NAJAF — Najaf, home to the golden domed shrine of the Imam Ali, is Iraq’s holiest Shiite city and has long lived off a constant flow of pilgrims. Now, with Iraq engulfed in a vicious sectarian war

BEIRUT — Lebanese opposition protesters led by Shiite group Hizbollah are digging in for the winter and vowing not to quit their central Beirut encampment until the Western-backed government falls.

MANAMA (AP) — Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition party boycotted the king’s inauguration of parliament Friday, protesting what it called the “marginalisation” of the country’s Shiite majority.