Middle East News

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security officials say four people have been killed in attacks in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul. Full Story »

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military says its aircraft have attacked two weapons-making factories and a smuggling tunnel in the Gaza Strip. Full Story »

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran will begin large-scale air defense war games Sunday aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from possible attack, a senior military commander said Saturday, reflecting the country's concern that Israel could make good on threats to strike militarily. Full Story »

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas announced Saturday evening that it has reached an agreement with other militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets at southern Israeli towns to prevent retaliatory attacks. Full Story »

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi health officials announced the first deaths from swine flu of this year's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as four pilgrims succumbed to the disease soon after arriving in Saudi Arabia. Full Story »

CAIRO - President Hosni Mubarak entered Egypt's bitter soccer row with Algeria on Saturday, vowing in a televised speech that attacks on Egyptians abroad will not be tolerated. Full Story »

BAGHDAD - An Iraqi official says Baghdad has contacted Tehran in a bid to secure the release of three Americans detained in Iran, but has received no reply. Full Story »

SANA'A, Yemen - Yemen's coast guard says Somali pirates have hijacked a Panamanian cargo ship in the treacherous Gulf of Aden between the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa. Full Story »

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian officials announced Friday that a new date for parliamentary and presidential elections will be set next month now that President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to postpone the January vote, though the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers maintain they will boycott the voting. Full Story »

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran plans to launch a communications satellite by late 2011 with no outside help, a top Iranian official said Friday, after Italy and Russia declined to put it into orbit. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - Faced with mounting pressure over his country's atomic ambitions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left on a five nation tour Sunday, including Brazil in a bid to boost ties with Latin America's biggest economy and a rare backer of Tehran's nuclear programme. Full Story »

BEIRUT (AFP) - President Michel Sleiman called in a television speech on Saturday for the establishment of a committee to work towards the abolition of religion-based politics in Lebanon. Full Story »

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi discussed shared concerns over Iran's nuclear programme and recent clashes on the Saudi-Yemeni border in talks late Saturday with Saudi King Abdullah, official media reported. Full Story »

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Swine flu has killed four pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj, health authorities said on Saturday only a few days before the massive Muslim gathering reaches its peak. Full Story »

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A reformist former vice president, who was arrested after Iran's disputed presidential election in June, has been sentenced to six years in jail, Iranian newspapers reported on Sunday. Full Story »

SANAA (AFP) - Al-Qaeda gunmen have seized a Japanese engineer from his tribal kidnappers in Yemen, a tribal source who has been seeking to negotiate his release said on Saturday. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme. Full Story »

CAIRO (AFP) - President Hosni Mubarak vowed on Saturday that Egypt will be firm in dealing with attacks on its nationals, amid hot tempers and a diplomatic spat with Algeria over a World Cup football showdown. Full Story »