Middle Orient

AMMAN (JT) — Queen Rania on Wednesday joined UNICEF in an international appeal for Iraqi children, urging the global community to act on their behalf and noting that those affected by violence and displacement have reached a critical point. 

An bomb in a suitcase has ripped through a building in the town of Aley, in the mountains east of the Lebanese capital. A senior security official said five people had been wounded in the explosion which was at the main roundabout of the resort on Wednesday evening.

ANKARA (Reuters) —  A bomb outside a crowded shopping mall in Turkey’s capital Ankara killed five people and injured at least 60 people on Tuesday, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.

SANAA (Reuters) — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Tuesday he would consider Shiite Muslim rebels’ demands to end fighting with government forces but would not change the secular political system of the Arab country.

FALLUJAH — It was midnight before the massive seven-tonne trucks arrived in Fallujah and disgorged a cargo of a hundred travel weary Iraqi police recruits, ready to assume the hardest job in the city.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) — A US-backed proposal to stop Sudanese military aircraft flying over the war-ravaged western region of Darfur is technically unworkable, a top European Union soldier said on Tuesday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — A car bomb in a busy Baghdad market killed 25 people and wounded 60 on Tuesday, while parliament adjourned without any action on constitutional reforms aimed at stopping sectarian violence.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s deputy defence minister threatened Tuesday to target Hamas’  political leaders, calling them “terrorists in suits” after a Hamas rocket attack killed an Israeli woman. The harsh words were backed up by action, with fresh air  strikes on Hamas targets.

NAHR BARED (AFP) — Islamist fighters declared a ceasefire on Tuesday after three days of fierce battles with Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp, but two civilians were gunned down just hours later as UN workers delivered desperately needed aid.

NAHR BARED (AFP) — Islamist fighters declared a ceasefire on Tuesday after three days of fierce battles with Lebanese troops at a Palestinian refugee camp, but two civilians were gunned down just hours later as UN workers delivered desperately needed aid.