CAIRO- An Egyptian appeals court on Wednesday reduced the sentence of an anti-government political activist from six months in jail to three, a judicial source said. Ahmad Saad Abu Duma had been...

UNITED NATIONS- Palestinian and Israeli envoys talked past each other in the UN Security Council Wednesday on prospects for resuming direct Middle East peace talks under US sponsorship. Each side...

JERUSALEM- An Israeli court's jailing on a rape charge of an Arab man it ruled had duped a Jewish woman into consensual sex by lying about his ethnicity caused a stir on Wednesday. The Jerusalem...

UNITED NATIONS- UN relief coordinator John Holmes pleaded for increased aid from donors Tuesday to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Africa's drought-hit Sahel region. The outgoing head of the...

WASHINGTON, Andrew Gully- British Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday he did not believe the Scottish government's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber had been influenced by any lobbying...

RAMALLAH- Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement insisted on Tuesday that direct peace talks with Israel hinge on a complete halt to Jewish settlement building. "Negotiations are a...

JERUSALEM- An Israeli soldier jailed for killing a British activist in the Gaza Strip will be released after serving six-and-a-half years of an eight-year sentence, media reported on Monday....

DAMASCUS- Two figures at the centre of drawn-out efforts to form a new Iraqi government, former premier Iyad Allawi and radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, met in Syria's capital on Monday....

WASHINGTON- A leading rights group Monday urged the United Arab Emirates to allow hundreds of deported Lebanese citizens and people from Gaza to appeal their expulsions. The UAE has expelled at...