Middle East | featured news

Afghanistan's parliament voted on Saturday to dismiss both the interior and defense ministers over continued cross-border shelling which the Afghan government has blamed on neighboring Pakistan's army, as well as other issues.

Iran has test fired a fourth-generation Fateh 110 missile with a range of 300 kilometers, the state Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Saturday citing Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who said the test was "successful".

Thomson Reuters said its blogging platform for Reuters News was hacked, resulting in multiple false posts to its website, including a fake interview with a Syrian rebel army leader.

Armed clashes erupted in at least three Syrian cities on Friday amid reports of a deadly mortar attack on a major Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, an event that threatened to draw Syria’s displaced Palestinian population into its civil war... Western nations, led by the United States, have accused Russia of helping to sabotage Mr. Annan’s diplomacy and have questioned the need for a United Nations monitoring presence in Syria if there is no viable peace plan to monitor.

Syrian fighter jets fired on rebel positions in the commercial capital of Aleppo on Wednesday, U.N. observers told The Associated Press, a development that could signal a significant escalation in the battle for control of the key city.

Mitt Romney tried to explain his remarks about the Palestinian economy, which were called "racist" by an aide to Mahmoud Abbas.

Congress is pressing ahead with a new package of crippling sanctions on Iran, expanding on financial penalties and targeting Tehran's energy and shipping sectors in the hope that economic pressure undercuts its suspected nuclear weapons program....

A spokesman for the National Guard Association of the United States told The State that Michael Haley may be the first spouse of a sitting governor to be deployed into a combat zone. Nikki Haley, 40, is a Republican who assumed office in 2011. She has been discussed as a potential vice presidential pick for Mitt Romney and hit the campaign trail days ago for the presumptive GOP nominee.

The Assad government targets rebel positions. The U.N. says 200,000 people have left the city, but the opposition denies the military is driving out insurgents.

Mitt Romney reportedly has angered Palestinians with his comments about their economy and his pledge to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem... "Yesterday, he destroyed negotiations by saying Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and today he is saying Israeli culture is more advanced than Palestinian culture. Isn't this racism?" Erekat said.