Middle East News Headlines

An international conference on Syria this week will do little to help resolve the crisis and the lack of progress is allowing the country to collapse into civil war, an opposition figurehead warned.

Britain will push for a tightening of the diplomatic and economic "stranglehold" on Syria at a meeting of regional powers in Tunisia on Friday, Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

Warnings from Syrian activists of a humanitarian catastrophe in Homs grew more desperate Thursday as government forces resumed shelling an opposition stronghold in the restive central city, where hundreds have died in a weekslong siege.

A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraqi territory killed at least 50 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what appeared to be a vicious strike by al-Qaida militants bent on destabilizing the country.

Campaigning began in Iran on Thursday for parliamentary elections to take place on March 2, with officials and state media calling for a big turnout to counter "enemies' threats" against the regime.

Syrian forces launched a massive bombardment of rebel districts of Homs on Thursday, defying a world outcry over the killing of two Western journalists and a citizen reporter who were among the few to bear witness of the civilian toll.

The Syrian regime was not responsible for the deaths of two Western journalists who "sneaked" into the country, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraqi territory killed at least 50 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what appeared to be another strike by al-Qaida militants bent on destabilizing the country.

A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraqi territory killed at least 50 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what appeared to be another strike by al-Qaida militants bent on destabilizing the country.

The verdict in the landmark murder and corruption trial of ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak has been set for June 2, Judge Ahmed Refaat said on Wednesday.

Officials say attacks across Baghdad and several Iraqi provinces have killed 48 people and wounded more than 200 in an unrelenting wave of violence that mostly appeared to target security forces.

A swift series of bombings and shootings killed 35 people across the Iraqi capital early Thursday in attacks that mostly appeared to target police, officials said.

Iran accused Israel of assassinating its nuclear scientists as part of a "war game" while it denied any role in attacks on Israeli diplomatic targets in several countries.

Iraqi officials say a string of morning attacks across Baghdad has killed at least 31 people.

Officials say a string of morning attacks that mostly appear to target police have killed at least 22 people across the Iraqi capital.

Sen. John McCain urged Libya's militias on Wednesday to integrate themselves into the country's new national army and called for the reported abuse of prisoners held by the ex-rebels to stop.

Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold where the last dispatches from a veteran American-born war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist — two of 74 deaths reported Wednesday in Syria.

Israel gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to a plan to build 600 new homes in a settlement deep inside the West Bank, a move that drew rebukes from the United Nations and Palestinians and threatened to raise tensions with the U.S. as the prime minister prepares to head to the White House.