Middle East News

Iran begins war games to protect nuclear sites

AP - Monday, November 23

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Sunday began large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting the country's nuclear facilities against any possible attack, state television reported. More »

  • Pakistani paramilitary soldiers patrol in the remote Mohmmand Agency, February 2009. Pakistani troops on Sunday repulsed an attack by militants on one of their posts in a lawless tribal region, killing 11 rebels.

    Pakistan troops repulse militant attack

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) - - Pakistani troops on Sunday repulsed an attack by militants on one of their posts in a lawless tribal region, killing 11 rebels, officials said.

  • Iranian short-range missile is test-launched during war games in Qom, September 2009. A commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said that air defence forces would

    Iran begins war games to protect atom sites

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - A commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that air defence forces would "annihilate" Israeli warplanes if they attacked the Islamic republic, as the forces began five days of war games.

  • Iranian reformer freed on $700,000 bail - report

    Reuters - Monday, November 23

    By Fredrik Dahl and Hashem Kalantari

  • Iranian former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi (left), seen here in August 2009, who has been sentenced to six years in prison in connection with protests over June's presidential election, has been released on bail

    Former Iran VP released on bail

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - Iranian former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who has been sentenced to six years in prison in connection with protests over June's presidential election, has been released on bail, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

  • Iran launches war games to protect nuclear sites

    Reuters - Monday, November 23

    TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's armed forces launched large-scale air defence war games on Sunday to show off the country's deterrence capabilities in the face of pressure from the West over its nuclear programme.

  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme.

    Ahmadinejad heads to nuclear-backers Brazil, Venezuela

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - Faced with mounting pressure over his country's atomic ambitions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left on a five nation tour Sunday, including Brazil in a bid to boost ties with Latin America's biggest economy and a rare backer of Tehran's nuclear programme.

  • Israeli President Shimon Peres was heading to Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on the troubled Middle East peace talks, his spokeswoman said.

    Israeli president to Egypt for talks with Mubarak

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    JERUSALEM (AFP) - - Israeli President Shimon Peres was heading to Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on the troubled Middle East peace talks, his spokeswoman said.

  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme.

    Ahmadinejad leaves for tour including Brazil, Venezuela

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    TEHRAN (AFP) - - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme.

  • Palestinian militants with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) train in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed almost 8,900 lives in two decades, the vast majority of them Palestinians, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said in a statement published on Sunday.

    Israel-Palestinian conflict kills 8,900 in 20yrs: NGO

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    JERUSALEM (AFP) - - The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed almost 8,900 lives in two decades, the vast majority of them Palestinians, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said in a statement published on Sunday.

  • Israeli planes strike targets in Gaza - medics

    Reuters - Sunday, November 22

    GAZA STRIP (Reuters) - Israeli planes carried out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, injuring five Palestinians, Palestinian medical workers said.

  • Iraq parliament struggles over elusive vote deal

    Reuters - Sunday, November 22

    By Waleed Ibrahim

  • Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers keep watch in Kabul on November 18. Police have said thtat Afghan and foreign troops killed 23 Taliban militants in separate operations a day after the president pledged to take responsibility for security in his new five-year term.

    Separate clashes kill 23 Taliban in Afghanistan

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    KABUL (AFP) - - Afghan and foreign troops killed 23 Taliban militants in separate operations a day after the president pledged to take responsibility for security in his new five-year term, police said Saturday.

  • U.S. to drop charges against one Blackwater guard

    Reuters - Saturday, November 21

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department prosecutors asked a federal judge on Friday to dismiss the charges against one of five Blackwater security guards accused of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a 2007 shooting in Baghdad.

  • McCain urges Obama to speed up Afghan decision

    AP - Saturday, November 21

    HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - U.S. Sen.

  • 6 world powers press Iran on nuclear issue

    AP - Saturday, November 21

    BRUSSELS - Representatives of six world powers urged Iran on Friday to accept a U.N. plan aimed at delaying its ability to build a nuclear weapon, as the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned Tehran not to miss the opportunity to resolve the dispute.

  • U.N. panel condemns Iran for post-election crackdown

    Reuters - Saturday, November 21

    By Louis Charbonneau

  • Powers urge Iran to reconsider nuclear offer

    Reuters - Saturday, November 21

    By David Brunnstrom and Dave Graham

  • A superb Antar Yahia goal gave Algeria a 1-0 victory over Egypt Wednesday and a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. In Cairo, football fans expressed their bitter disappointment. Duration: 00:58.

    35 Egyptian police hurt as football violence simmers

    AFP - Saturday, November 21

    CAIRO (AFP) - - Violent protestors injured dozens of police near the Algerian embassy in Cairo on Friday, fanning the flames of a diplomatic row that erupted over a football World Cup qualifier won by bitter rivals Algeria.

  • Iran to launch satellite on its own by late 2011

    AP - Saturday, November 21

    TEHRAN, Iran - Iran plans to launch a communications satellite by late 2011 with no outside help, a top Iranian official said Friday, after Italy and Russia declined to put it into orbit.