Inter-Christian reconciliation seems to be going in the right direction, according to a statement issued after a meeting of the Maronite League headed by Joseph Tarabey Thursday. The league’s political committee met to "follow up on the reigning atmosphere of

A member of the network that was recently arrested for monitoring the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army to carry out attacks against them, was arrested in Greece, pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported Friday. The man,

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Friday echoed Speaker Nabih Berri’s optimism concerning the formation of the government. Hariri stressed on Friday that the formation process of the next cabinet was moving "in the right direction." A source close to the

Hizbullah actively maintained an arms depot which exploded in southern Lebanon earlier this month, violating a ceasefire, the UN said in a document obtained by AFP on Friday. The United Nations head of peacekeeping operations Alain Le Roy told the

Kyrgyzstan’s president won a second term by an overwhelming margin on Friday, but opponents and Western observers harshly criticized the election in the Central Asian country, a focus of US-Russian rivalry. Washington and Moscow have military air bases in the

Russia will impose sanctions on US and other firms that provide weapons to Georgia, Moscow’s NATO envoy said Friday, after Washington reaffirmed its military support for the ex-Soviet republic. "We have a presidential decree that has come out saying that

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, setting out his election manifesto, vowed on Friday to make foreign troops sign a framework governing how they operate in a bid to limit civilian casualties. Karzai, widely criticized for withdrawing from a televised debate with

Dozens of New Jersey politicians, officials and prominent rabbis were arrested on Thursday in a sweeping federal probe that uncovered political corruption, human-organ sales and money laundering from New York to Israel, officials said. The 10-year investigation, dubbed "Operation Bid

Saudi King Abdullah flew to Morocco Thursday to check on the health of the government’s number two, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel-Aziz, who left Saudi Arabia for medical treatment in November and has not returned since. The king is going

Saudi beauty queen Aya Ali al-Mulla trounced 274 rivals to win a crown, jewelry, cash and a trip to Malaysia, and all without showing her face, Saudi media reported on Friday. With her face and body covered by the black

The main opposition leader has called on Mauritanians to reject ex-junta chief Mohammad Ould Abdel-Aziz’s win in a weekend presidential poll, dismissing the result as a "new coup d’Etat." Mauritania’s Constitutional Council on Thursday confirmed Ould Abdel-Aziz’s victory, rejecting opposition

Pacing his prison island cell, guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan has had a decade to ponder his "road map" to solve Turkey’s Kurdish problem and end a conflict which his militants launched a quarter of a century ago. But the plan

Germany’s Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has announced his backing for a proposal by the Principality of Monaco to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Shiite rebels have killed seven soldiers in attacks in north Yemen, a military source said Friday, as Al-Qaeda militants and separatists mount a growing challenge to the US-backed government. An unspecified number of soldiers were also wounded and captured in

The main United Nations agency supplying aid to the Palestinians strongly denied an Israeli newspaper report on Friday that its director had fled Gaza after death threats from the enclave’s Islamist rulers. The assertion that John Ging fled after threats

A Turkish frigate intercepted a skiff in the Gulf of Aden and captured five pirates on Friday after a tip-off that they were preparing attacks, the Turkish general staff said in Ankara. The Gediz, operating with NATO forces in the

The passionate support for Israel expressed on talkback sections of websites, internet chat forums, blogs, Twitters and Facebook may not be all that it seems. Israel’s foreign ministry is reported to be establishing a special undercover team of paid workers

The US image has vastly improved in much of the world thanks largely to the election of Barack Obama as president, although many Middle East nations remain wary of the United States, a survey said on Thursday. While America’s image

What was known as history’s fertile crescent, where lush farmland and abundant water gave rise to civilization, is today a dusty desert where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers crawl sluggishly toward the sea. Vast tracts of Iraqi farmland are cracked

At least 17 people have been killed in clashes between a pro-government militia and the radical Islamic Shebab in central Somalia, witnesses said Friday, adding that the death toll could rise. Fighting erupted Wednesday between the pro-government Ahlu Suna Waljama