Middle East News Headlines

Egypt's presidential election frontrunners were vying for deals with rival candidates Sunday in a bid to appease a polarised nation that will choose between an Islamist and a Mubarak-era minister in a June runoff.

The Syrian government on Sunday denied responsibility for killings in a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead, blaming the killings on "hundreds of heavily armed gunmen" who also attacked soldiers in the area.

More than 13,000 people have been killed in Syria since an anti-regime revolt broke out in March 2011, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP on Sunday.

Three top candidates in Egypt's presidential race filed appeals to the election commission ahead of the deadline Sunday, alleging violations in the first round vote that they say could change the outcome.

During one of the nightly clashes with Bahrain's security forces, a new chant broke out among opposition protesters: "The U.S. is the great Satan." A few days later, pro-government marchers also waved their fists against Washington.

Three top candidates in Egypt's presidential race have filed appeals to the election commission, alleging violations in the first round vote that they say could change the outcome.

Iran's nuclear chief said Sunday there are no reasons at the moment for his country to halt production of uranium enriched to 20 percent, a key demand of world powers.

Day or night, rain or shine, small groups of African migrants can be found dotting the lawns of Levinsky Park in a rundown area of south Tel Aviv where hundreds of Israelis rioted in protest against them.

A criminal court on Sunday convicted one of Hosni Mubarak's closest aides of corruption and sentenced him to seven years in prison, Egypt's official news agency reported.

Iran is to build a new nuclear power plant, alongside its sole existing one in the southern city of Bushehr, by early 2014, state television reported on Sunday, quoting the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organisation.

A senior Arab League official says Syria has denied permission for a deputy of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to travel to Damascus.

A Bahrain court sentenced eight people to prison terms of up to 15 years Sunday after they were accused of plotting with suspected Iranian agents to topple the Gulf kingdom's ruling system, a defense lawyer said.

A Christian Jordanian woman said Sunday she is suing her Gulf Arab employer for arbitrary dismissal after she refused a new dress code forcing her to cover her head.

Iran's nuclear chief says there are no reasons at the moment to halt production of uranium enriched to 20 percent, a key demand of world powers.

The Syrian government denied Sunday its troops were behind an attack on a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead, blaming the killings on "hundreds of heavily-armed gunmen" who also attacked soldiers in the area.

The Syrian government is "not at all" responsible for the massacre of at least 92 people in the central town of Houla which has sparked an international outcry, foreign ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdissi said on Sunday.

Egypt's official news agency says a criminal court has convicted one of Hosni Mubarak's closest aides of corruption and jailed him for seven years.

Government troops shelled residential areas in central Syria on Sunday, activists said, two days after the bombardment of a string of villages in the same region killed more than 90, many of them children.