BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraq’s political parties inched closer to sealing a deal on a unity government as Prime Minister-designate Nuri Maliki sketched out the sectarian balance among parliamentary blocs, officials said on Monday.

FOREIGN MINISTER Abdul Ilah Khatib left Monday for New York to join a meeting today of the Quartet of diplomatic powers seeking Middle East peace and hoping to revive its stalled efforts and unify its approach to the  new Palestinian leadership.

World Bank warns economic crisis much more alarming as 3 killed in Hamas-Fateh fighting GAZA CITY — With Hamas and the West locked in a standoff, the Palestinians are hurtling towards an abyss of poverty and chaos, and there seems to be no way to pull back.