BAGHDAD (AP) — In the opening battle of a major new drive to tame the violent capital, the Iraqi army reported it killed 30 gunmen Saturday night in a firefight in a Sunni insurgent stronghold in the centre of the city, just to the north of the heavily fortified Green …

WASHINGTON (AP) — President George W. Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq is already running into trouble on Capitol Hill, with Republicans joining Democrats in raising eyebrows before the president even makes his case.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) — Ethiopian troops and Somali protesters exchanged fire in Mogadishu on Saturday killing three people, witnesses said, as hundreds of Somalis demonstrated against the foreign forces and a government disarmament drive.

DUBAI (Reuters) — Saudi Arabia has urged the United States to change course in Iraq and warned against the break-up of the country along ethnic or religious lines amid growing sectarian violence, a newspaper said on Saturday.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) —The UN interim special representative for Sudan, Jan Eliasson, said he will leave for African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa later Friday to find a solution to the bloodshed in Darfur.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced increased criticism and plummeting polls Friday after returning empty-handed from a summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as debate rages over sending more US troops to Iraq, there are differing views about whether economic incentives such as micro-loans and US-funded jobs programmes would coax fighters to trade guns for tools.

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Saturday threatened to “review” relations with countries which criticised the bungled execution of Saddam Hussein, saying the hanging was an internal matter.

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iranian reformist parliamentarians on Saturday blamed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government for failing to prevent United Nations sanctions.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- A senior Pakistani lawmaker voiced his country’s support for the construction of Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, stressing that Tehran-Islamabad cordial ties will enter a new phase following the endorsement of the pipeline construction contract.