — US Ambassador John Bolton accused the United Nations and some Security Council members on Monday of moving too slowly towards setting up a UN peacekeeping force in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.Bolton expressed frustration with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and UN officials over the pace of …

BEIRUT — Buoyed by recent street protests, the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority is starting a big push to try to oust President Emile Lahoud, Damascus’ top ally in Lebanon. But they have limited tools — and their drive is already splitting the country and threatening to plunge it into chaos. Although …

Car bomb kills at least 21BAGHDAD (Reuters) — A car bomb killed at least 21 people in Baghdad on Tuesday hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari angrily dismissed US warnings to shun sectarianism in the country’s new government. The blast in the southern Dora district, the bloodiest in …

BAGHDAD (AP) — A spate of roadside bombings in Baghdad and north of the capital killed a US soldier and at least 11 Iraqis Saturday, officials said. Two Macedonians were kidnapped in southern Iraq, while a search is on for a private German plane missing in the north. An Iraqi …

KHARTOUM (Reuters) — Sudan’s government on Saturday rejected US accusations that genocide was ongoing in its Darfur region and said it was discussing allowing a robust UN force to take over from African peace monitors there.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said genocide was continuing in Darfur through …