Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's Kadima party and the Labour Party inked a draft deal to form a government. The two parties have yet to ratify the agreement and find a third coalition partner to secure a parliamentary majority.

Lebanese authorities on Sunday arrested members of a "terrorist network" suspected of involvement in deadly bomb attacks in the northern city of Tripoli, the army said.

Clashes between Jews and Arab rioters continued for the fourth consecutive night after violence erupted on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

A week-long strike against a new value added tax shut down Tehran's bazaar on Sunday, until the Iranian government suspended the measure for two months. The bazaar reopened on Monday.

Following an exodus of thousands of Christians fleeing a wave of killings, police have been deployed in the Iraqi city of Mosul, according to a government official. At least 11 people were killed in the worst violence against Christians since 2003.

Stock markets across the oil-rich Gulf states took a tumble, adding to growing global investor panic.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces raided a Hamas bomb factory and arrested 11 members of the Islamist faction in the West Bank city of Hebron late on Friday.

Turkey launched airstrikes against Kurdish separatist PKK bases in northern Iraq late on Friday. The military claimed it hit 31 targets, following a deadly attack on Turkish security forces by PKK rebels on Oct. 3.

The website of the pan-Arabic channel Al Arabiya was hacked Friday. Hackers threatened to shut down all Sunni websites if "attacks against Shia sites continue". The arabic television channel created a temporary website.

Two American journalists, Holli Chmela (left) and Taylor Luck, who were feared missing in Lebanon and later reported in custody in Syria for having illegally entered the country, were released into US custody in Damascus on Thursday.

Saleh al-Ogayly, a Shia lawmaker, was fatally wounded on Thursday in a roadside bomb attack in which a bystander was also killed. It is the first death of an Iraqi MP in 18 months and marks a new spike in violence.

Hamas politicians insist that Mahmud Abbas' term as president comes to an end on January 8, and that he must call an election three months earlier. Fatah supporters argue that the presidential term could legally be extended to 2010.

Turkish war planes struck at targets in northern Iraq for a second straight day on Tuesday. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan pledged to intensify a campaign to crush PKK rebels holed up there after 17 Turkish soldiers were killed in an ambush.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has pardoned an outspoken editor sentenced to two months in jail after his newspaper published rumours about Mubarak's health.

Dubai developers Nakheel on Sunday announced plans to build a "new city", with a projected cost of 95 billion dollars. The construction includes a tower which could stand one kilometre high.

Ahmed Abul Gheit led the first high-level Egyptian delegation to visit Iraq since al Qaeda killed Egypt's envoy to Baghdad in 2005, in the latest sign that the two Arab nations are slowly restoring ties.

Eleven Iraqis were killed, including three women and three children, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest during a US raid on a house in northern Mosul, the US military said.

In an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz during his two-day Mideast tour, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that Israel would not wait for Tehran to develop a nuclear weapon before striking its arch-enemy.

Two US Blackhawks collided and crashed to the ground during landing in a northern, Sunni district of Baghdad, said the American military. Early reports say one Iraqi soldier died and two US soldiers were wounded.