THE HAMAS-LED Palestinian government was inaugurated on Wednesday, but not all those elected to the new parliament are able to take up their seats. For some, the best they can do is have a life-sized photograph of themselves propped up in their place.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s leaders promised an enhanced fight against Kurdish militants Thursday after a week of the worst street clashes in decades, but said the fight would not mean backtracking on democratic reforms that are critical to Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.

CAIRO (AFP) — A third person has died from bird flu in Egypt, the hardest-hit non-Asian country in the world, as health officials struggled Thursday to enforce preventive measures.

DUBAI — It’s not often the United States, Israel and the Gulf Arab states worry about the same thing. But right now, they are all focused on Iran.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A former senior White House official testified that President George W. Bush authorised the leaking of classified material on Iraq, according to court papers made public on Thursday that immediately ignited a political storm.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak called interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to congratulate him for being named to head a new government and the two leaders decided to meet “immediately after a government is formed” in Israel.

GAZA (Reuters) — Palestinian Prime Minister and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday rejected a decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to assume security control over the Gaza Strip’s border crossings.Abbas’ overnight move underscores tensions with Hamas in the wake of the Islamic group’s crushing win against the president’s long-dominant …

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siam said Sunday it could take a year for his Hamas government to end armed chaos in Gaza after three people were killed in clashes between rival gunmen.

MOGADISHU — Somali warlords are destroying Muse Suldan’s dream to be a teacher. The 12-year-old often flees Mogadishu and misses school to escape gunbattles between rival militias. Like a generation of young Somalis, he has never known peace or lived under a formal government, growing up in anarchy after strongman …

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AFP) — Ethnic riots in southeast Turkey in the past week left nine dead in the worst urban violence to hit the region in a decade, reviving memories of the height of a Kurdish rebellion that has claimed more than 37,000