Middle East News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Video shows kidnapped Egyptian security officers

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:15:01 -0400

CAIRO (AP) — Seven members of Egypt's security forces kidnapped by suspected militants have appeared in a video posted on the Internet, urging the government to secure their release by meeting their captors' demands.

Cairo airport baggage handlers end strike

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:05:47 -0400

CAIRO (AP) — Cairo airport officials say baggage handlers have resumed work after a strike that left passengers on 20 international flights from Europe and Arab countries waiting several hours for luggage.

Report: Iran hangs 2 men convicted of spying

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:41:40 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state radio says authorities have executed two men convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad and the American CIA intelligence agency.

Syrian army pushes assault on rebel-held town

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:32:49 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Syrian troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault Sunday on a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, pounding the area with airstrikes and artillery salvos that killed at least 30 people and forced residents to scramble for cover in basements and makeshift bunkers, activists said.

Tunisia security blocks salafi conference

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:17:57 -0400

KAIROUAN, Tunisia (AP) — Around 11,000 police officers and soldiers blocked an annual conference Sunday at Tunisia's main religious center by a radical Islamist movement that has been implicated in attacks across the country.

Saudi vegetable seller dies from self-immolation

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:52:26 -0400

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A Saudi newspaper says a vegetable seller who set himself on fire in Riyadh after police confiscated his goods for standing in an unauthorized area has died.

Iran's Guard warns against post-election turmoil

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:00:46 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard has warned that his forces will be on watch for possible unrest after next month's presidential election, calling the outcome "unpredictable" and sending the strongest message yet against any attempts to revive street protests, media reported Sunday.

Syrian activists: Shelling near Lebanon kills 16

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:33:08 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The Syrian military on Sunday launched an offensive to retake a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, a government official said, as activists reported that regime airstrikes and shelling of the town have killed at least 16 people, including opposition fighters.

Attacks kill 16 in Iraq, 8 police kidnapped

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:20:03 -0400

BAGHDAD (AP) — A string of attacks killed at least 16 people in Iraq on Saturday, while gunmen abducted eight policemen guarding a post on the country's main highway to Jordan and Syria, the latest in a wave of violence to grip the country.

20 flights without bags after Egypt airport strike

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:13:01 -0400

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian officials say baggage handlers in Cairo's airport have gone on strike to protest a colleague's death, leaving passengers on 20 international flights from Europe and Arab countries waiting several hours for luggage.

Assad: Syria transition talks are internal matter

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:55:00 -0400

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.

Suspected US drone in Yemen kills 4 militants

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:21:02 -0400

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A suspected U.S. drone strike killed four al-Qaida militants Saturday in a southern Yemeni province once overrun by the group, according to security officials.

Syria's Assad says he won't step down

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:22:35 -0400

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down and will instead "face the storm," raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.

Syria state TV: Powerful blast rattles Damascus

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:56:13 -0400

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian state TV says a powerful explosion has hit the nation's capital, causing an unknown number of casualties.

Blasts rock Libya's capital and eastern city

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:28:22 -0400

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan officials say explosions went off in the capital Tripoli and the restive eastern city of Benghazi, but no casualties were reported.

AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt exiled, forgotten

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:48:24 -0400

GEZIRAT AL-FADEL, Egypt (AP) — In 1948, Suleiman Mamoudi fled by foot with his parents and other families from their village of Bir el-Sabae in Palestine. The 28-year-old and his family walked west for several hundred miles, crossing the Sinai Peninsula before settling in an area around 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Cairo.

Gunmen seize elderly father of Syria's deputy FM

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:23:27 -0400

BEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen on Saturday abducted the elderly father of Syria's deputy foreign minister, the official's office said, in the latest kidnapping targeting family members of figures in President Bashar Assad's regime.

Gunmen kill 9 in Iraq, 8 police kidnapped

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:21:16 -0400

BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen killed an anti-terrorism policeman and his family in Baghdad on Saturday, while kidnappers abducted eight policemen guarding a post on Iraq's main highway to Jordan and Syria, the latest in a wave of violence to grip the country. Attackers also shot dead a Sunni cleric in the Shiite-majority south.

Egyptians targeted with blasphemy charges

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:34:37 -0400

CAIRO (AP) — The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, "All except the Prophet Muhammad."

Egypt Muslim-Christian clashes leave 1 dead

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:11:11 -0400

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security officials say clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria left one man dead of a heart attack.