DUBAI (AP) — Hand-selected voters went to the polls on Saturday to pick members of an government advisory panel in this oil-rich Gulf country’s first-ever elections. About 60 per cent of the 1,677 citizens chosen to vote in the capital

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran said on Saturday turnout was high in elections for local councils and a powerful clerical body, with some initial reports suggesting allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might not have won resounding backing.

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