Middle Orient

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — Ariel Sharon started breathing on his own and moved his right arm and leg in response to pain stimulation Monday, but his chief surgeon said that despite that “very important” sign, it’ll be days before doctors can assess whether the prime minister is lucid enough to …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel on Monday agreed to allow Arabs in East Jerusalem to vote in this month’s parliamentary election, as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the polls would take place on January 25 as scheduled. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz announced that Israel had agreed in principle to allow …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi police were searching Monday for an American journalist who was kidnapped over the weekend when gunmen ambushed her car and killed her translator in one of Baghdad’s most dangerous neighbourhoods. Jill Carroll, a freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped Saturday in Baghdad’s predominantly Sunni …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Two suicide bombers disguised as senior police officers killed 29 people Monday after infiltrating one of Baghdad’s most heavily fortified areas, but died before getting near the US ambassador, senior Iraqi officials and

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States has stepped-up contacts with some Iraqi insurgent groups in a bid to exploit tensions between home-grown rebels and foreign militant groups such as Al Qaeda, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

RABAT — The first of more than a dozen new towns designed to relieve overcrowding in Moroccan cities and empty the country’s slums will be ready for inhabitants this year, Housing Minister Ahmed Taoufiq Hejira told Reuters.

RAMALLAH — One year after his election, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas faces an increasingly uncertain future with the demise of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and a spiralling security crisis.

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran announced on Sunday that inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog agency were in the country and preparing to remove seals from nuclear research facilities no later than Monday, allowing Tehran to move forward with its vow to resume nuclear fuel research.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stunned the world by handing Gaza back to the Palestinians last year his critics feared this was the prelude to many more concessions.

JEDDAH (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad made surprise journeys to Saudi Arabia and Egypt Sunday, seeking support from Arab leaders as he faces an unprecedented challenge from a defecting ex-vice president and alleged Syrian involvement in the assassination of a former Lebanese leader.