Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday he hopes to form a new coalition government with Fatah in less than three weeks. On Thursday, Haniyeh and his government resigned and President Mahmoud Abbas appointed him to form the new cabinet, based on last week’s understandings in the Saudi city of Mecca.

Two blasts hit a crowded market area in the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding 32, police said. The first explosion came from a car rigged with explosives and was followed by a suicide attacker who drove a bomb-laden car into a busy …

On an unannounced visit to Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a new US-led security operation appeared to have gotten off to a good start in Baghdad but she called on Iraqi leaders to do more to end the sectarian divides behind the violence.