BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen on Thursday seized two Algerian diplomats — including the country’s top envoy — in the latest attacks aimed at undermining support among Muslim and Arab nations for the US-backed Iraqi government. Meanwhile, efforts to finish the new constitution by an August 15 deadline suffered a setback …

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council opened a debate Thursday on Middle East tensions ahead of the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, with Israel and the Palestinians clashing over Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. As Israel indicated that the Gaza pullout, due to begin in mid-August, …

EL FASHER (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded and received an apology from Sudan Thursday after officials and press accompanying her were “manhandled” by security staff at President Omar Bashir’s residence. “They had no right to manhandle my staff and the press,” Rice told reporters after the …