RAMALLAH — Islamic group Hamas and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas are treading an all-out collision course that could move from rhetoric to the battlefield, Palestinian analysts warn. An informal truce brokered by Abbas and the main armed factions last March is unravelling amid esclating violence, putting mounting Israeli pressure on …

RIYADH — For outsiders, the ban on women’s driving in Saudi Arabia is perhaps the most powerful symbol of the restrictions they suffer, and ending it may seem like it should be a priority in their struggle for rights. But many women in the highly conservative kingdom say they have …

BAGHDAD — From his poor farm community on the outskirts of Baghdad, Hassan Melhan could feel the heat rising. Dozens of fellow Shiites in other villages had been frightened out by threats from Sunni militants, and he had heard some had even been killed. When traveling to Shiite holy places …