Middle Orient

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — US President George W. Bush approved dozens of changes at US spy agencies on Wednesday to better combat weapons of mass destruction, including creating a new centre and moving FBI counterterrorism and intelligence operations into a new unit.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Baghdad’s mayor decried the capital’s crumbling infrastructure and its inability to supply enough water to its residents, threatening Thursday to resign if the government fails to provide the funds he needs to improve utilities. Alaa Mahmoud Timimi’s threat came as the US military claimed some success over …

Arab countries welcome new leader; Jewish state brands him ‘global threat’ TEHRAN (AP) — Iran’s newly elected president vowed Sunday to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme and says his country does not need the United States in order to make progress. Hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also downplayed Western and liberal concerns …

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi Airways officials said flights would resume early Monday from Baghdad International Airport following a two-day shutdown caused by a commercial dispute with a private security company. The first Iraqi Airways flight would leave at 9:30am (0530 GMT) for Amman and Damascus, a reservations official and company …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel has called off an arms deal with China, confiscating key parts of unmanned drone aircraft, in a bid to defuse US anger over the sale, the Haaretz daily reported Sunday, but the decision could strain newly-repaired relations with Beijing. The United States has imposed a …

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi tribunal investigating members of Saddam Hussein’s regime released a videotape Sunday showing two of the ousted dictator’s half brothers being questioned about their alleged role in displacing and killing Kurds. The Iraqi Special Tribunal also sought to put an end to speculation over the date …

TEHRAN — After eight years of often conciliatory diplomacy and a presidential election where resuming ties with the United States was floated as a real possibility, Mahmood Ahmadinejad’s victory has abruptly slammed the door on any immediate chance of making up with Washington, analysts say. The final say on the …

SHIRAT HAYAM, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli bulldozers knocked down a row of abandoned buildings next to this seaside settlement on Sunday, clashing with Jewish settlers in the first military operation aimed at heading off opposition to Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In a foretaste of what could …

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush will try to persuade sceptical Americans this week that the war in Iraq is winnable while shoring up his own weak approval ratings. Neither task will be easy. As part of a newly honed White House focus on Iraq, Bush will travel to an …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday that American forces would not defeat Iraq’s rebels but would make way for Iraqis to put down an insurgency that could go on for a decade or more. His remarks came on another day of bloodshed on which three …