Three demonstrators were shot and wounded on Sunday in a clash with Hamas police in Gaza during an event to mark the third anniversary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death, medical sources said.

The Middle East has acquired immense strategic value as one of the determining fulcrums in the global balance of power due to its being the world’s largest known storehouse of low-cost energy supplies. The region’s geopolitical importance, the kaleidoscopic nature of politics among its states, the presence of volatile social …

Tehran quoted head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) Abdel Aziz Hakim as saying that three of its diplomats still kept in US captivity will be released in the near future.