The main challengers to former coup leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel-Aziz, the favorite in Mauritania’s presidential election, have rejected Saturday’s poll and called for an international investigation. The vote was the first since Abdel-Aziz’s 2008 coup ousted the Islamic state’s

Sudan said on Sunday it was committed to peace with neighboring Chad after accusing it of bombing its western Darfur region last week, but also warned it would not be held back if threatened. Sudan claimed two Chadian aircraft bombed

Hope that talks with Islamist rebels in Somalia might lead to the rapid release of two French agents appeared to recede on Sunday, amid conflicting reports over the status of negotiations. Speaking in Mogadishu, a senior Somali security official told

Several thousand people demonstrated in Istanbul Saturday in support of an investigation into an alleged coup plot against Turkey’s Islamist-rooted government. "We want freedom! Try coup leaders," read banners held aloft by the protestors, who wore white gloves, blew on

Indonesian police said Sunday that deadly attacks on two Jakarta hotels used the same methods and equipment as previous bombings by the militant Jemaah Islamiah group. Investigators were working to reconstruct the face one of the suspected suicide bombers from

Two astronauts from the US shuttle Endeavour have successfully completed the first of five scheduled spacewalks aimed at completing a Japanese laboratory at the International Space Station, NASA said. Tim Kopra, who made his first space walk, and Dave Wolf,

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday she was confident of bridging key divisions with India on how to combat climate change ahead of a high-stakes conference later in the year. "I am very confident that the United States

The US military denounced on Sunday the release of a video showing a soldier captured in Afghanistan, calling the images Taliban propaganda that violated international law. The video shows the soldier in traditional Afghan dress, being prompted in English by

US TV news legend Walter Cronkite, dubbed "the most trusted man in America" for his calm and honest delivery during a tumultuous period in US history, has died in New York at the age of 92, his former employer announced.

Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas shot and wounded two people on Sunday during a raid to arrest a Hamas member in the Occupied West Bank, local residents told Reuters. The incident came as Egyptian-mediated Palestinian reconciliation talks

Barack Obama, the first black President in the history of the United States, continues to enjoy the adoration of the liberal elite among his compatriots. Less decisively but also importantly his foreign policy based on disengagement from conflict zones, including

Israel Sunday rejected a US demand to suspend a planned housing project in Occupied East Jerusalem, threatening to further complicate an unusually tense standoff with its strongest ally over settlement construction. Israeli officials said the country's ambassador to Washington, Michael

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, already at the center of a post-election crisis, came under criticism from his own hard-line supporters Sunday for appointing a first vice president who once caused an outcry by saying Iranians were friends of Israelis. But Iran's

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to visit Israel on July 27 for talks likely to focus on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and US-Israeli strategic ties, officials involved in planning the trip said on Sunday. As the second Cabinet-level representative of

The Gaza movie premiere drew an exclusive crowd with local celebrities posing for jostling photographers and that’s pretty much where the similarities end between Hollywood and the fledgling film industry of Gaza’s Hamas rulers. The Islamic militants’ first feature film

Four of the men stand abreast one another, fiddle-player, guitarist, sax-player, and vocalist running on the spot as they emit sounds. Unencumbered by an instrument, and already dripping from the evening’s exertions, the vocalist is most energetic of the band.

A ceremony to mark the end of a social reconciliation program among Lebanese youth was held at UNESCO Palace Saturday. Youth Building Reconciliation 2 (YBR) was a two-month-long program aimed at encouraging dialogue among students from different backgrounds with team-building

Walking through the streets of Bint Jbeil, one is likely to hear bangs and booms, but it has nothing to do with war. It’s the music of post-war construction. Clouds of dust disappear around the town to reveal tall slabs

The Lebanese American University (LAU) graduated 1,456 students on Thursday and Saturday in separate ceremonies in Byblos and Beirut. Caretaker Education Minister Bahia Hariri and MP Nouhad Machnouk were among a number of politicians who attended the commencement ceremonies.

Security and press reports said Sunday that seven passengers of a tourist boat that sank off the port city of Jbeil were safe. Voice of Lebanon radio station reported on Sunday that search and rescue teams have rescued all seven