RAMALLAH — Hamas yesterday announced it had decided on the next Palestinian Cabinet and will present the names to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday, two weeks ahead of the deadline. Talks with other Palestinian factions ended Friday with no apparent agreements struck, leaving Hamas no choice but to form a …

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s most prominent political prisoner, dissident Akbar Ganji, was released late Friday night after six years in prison.Visibly thinner and sporting a bushy beard, Ganji smiled and greeted family and friends Saturday but refused to make any comments.

BRUSSELS — After a quarter of a century in exile, the leader of Syria’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood scents power after forming a coalition with secular, nationalist, liberal, communist and Kurdish opposition parties.

BAGHDAD (AP) — American and Iraqi troops pushing through a desolate area of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland rounded up dozens more suspected insurgents, including alleged killers of a television journalist, US and Iraqi officials said Saturday. The three-day-old sweep through villages 60 miles north of Baghdad stirred growing unease among …

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran said Thursday it was prepared to talk directly with the United States about Iraq, a major shift for a country that has long avoided negotiations with what it calls the “Great Satan.” The offer appears to reflect the desire by at least some top Iranian officials …

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Palestinian economy risks implosion from an Israeli crackdown and threatened cuts in foreign aid following the election victory of Hamas, the World Bank warned Thursday.

BAGHDAD (AP) — US forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest airborne assault in nearly three years, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said.The US military said the offensive dubbed Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing “a suspected insurgent operating area” northeast of Samarra …

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran said on Monday it was still interested in a Russian compromise solution to its nuclear dispute with the West, but Russia’s foreign minister said the Iranians were fouling up Moscow’s diplomatic efforts.”We are extremely disappointed with the way Iran is behaving in the course of these …

RAMALLAH — Hamas is set to submit a new draft government programme after talks with Palestinian factions proved inconclusive Monday. Hamas officials, however, vowed that coalition talks would be concluded by the end of the week.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraqi President Jalal Talabani warned political parties on Monday it was vital to accelerate efforts to form a broad government to stop any slide into civil war after bombs killed 52 people in a Shiite Baghdad slum.