Middle Orient

Two blasts hit a crowded market area in the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding 32, police said. The first explosion came from a car rigged with explosives and was followed by a suicide attacker who drove a bomb-laden car into a busy …

On an unannounced visit to Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a new US-led security operation appeared to have gotten off to a good start in Baghdad but she called on Iraqi leaders to do more to end the sectarian divides behind the violence.

Iran is limiting uranium enrichment in a signal to the U.S. and its European allies that the Islamic Republic wants to avoid escalating the dispute over its nuclear program, two Western diplomats said.

The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Government has resigned after 11 turbulent months in power, clearing the way for a unity government intended to end deadly infighting and a Western boycott.

Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper woke up in a good mood on Tuesday morning, declaring “Ray of hope shines on Beirut as both sides see ‘open door’ ” on its front page as hopes grew that simmering sectarian tensions would abate.

A joint US/Iraqi drive to wrest back control of Baghdad from militias appears to be making progress, with no major incidents in the capital today.

Police scuffled on Friday with Muslims protesting Israeli construction outside a disputed Jerusalem holy site, but the scattered clashes were quickly contained and no one was seriously hurt, police said.

The US House of Representatives is to vote Friday on a resolution opposing President George W. Bush’s decision to deploy more troops to Iraq, the first major repudiation of the increasingly unpopular war.

Insurgents met the determined advance of Iraqi and US security forces into Baghdad with another deadly bomb Friday, despite signs that Shiite militiamen at least have decided to go to ground.

The group that kidnapped two Germans in Iraq last week are said to have made a series of political demands in exchange for the hostages’ release, a German news magazine reported Friday.