CAIRO (AP) — As millions of Muslims prepare to make the annual Hajj to Mecca this January, Saudi Arabia is adopting stricter measures to stop a new and startling spread of polio across the region, Saudi and United Nations officials said Saturday. The country that hosts the annual Islamic pilgrimage …

RABAT — The release of the last Moroccan prisoners of war held by separatist rebels in southwestern Algeria reignited efforts Friday to resolve the 30-year-old conflict in the Western Sahara. The conflict began in 1975 with the annexation of the Western Sahara by Morocco. The Algerian-backed separatist Polisario Front rebels, …

BAGHDAD — Disenchanted Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted Iraq’s first post-Saddam elections in January, are gearing up in force to participate in the upcoming referendum on the constitution, despite deadly threats from Al Qaeda. “The participation in this process [referendum] is a duty and a responsibility. We all should take …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — US diplomats have conceded ground to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraq, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline to draft a constitution under intense US pressure. US diplomats, who have insisted the constitution must enshrine ideals of equal rights …

Albania has been granted $8m by the United States, in recognition of its role in international peacekeeping and the global war on terror, the US Embassy announced last month. The money is being provided through the US Coalition Solidarity Fund (CSF) and President George W. Bush’s Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative …

The anticipated contract between Italy’s Fiat and the Zastava automobile factory in Kragujevac has been the subject of ongoing discussion in the Serbian media. Many details remain unclear. In general, the deal calls for Zastava to begin producing an older model of the Fiat Punto, as well as providing spare …

Hundreds of policemen who were doing desk jobs are being obliged to go onto the streets to fight crime and cope with Romania’s severe traffic problems. Numerous commanding officers have seen their jobs vanish and are having to choose between retirement or accepting a lower-level position. These are the most …

A Bosnian Serb businessman, believed to be funding top war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic, was arrested in Montenegro on Wednesday (17 August) on charges of fraud and embezzlement. Montenegrin police spokesman Branko Bulatovic said that Momcilo Mandic, a former Republika Srpska (RS) justice minister, was apprehended at his apartment in …

KFAR DAROM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) — Israeli troops using cranes and water cannon battled protesters on the rooftop of a Gaza settlement synagogue on Thursday as they assaulted the last bastions of resistance to evacuation of the occupied Strip. In the most violent, frenzied scenes since the start of forced …

BAGHDAD (AP) — A spokesman for the biggest Shiite party Thursday predicted a breakthrough on the constitution within the next two days, as negotiators scrambled to finish the draft by next week’s deadline. A roadside bomb killed four more US soldiers in a city north of Baghdad. Four days before …