RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Israel released 224 prisoners in a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, prompting joyous family reunions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Families sang and danced as prison buses rolled up full of newly freed men, shouting and waving from the …

EILAT, Israel (Reuters) – A bus full of Russian tourists veered off a desert road in Israel and plunged down a ravine on Tuesday, killing up to 30 people and seriously injuring about a dozen more. The crash, near the Sinai Desert border to the north of the Red Sea …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An Iraqi journalist who has admitted hurling his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush appeared before a judge on Tuesday and confirmed his action, a judicial spokesman said. TV reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi, who also called Bush a “dog” at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister …