Palestinian president promotes Arab initiative in four Hebrew-language newspapers.

Jordan's King Abdullah II held talks on Thursday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas two days after Israeli leaders made a clandestine visit to the kingdom, a senior Jordanian official said. The king and Abbas, who met at the kingdom's southern Red Sea resort of Aqaba, discussed "means

More Libyan women are venturing from home in search of work but they complain of antiquated male attitudes that decades of gender equality reforms have failed to dislodge. Muammar Qhaddafi's 1969 Islamic Socialist revolution began a gradual improvement in the legal rights of women, who once

The PLO took the unprecedented step of placing advertisements in Israeli newspapers on Thursday to promote a six-year-old Arab peace plan for the region. Yediot Aharonot, Maariv and Haaretz, the three leading Israeli dailies, printed the advertisement, which is headed by the Palestinian and

A Christian woman made history after being appointed as the first female mayor in Egypt in the predominately Christian Asyut governorate. The 53-year-old Eva Habil Kerolos was appointed mayor of Kambuha by Minister of Interior Affairs Habib Adley on Monday after winning the position over five

Egyptian police announced Wedneday they had arrested more than 550 teenagers suspected of sexually harassing girls outside schools in several Cairo districts in a single day. The culprits were awaiting interrogation and trial Thursday. The police launched an extensive clampdown targeting stores

As Russia and France announced they would send more warships to combat piracy in the waters around Somalia, Arab Red Sea states were holding an emergency meeting in Cairo to discuss the threat, with Egypt saying all options were on the table to deal with the growing crisis. Senior officials

A Jordanian was sentenced on Wednesday to 13 years in prison with hard labor for sexually assaulting his 20-year-old daughter more than 200 times since she was 11, a judicial official said. "The father, 46, used to sexually abuse his daughter when her mother and brother were out of the

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak made a secret visit to Amman on Tuesday and met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Israeli public radio reported on Thursday. During the meeting the king urged the Israeli leaders to refrain from a large-scale incursion into

Parliamentary speaker adjourns discussion of agreement on US troop withdrawal.

Human rights chief says siege "must end now" as Israel re-seals crossings into territory.

Al-Maliki denies secret clauses and says deal would lead to full Iraq sovereignty.

Miliband says Syria can be "constructive" in helping to build peace in Middle East.

A Syrian complex bombed by Israel last year bore features resembling those of an undeclared nuclear reactor and U.N. inspectors found "significant" traces of uranium at the site, a watchdog report said on Wednesday. But the International Atomic Energy Agency report said the findings

An Egyptian preacher was accused of excessive indulgence in the supernatural when he called for carrying out an analysis of the holy stone in the Mecca shrine to prove it is not made of earthy material. Islamic thinker and professor of geology Dr. Zaghloul al-Naggar called for taking samples

Iran has blocked access to more than five million Internet sites, whose content is mostly perceived as immoral and anti-social, a judiciary official was quoted as saying on Wednesday. "The enemies seek to assault our religious identity by exploiting the Internet," Abdolsamad Khoram

Iraqi security forces have arrested an alleged "senior" Iranian commando from the elite Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force at Baghdad International Airport, the U.S. military said Wednesday. The military said they suspected the man of "involvement in facilitating Iranian weapons

Britain re-established high-level intelligence links with the Syrian authorities as British Foreign Secretary David Miliband made his landmark visit to Damascus, London's Times newspaper reported on Wednesday citing senior Syrian officials. The newspaper said the move was a key objective of

Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered Israel's crossings to remain closed on Wednesday after militants in the Hamas-ruled territory continued to fire rockets against southern Israel on Tuesday, a defense official said. Hamas gunmen fired mortar bombs at Israeli soldiers searching for explosives

Aid deliveries halted again as entry points to Palestinian territory are sealed.