TEHRAN (Agencies) — A gathering of Iranians who claim they are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain on Saturday of attacks on coalition military bases in Iraq if there were a strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.”With more than 1,000 trained martyrdom-seekers, we are ready to …

RAMALLAH — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday officially tasked Hamas with forming a new Palestinian government as Palestinian legislators were sworn in during the opening ceremony of the second Palestinian Legislative Council. The ceremony was held simultaneously in the presidential compound in Ramallah and the parliament building in Gaza City, …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Russia’s plans to talk to Palestinian election winner Hamas drew a low-key response on Sunday from Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to remarks attributed to him by a government official. “I think the Russian position is mistaken, as I have stated.

EUROPEAN UNION foreign policy chief Javier Solana embarks on a Mideast charm offensive Monday to calm protests over controversial Prophet Mohammad cartoons, and to limit the diplomatic fallout from the row.

LONDON (Reuters) — A British newspaper released a video on Sunday apparently showing British soldiers savagely beating Iraqi teenagers in 2004, prompting Prime Minister Tony Blair to promise a full investigation.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Shiite lawmakers Sunday tapped incumbent Ibrahim Jaafari to be Iraq’s new prime minister, endorsing the physician and longtime exile for a second term by a single vote — thanks in large part to support by a radical anti-US faction.

WASHINGTON — Akbar Ganji has a term for the dangers of challenging Iran’s Islamic government: “Playing with death.” Ganji is perhaps Iran’s best known political prisoner. A veteran of hunger strikes and long bouts of solitary confinement, Ganji has been imprisoned since 2001 after writing that regime allies were responsible …

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah on Thursday issued a decree approving a 16-member new Cabinet that includes three Islamists and saw the exit of two leading liberal ministers. Six ministers in the new government are members of the ruling Al Sabah family — …

TRIPOLI (AP) — The leaders of Sudan and Chad have signed a peace agreement to end increasing tension, pledging to deny refuge to each other’s rebel groups and to normalise diplomatic relations. The agreement, signed late Wednesday, was reached after a day of talks hosted by Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The United States, which came under fire for abusing detainees in Iraq, has spent millions of dollars creating a new prison system there as part of a programme to revamp the criminal justice system from top to bottom. A Bush administration official, who asked not to be …