The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) failed to respond Wednesday to Lebanese media reports alleging that it acted outside its operational mandate. As-Safir newspaper, quoting a well-positioned source, alleged the incident in which 14 UNIFIL troops were injured

A military prosecutor Wednesday charged 17 Leban-ese and foreign militants, including the alleged leader of an Al-Qaeda-inspired organization, with planning attacks against Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers, judicial officials said. Seven of those charged are at large, said

Prospects diverged on Wednesday with regard to the timing of the next cabinet’s formation and its structure between opposition allies, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun. While Berri expressed optimism regarding the quick formation

France’s Socialist Party, heir to some of the great figures of the European left, is fighting for its life, crippled by internal splits and leaving President Nicolas Sarkozy with no effective opposition. Center-left parties across Europe have been struggling generally

Afghanistan is repositioning forces to the south after complaints too few are involved in major US and British offensives against the Taliban, officials said on Wednesday, even as clashes erupted in the north. Afghan troops battled a group of Taliban

China and Russia were holding a joint military exercise Wednesday, with the drill seen as a chance to beef up anti-terror cooperation after the recent flare-up of violence in China’s Xinjiang region. The "Peace Mission 2009" five-day exercise in northeast

An international arbitration panel on Wednesday awarded the Sudanese government control over almost all major oil reserves in a disputed region of Sudan that erupted into violence between state forces and Southern rebels last year. The arbitration is a crucial

Civil rights groups in Syria have backed an amendment to the law on so-called "honor crimes," but said the punishment for such murders of women by their male relatives was still not severe enough. A new presidential decree earlier this

People in Morocco call their monarch "King Cool" because he rides jet skis, hangs around with rapper P. Diddy and French rocker Johnny Hallyday. After 10 years as king, Mohammad VI has brought modernity to his North African country but

Usra al-Hussein, a Syrian woman imprisoned incommunicado for nearly a year without charge or trial, was released on Saturday, reported Amnesty International (AI). AI had campaigned for her to be released unless charged with a recognizably criminal offence. Usra al-Hussein

The UK and the Netherlands have put their weight behind a call to ban international trade in endangered Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, following last week’s vocal support for the campaign from President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Dutch fisheries minister,

At least five Iranians were killed Wednesday when gunmen opened fire on a convoy of buses of religious pilgrims visiting Shiite Muslim holy sites in Iraq, said police in Diyala Province. The attack took place on a highway connecting the

Opposition leader and defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said on Wednesday the new government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could cause domestic and international problems for Iran. Mousavi, who has refused to acknowledge Ahmadinejad’s victory in the June 12 election,

Algerian security forces shot dead a man wearing a belt carrying explosives as he prepared a suicide bombing against the coast guard in the town of Dellys, several newspapers reported Wednesday. The 25-year-old man, who was killed on Monday, was

The Dubai authorities Wednesday referred to a court two men suspected of involvement in the March murder of a former Russian army commander, the official WAM news agency reported. Mahdi Lournia from Iran and Tajik national Makhsud-Jan had been held

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Wednesday any notion he would order Israel’s barrier in the West Bank to be torn down in response to the absence of Palestinian attacks from the occupied territory. "The separation fence will remain in place

Turkey’s prime minister said Wednesday during a visit to Damascus that his country is prepared to resume mediating in the Arab-Israeli conflict and pressed Israel to return the Golan Heights to Syria. The Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan also strongly

Some Muslim countries are advising pregnant women not to attend the hajj pilgrimage. China is quarantining any visitor suspected of having a fever, while priests in New Zealand have been banned from placing Communion wafers on worshippers’ tongues.It is all

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sketched out on Wednesday how the United States might cope with a nuclear Iran by arming its allies in the Gulf and extending a "defense umbrella" over the region. Her comments drew an immediate

Music fans who made the trek to Byblos on Tuesday got more of a journey than they bargained for. "We’re all tourists tonight," said Portuguese singer Misia, performing at the Byblos International Festival. "We will travel to other places through