Middle East News

Fathi Hammad, who acts as Hamas interior minister, said the ceasefire aimed to prevent retaliatory attacks by Israel and build stability. But he said rockets would continue to be fired from the Gaza Strip in the event of any Israeli...

Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan said during a Free Patriotic Movement dinner in Beit Mari on Friday that Interior Minister Ziad Baroud’s orders should be respected within his ministry. He commented on the recent controversy in the Internal...

The Chandigarh golfer, who had slipped to tied 24th on Friday, is six-under 210 after three rounds at the Earth Course of Jumeirah Golf Estates here. The opening hole bogey was one of the just two blots on his card...

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrated yesterday at Intel Corp.'s new electronic chip plant in Israel, in protest against work taking place at the site on the Jewish Sabbath. Policemen dispersed the crowd and arrested several protesters for violent conduct, a...

Under the current sectarian system , the president is a Maronite Christian, the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim. In addition all the parliament members and key government position are based on religious...

At the close of racing on day two of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia in Hong Kong both Oman teams held on to the top three positions. Masirah kept the top spot although sharing it with Team BT on equal...

Iraqi MPs will meet again on Sunday to try to break the deadlock on a stalled electoral law, which has left the country's planned January general election in doubt. "The vote is postponed until tomorrow," parliament speaker Iyad al-Samarrai told...

The head of a hardline Iranian political party called yesterday for opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi to face trial for spreading the "big lie" of fraud in June's disputed election. Any legal action against Mousavi, who has vowed to press on...