Middle Orient

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Gunmen killed the brother of a top Iraqi Sunni politician, officials said on Monday, in the second killing in days of a relative of a Sunni leader as deadlock over a unity government showed no sign of loosening.

BEIRUT (AP) — Prime Minister Fuad Siniora headed to Washington on Monday for a meeting with US President George W. Bush where he was expected to seek American political and economic support for Lebanon’s efforts to extend its authority over all Lebanese territory and revive the war-shattered economy.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — As far as the Abu Hawa family is concerned, the sale of two floors of their home on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives was perfectly legitimate.

EIN GEDI, Israel — The Dead Sea is dying, with the world’s saltiest water body threatened by a lack of freshwater and an increasingly tense political situation, environmentalists have warned.

KIRKUK — Armed men fill the corridors of power in Kirkuk’s government building as police, soldiers and bodyguards trade fierce looks outside the offices of council members. What the squabbling politicians and their retainers are not doing in this building, however, is shooting at each other, giving hope for the …

BAGHDAD — US leaders are pushing Iraqis hard to resolve the deadlock over a new prime minister and form a unity government. But getting that done will offer no guarantee of a quick end to the country’s violence.

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq’s Shiite leaders, divided over their choice for the next prime minister, cancelled a much-awaited parliament session on Sunday as rebel attacks across the country left at least 31 people dead.

CAIRO (Reuters) — Iraq left its seat empty at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Iraq on Wednesday, carrying out its threat to boycott the Arab League event in protest at remarks by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Leaders fail to make progress towards forming unity gov’tBAGHDAD (Reuters) — A car bomb killed at least 26 people outside a Shiite mosque north of Baghdad on Wednesday as Iraqi leaders failed to make progress towards forming a national unity government they hope can avert sectarian civil war.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s leaders promised an enhanced fight against Kurdish militants Thursday after a week of the worst street clashes in decades, but said the fight would not mean backtracking on democratic reforms that are critical to Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.