Nineteen people were killed on Friday when a roadside bomb exploded near a commercial complex in the Amiriya district in the west of Baghdad, police and medics said. Earlier on Friday, two bombs went off outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in Baquba as worshippers left Friday prayers, killing at least 43 people in one of the deadliest attacks in a month-long surge in sectarian violence. More»

The most feared and effective rebel group battling President Bashar al-Assad, the Islamist Nusra Front, is being eclipsed by a more radical jihadi force whose aims go far beyond overthrowing the Syrian leader. Al Qaeda's Iraq-based wing, which nurtured Nusra in the early stages of the rebellion against Assad, has moved in and sidelined the organization, Nusra sources and other rebels say. Al Qaeda in Iraq includes thousands of foreign fighters whose ultimate goal is not toppling Assad but the anti-Western jihad of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri - a shift which could extend Syria's conflict well beyond any political accord between Assad and his foes. The fighting has already cost 90,000 lives. The break-up of an important part of Syria's opposition, already splintered into hundreds of armed groups, worsens the dilemma faced by the West as it debates whether intervention to support the rebels will result in arms being placed in the hands of hostile Islamist militants. And if the West were to intervene, it may now be under pressure to attack al Qaeda opposition forces rather than Assad. More»

On the surface, the Arab League’s improved peace initiative offers Israel everything it ever dreamed of — normal relations with an entire region that has long objected to the very existence of the Jewish state, and even the chance to keep some war-won land. But two weeks after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry persuaded Arab leaders to reissue their 2002 offer with new incentives, Israel is maintaining a striking silence, and critics are accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of missing a historic chance. “We are speaking of an opportunity that must be seized to renew the diplomatic process,” former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told The Associated Press in a statement. “It’s a very important development.” When it was first issued in 2002, the initiative was a breakthrough. It countered the Arab League’s famous “Three No’s” that followed the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. At a summit in Khartoum, Sudan, the Arab countries passed a resolution saying no peace, recognition or negotiations with Israel. More»

The U.N. General Assembly is set to vote on Wednesday on a draft resolution that condemns Syrian authorities and accepts the opposition Syrian National Coalition as party to a potential political transition. Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is opposed to the resolution, which was drafted by Qatar and other Arab nations and circulated among the 193 U.N. member states. Some Western diplomats said it was unlikely to win as many votes as a resolution that passed last year with 133 in favor. No country has a veto in the General Assembly. "I'm convinced a lot of countries voted for this text because they believed they were voting for the winning side," a senior western U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in reference to the August, 2012 resolution. "They are not so sure anymore." "Now also you have the Islamist, terrorist factor which is much more conspicuous," he said. More»

The two Palestinian rival groups, Fatah and Hamas, have agreed here on Tuesday to form a national unity government within three months, Egyptian official news agency MENA reported. The leaders of Fatah and Hamas, who met in Egypt to resume their reconciliation dialogue, "have agreed to form a national consensus government according to Doha declaration within three months," Azzam el-Ahmed, head of Fatah's delegation to the dialogue, was quoted by MENA as saying. The Fatah top official added that the period will give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas enough time to issue two decrees, one for setting the election date and another for forming the national government. During a press conference following the meeting between Fatah and Hamas, Azzam asserted both groups are confident about Egypt's sponsorship of the reconciliation dialogue. More»

At Al-Yamama delivery company in the Gaza City, the floor is filled with boxes of fast food with the famous face of Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC. However, there are no KFC restaurant in this Palestinian coastal sliver of land as the regular absence of raw materials and Israeli restrictions on Gaza crossings make it difficult to open an international fast food branch here. But ordering fast food from one of the world's most popular restaurants has become possible in Gaza after Al-Yamama started to bring the food from the Egyptian North Sinai, which borders Gaza. The fried chicken make their way from one of the many underground smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Mohammed Al-Madani, an accountant at Al-Yamama company, said they started their new business by chance. "We ordered and arranged to bring some meals for us and they arrive after four hours," he said. More»

For the nearly 70,000 Palestinian refugees living in Egypt, life is far from easy, as most of them live in a legal limbo subject to travel restrictions. About 3,500 Palestinians, who live in mud-houses in Geziret Fadel village, face a daily struggle. The majority of families can not afford to send their children to school, creating a generation of illiterate youngsters trapped in a cycle of poverty. Despite this, many are just grateful to be allowed to stay in the country. More»

Israel's cabinet was meeting late into the night on Monday to thrash out details of an unpopular austerity budget, after unanimously agreeing to impose spending cuts on a reluctant defence establishment. At 3.0 billion shekels ($840.73 billion, 648 million euros) the defence cuts were one billion shekels less than those sought by Finance Minister Yair Lapid, and a small part of what is still likely to be a military bill of about 56 billion shekels. Defence chiefs had lobbied hard against the measures, warning politicians they would bear the responsibility if they undermined the ability of security-conscious Israel to defend itself. Still to be decided by ministers on Monday were proposals to slash spending across the board, including on family allowances, a move which enraged parties representing ultra-Orthodox Jews, who traditionally have lower incomes and larger families. More»

Syria has denied being responsible for two car bombs which killed 46 people in a Turkish border town. Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi told a news conference on Sunday his country "did not commit and would never commit such an act because our values would not allow that". Turkish police say that nine people have been arrested in connection with Saturday's attacks in Reyhanli. Ankara has said that it suspects the involvement of Syrian intelligence. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not be dragged into a "bloody quagmire". He called on Turks to be "extremely careful, extremely vigilant... in the face of provocations". "We will not be trapped. The aim of these attacks is to pit Turks against each other and create chaos. So I call on all my citizens to keep calm." More»

Oil giant BP has withdrawn some non-essential staff from operations in Libya following UK government advice about uncertainty in the country. BP described the withdrawal as a "precautionary measure", adding that it would monitor the security situation. The Foreign Office withdrew British embassy staff from the capital, Tripoli, last week. Gunmen have besieged the justice and foreign ministries recently, demanding that Gaddafi-era officials be expelled. The gunmen blocked the buildings two weeks ago, parking pick-up trucks with anti-aircraft guns outside. The siege was lifted by Sunday and employees at both ministries were back at work. Parliament passed a law last week barring Gaddafi-era officials from political office. More»