The Middle East quartet met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the international conference on Iraq in a renewed bid to revive the peace process following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "We are all encouraged.

A summary of funny events in Egypt.

The taxi ride from Baghdad airport to the heart of the city is believed to be the costliest in the world and is probably the most dangerous. Small convoys of armored cars and Western gunmen charge about $5,100 for the 25-kilometer (15-mile) trip along t

Egyptian authorities rounded up thousands of Arish residents and tortured many in the wake of the October 7 bombings at the Taba tourist resorts in the Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian human rights group has reported. The Egyptian Organization for Human Right

Elections in the Palestinian territories would be held on January 9, 2005, said interim Palestine Authority President Rawhi Fattouh, setting the stage for the democratic process in the post-Arafat era. But the bad old ways die hard.

Palestinian president Yasser Arafat could not have chosen a better funeral than the one he had in the West Bank city of Ramallah. One can imagine him smiling down at the crowds, blowing kisses to the tens of thousands massing on the spot that his helicopt

The suspected murder of British aid worker Margaret Hassan in Iraq was widely condemned in Iraq as a wave of unrest across Sunni Muslim hotspots killed more than 20 people, many of them women and children. Amid the continued violence, mor

Seventy West Bank settlers on Wednesday clashed with police protecting Palestinian olive harvesters near the West Bank town of Nablus, police reported. The spokesman for the Israeli police in the West Bank, superintendent Shlomi Sagi, told United Press

Its 6 oclock on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv, and crowds are already forming outside the Nokia Arena, home to the champion basketball team, Macabee Tel Aviv. Linger for a moment, however, and it is soon apparent that it is not a basketball game they hav

Ancient Greeks knew it as a cure for bellyaches. Roman emperors used to spice their wine with it.

Mutilated bodies dumped on Fallujahs bombed out streets paint a harrowing picture of eight months of rebel rule that is borne out by the accounts of residents who stayed on through the governments US-backed onslaught. Fly-posters still litter the wall

A foreign submarine last week penetrated Israels territorial waters in the north, departing after the Israeli navy discovered it, the military reported on Monday. An Israel defense source confirmed the submarine was detected on November 10 some 16 kilo

The US military said on Thursday that the courts-martial early next year of three US soldiers accused of Iraqi prisoner abuse in the Abu Ghraib scandal would be moved from Iraq to the United States. The trials of Specialist Charles Graner, facing the la

The son of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi said on Wednesday that his country was willing to help end a long-running separatist conflict in Indonesias Aceh province, a move welcomed by both sides. Sayef Al Islam Qadhafi, who holds no official position bu

Scientists can argue all they want about how many degrees the planet is warming and what the trend portends, but meanwhile earths plants, insects and animals are not waiting for the outcome. They are already adjusting their patterns of behavior.

Once again, cheap Asian mass production looks set to kill off an age-old traditional craft. This time the victim is Egypts traditional handmade Ramadan lantern, or fannous, one of the main symbols of the festive traditions of the Musli

Fourteen years ago today, 47 Saudi women defied a driving ban on women by roaming the capital, Riyadh, behind the wheel.They were swiftly rounded up by police and punished, but many remain unrepentant to this day. "I am ready to take part in a demonstra

On the morning of Monday, November 1, as Tel Aviv shoppers browsed the colorful stalls of the citys central Carmel market, 16-year-old Palestinian Amer Al Far was on his way to the market with one intention: to become the latest in the chain of suicide b

An Islamic court in northern Nigeria has discharged and acquitted a pregnant teenager against her conviction for adultery, for which she had been sentenced to be stoned to death. Presiding judge Mohammed Mustafa Omar of the Upper Sharia court said on We

A German archaeological team has discovered a rare wooden Pharaonic sarcophagus in the southern city of Luxor, the first such find in nearly two centuries. Khalil Ghali, a senior antiquities official for southern Egypt, said on Tuesday that the empty sa

In a corner of Tripolis ancient souk where his father taught him the secrets of their trade, Mahmoud Sharkass uses the same gestures to teach his own teenage son, Ahmed, how to produce the handmade olive oil soaps the family has created for two centuries

Censorship authorities in the Gulf Arab state of Kuwait have forced the producer of a play on the restive Iraqi city of Fallujah to change its title citing "political sensitivities," the producer said. Authorities objected to the initial title of A K