Middle Orient

GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike on Wednesday killed two Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s main Sunni Arab political bloc said on Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin the Shi’ite-led government after a disagreement with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over a cabinet post.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least six members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol and wounded 18 others on Monday, police said.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Monday: *denotes new or updated item * BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb wounded five people on the airport highway, in western Baghdad, police said. * BAGHDAD – A bomb blast wounded two people in Shaab district, northern …

CAIRO (Reuters) – The governments of the Middle East, from Iran to Israel and beyond, are increasingly ignoring the wishes of a U.S. administration which has only eight months left in office, going their own way in regional diplomacy.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic Church hopes a year dedicated to Saint Paul, born two millennia ago in Tarsus in today’s southern Turkey, will bring signs of more religious tolerance in the mostly Muslim but secularist country.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s parliament elected army chief Michel Suleiman as head of state on Sunday, reviving paralyzed state institutions after an 18-month standoff between a U.S.-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese President Michel Suleiman will appoint a prime minister on Wednesday to head a new cabinet that will be formed as part of an agreement to end 18 months of political conflict.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko described his country’s relations with Iran as smooth and transparent.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Majid Al Futtaim Group, developer of Sky Dubai and malls throughout the region, is due to construct its first hotel in Iran.