DAMASCUS (AP) — Syrian troops have clashed with members of a militant group in the northern city of Hama — a region that once saw brutal clashes between the government and radicals. Five militants were killed, Syria’s state-run news agency reported Saturday. SANA, quoting an unnamed official at the Syrian …

CAIRO (AP) — A court ruled Saturday that civil society groups will be allowed to monitor Egypt’s historic multi-candidate presidential election set down for next week. The administrative court also referred articles for a controversial law regulating Wednesday’s first-ever presidential vote to a court to determine their constitutionality. Both decisions, …

GAZA CITY — Palestinian children started their school year Saturday hoping that Israel’s withdrawal from the war-weary Gaza Strip meant they were free of the military raids that made their student days a nightmare. One million pupils returned to schools across the West Bank and Gaza, as Israel was putting …