Middle East News

JERUSALEM - Settlers leaders say they will continue to defy an Israeli government order to freeze West Bank settlement construction. Full Story »

VIENNA - In a defiant speech, Iran's president declared Wednesday that his country will enrich uranium to a much higher level — a fresh rejection of an international plan to curb Tehran's nuclear program. Full Story »

CAIRO - A 26-year-old doctor who exposed the torture of jailed protesters in Iran died of poisoning from a delivery salad laced with an overdose of blood pressure medication, prosecutors say. The findings fueled opposition fears that he was killed because of what he knew. Full Story »

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran freed five British sailors detained last week when their racing yacht drifted accidentally into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. Britain said it was delighted with Wednesday's release and praised Tehran's handling of the incident. Full Story »

BAGHDAD - Iraq's scheduled January elections may be postponed by more than a month because of a dispute over an election law, officials said Wednesday, a delay that could threaten the planned U.S. withdrawal of combat troops. Full Story »

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's new government Wednesday endorsed Hezbollah's right to keep its weapons, the latest sign that the group has no intention of meeting a U.N. resolution calling for it to disarm. Full Story »

JERUSALEM - An American convicted of spying for Israel is reportedly proposing that Israel kill Hamas prisoners rather than swap them for a captive Israeli soldier. Full Story »

TEHRAN, Iran - Ahmadinejad says Iran will enrich uranium to higher level rebuking UN demand for halt. Full Story »

JERUSALEM - The brother of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has knocked an Israeli sports reporter unconscious. Full Story »

TEHRAN, Iran - A semi-official Iranian news agency says a well-known political analyst and the brother-in-law of the country's top opposition leader have been sentenced to prison. Full Story »

DUBAI (AFP) - Five British yachtsmen seized by Iran after apparently straying into the country's territorial waters were released on Wednesday and arrived in Dubai, saying they were treated well while in custody. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - A defiant President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Iran will itself enrich uranium up to 20 percent purity in a blow to Western efforts to stop Tehran's sensitive nuclear activities. Full Story »

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The United Nations on Wednesday proposed February 27 as the most "feasible" date for Iraqi parliamentary elections, nearly a month later than the deadline set by the constitution. Full Story »

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Gulf stock markets steadied on Wednesday after heavy losses in the previous two days, with investors hesitant to trade pending further information on Dubai's plans to sort out its debt crisis. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The wife of a retired FBI agent missing in Iran for nearly three years is making an impassioned appeal for information about her husband as she prepares for a somber milestone in his disappearance. Full Story »

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel's ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday ruled out freeing one of the Palestinians' most popular leaders in exchange for captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Iranian man has pleaded guilty to U.S. charges he illegally bought an array of military equipment for Tehran as it prepared for a possible war with the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama will welcome Lebanon's President Michel Sleiman to Washington later this month, the White House has said. Full Story »