Iran's Zarif to visit Syria ahead of peace talksIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is due to travel to Tehran ally Damascus in the next few days, media reported Sunday, amid preparations for a Syria peace conference.
13 January 2014
Israel unveils 1,800 settler homes after Kerry visitIsrael unveiled plans Friday for more than 1,800 new settler homes in a move the Palestinians said was aimed at forcing Washington to abandon its Middle East peace drive.
12 January 2014
Pakistan honours teenage bomb hero with bravery awardA Pakistani teenager who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber, saving the lives of hundreds of students, has been handed the country's highest award for bravery.
11 January 2014
Killing of boy, 4, by US troops frays Afghan ties furtherAfghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday condemned US troops for killing a four-year-old boy in the southern province of Helmand, in a fresh strain to troubled relations between Washington and Kabul.
11 January 2014
UAE made me 'a scapegoat': US man jailed for YouTube gagAn American jailed for nine months in the United Arab Emirates for making a spoof YouTube video mocking Dubai teenagers returned home Thursday, comparing the experience to being in a "cage."
10 January 2014
Malaysia, Turkey aim to conclude free-trade dealMalaysia and Turkey pledged Friday to wrap up a free-trade deal this year as embattled Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan prepared to return home to a political crisis.
10 January 2014
Russia blocks new UN Syria statementRussia on Wednesday blocked a British-drafted UN Security Council statement condemning the Syrian government attacks on the city of Aleppo, diplomats said.
S.Sudan government says poised to retake key townSouth Sudan's government said it was poised to recapture a key town from rebel forces, as peace talks being held in neighbouring Ethiopia appeared to be making slow progress.
08 January 2014
Morsi arrives in court for new hearing in murder trialEgypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi arrived at the courthouse on Wednesday for the second hearing in his murder trial, as police braced for rallies by his Islamist supporters.
Obama didn't believe his own war strategy: GatesFormer defense secretary Robert Gates has delivered a scathing critique of President Barack Obama's handling of the war in Afghanistan in a revealing new memoir, US media reported Tuesday.
08 January 2014
Japan PM to visit Africa, Mideast with cash pledge: reportsJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Africa and the Middle East this week, reports said Monday, bearing development cash pledges as Tokyo pushes back against growing Chinese influence in the resource-rich region.
Syria opposition re-elects Jarba as leaderSyria's main opposition National Coalition re-elected Ahmad Jarba as its leader during a general assembly meeting in Istanbul on Sunday, the coalition said in a statement.
Deadly clashes kill 11 as Morsi backers rally in EgyptAt least 11 people were killed Friday in clashes across Egypt as police dispersed thousands of protesters demanding the reinstatement of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the health ministry said.
06 January 2014
Israel denies killing Buenos Aires bombersIsraeli officials Friday denied claims by a former envoy that Israel had killed most of those behind bombings at its embassy and Jewish charity offices in Argentina in the 1990s, media said.
05 January 2014
Important library in north Lebanon torchedA decades-old library owned by a Greek Orthodox priest in north Lebanon's majority Sunni city of Tripoli was torched late Friday, a day after a sectarian scuffle, a security source said.