Al Qaeda fighters killed at least eight police in southern Baghdad on Thursday, raking them with machinegun fire from a stolen Iraqi army vehicle, police said.

Lebanon’s parliament is unlikely to elect a new head of state on Friday in the last few hours of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud’s term, because rival leaders have failed to clinch a deal despite French-led mediation.

Working in a classroom on the frontline of the conflict between Israel and Hamas Islamists requires a lot more than good teaching skills.