OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, huddled with top military and political officials Sunday to discuss the growing likelihood that Hamas could dominate this week’s Palestinian elections. The ascendance of Hamas has alarmed Israel, which appears to have been caught off guard by the group’s surging …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — US forces hunting kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll are raiding Iraqi homes in a race against time but, as with much of their counter-insurgency war, face the dilemma that their tactics can foster resentment. Operations designed to take her captors by surprise have angered those Iraqis who …

KHARTOUM (AFP) — The merger of the two main rebel groups in war-torn Darfur could simplify peace talks and help shorten the bloody nearly three-year-old conflict in Sudan’s western region, the government and analysts said. The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) announced on Friday …

HEBRON — Clutching her child with one hand, and a mobile phone with the other, Jewish settler Miriam Grabovsky vows to block Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron. “The Israeli government works for the enemy. We are loyal to the land of Israel and our Torah, and …

VIENNA (AFP) — Europe and the United States are struggling to get Russia and China onboard to crack down on Iran at a UN meeting next month over a nuclear programme the West fears hides secret atomic weapons work, diplomats told AFP Sunday. While some move by the International Atomic …

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Kuwait’s ailing emir decided Sunday to take oath in parliament this week despite the government’s determination to remove him on health grounds, plunging the oil-rich Gulf state deeper into crisis. “A special session of parliament will be convened on Tuesday to enable the emir [Sheikh Saad …

DUBAI (AFP) — A Jordanian held hostage in Iraq said in a videotape aired on Al Arabiya television on Sunday that his captors had wrapped him in an explosive belt and set a four-day deadline to execute him unless their demands are met. “I appeal to the Jordanian government not …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraq’s biggest Sunni political bloc committed itself on Sunday to talks with Shiites and Kurds to form a government of national unity, but said its key demands, including changes to the constitution, must be met. The United States, keen to drive the political process towards a stable …

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful “So when you have performed your devotions, then laud Allah as you lauded your fathers, rather a greater lauding” (2: 200) Dear Muslim brothers and sisters: The Hajj season is an occasion for hope and good tidings. On the one hand, …

LONDON (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said he opposed any attempt by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, but alleged the West was partly to blame for Tehran’s nuclear programme. In an interview broadcast Monday by the British Broadcasting Corp.,