Middle Orient

BASRA (Reuters) — Angry crowds attacked a British tank with petrol bombs and rocks in Basra on Monday after Iraqi authorities said they had detained two British undercover soldiers in the southern city for firing on police. Two Iraqis were killed in the violence, an interior ministry official said. An …

RAFAH — Hamas supporters, including thousands of men and vehicles flaunting rockets, filled the streets of Gaza City in an impressive show of strength as Palestinian and Egyptian forces were busy imposing order on their chaotic border crossing. The Hamas rally on Sunday was a military-style victory parade. Masked men, …

NEW YORK (AP) — The US is using the largest gathering of world leaders to try to keep up international pressure on Syria by branding it a meddlesome neighbour and a holdout against democratic advances in the Middle East. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice takes up the charge in meetings …

UNITED NATIONS — Iran’s new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a splash at the United Nations last week, matching diplomatic toughness with unexpected public-relations skills in his debut on the world scene. The hardliner flew into New York fighting what he called a “psychological war” with the West over his country’s …

VIENNA (AP) — The chief UN nuclear inspector on Monday urged an end to confrontation over Iran’s atomic programme, and suggested talks over differences should take precedence over US and European threats to send Tehran to the UN Security Council. But the Western push for referral appeared back on track. …

LONDON (Reuters) — Large-scale corruption in Iraq’s ministries, particularly the defence ministry, has led to one of the biggest thefts in history with more than $1 billion going missing, Iraq’s finance minister said in an interview. “Huge amounts of money have disappeared. In return we got nothing but scraps of …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon flew home on Monday to a battle for his political survival after collecting diplomatic dividends at the United Nations for a pullout from the Gaza Strip. Sharon faces a showdown with hardline rival Benjamin Netanyahu trying to unseat him as head of …

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt and the Palestinian Authority are pushing Israel to agree to third party monitoring of border traffic as a way of reopening a legal crossing on the Gaza frontier, which thousands of people surged across illegally last week, officials said Monday. The proposal, under which officials from …

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations must shift its focus from just settling disputes between states to coordinating the world’s fight against terrorism, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the second day of a UN summit Thursday. Echoing remarks by Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. …

BAGHDAD (AP) — The US military said on Thursday the brutal insurgent bombings that killed nearly 200 people in Baghdad over the past two days were a “predictable spike in violence” tied to the coming referendum on Iraq’s new constitution. As suicide bombers continued their campaign in Baghdad for a …