World: Middle East - Las Vegas Sun

Associated Press: World: Middle East

3 hours, 26 minutes ago

(AP) Egyptian scientists are carrying out DNA tests on two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun to determine whether they are the young pharaoh's offspring, the antiquities authority said Wednesday.The two tiny female fetuses, between five to seven months in gestational age, were found in King Tut's tomb ...

American deaths in Afghanistan war reach 500

3 hours, 26 minutes ago

(AP) The deadliest three months for American forces in Afghanistan have pushed the U.S. death toll to at least 500, forcing a war long overshadowed by Iraq back into the headlines.Larger, more sophisticated militant attacks have also caused a sharp rise in Afghan civilian deaths _ at least 472 in the ...

Governor: 3 injured in Istanbul mortar attack

3 hours, 26 minutes ago

(AP) Shells fired from a mortar-like mechanism near a municipal government building in Istanbul slightly injured three people, the city's governor reportedly said.Unknown assailants fired the shells from a cemetery near the building that houses the Uskudar district's Parks Department, and one of them hit a truck parked outside the building, ...

Iraqis: US, Iraq close to deal on troop withdrawal

5 hours, 47 minutes ago

(AP) Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed.The proposed agreement calls for Americans ...

Syria frees economist after nearly 7 years in jail

7 hours, 11 minutes ago

(AP) Syria on Thursday released one of the country's most prominent dissidents after nearly seven years in prison _ a man whose freedom was urged by international rights groups and President Bush."I have come back to life again," Aref Dalila, a former head of economics at Damascus University, told The Associated ...

Gaza Fulbright scholars appeal for US visas

7 hours, 11 minutes ago

(AP) Three Fulbright scholars from Gaza appealed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday to reissue their entry visas, denying they were security threats.The three were initially issued with entry visas to pursue their Fulbright scholarships after a months-long diplomatic tussle between the State Department and Israel.But the students' entry ...

Iraqis: Deal close on plan for US troops to leave

8 hours, 50 minutes ago

(AP) Two Iraqi officials say the U.S. and Iraq are close to a deal under which all American combat troops would leave by October 2010 with remaining U.S. forces gone about three years later.A U.S. official in Washington acknowledges progress has been made on the timelines for a U.S. departure but ...

Iraqis: US, Iraq close to deal

8 hours, 50 minutes ago

Kurdish rebels say they sabotaged Turkey pipeline

9 hours, 23 minutes ago

(AP) Kurdish separatist rebels claimed responsibility Thursday for sabotaging a critical Turkish pipeline, helping push global oil prices back above $120 per barrel.The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which brings Azeri oil from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean for westbound shipments, caught fire Tuesday night and Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency said it ...

Israeli officer in prisoner abuse video quits post

10 hours, 32 minutes ago

(AP) An officer filmed ordering a soldier to abuse a bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoner was indicted Thursday and has resigned his command of an army battalion but will continue to serve elsewhere, the Israeli military said.Lt.Col. Omri Borberg and the soldier were charged in a military court with "unworthy conduct," ...

Iraqi official defends spending, surplus

11 hours, 2 minutes ago

(AP) An Iraqi lawmaker close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki defended the government's record on reconstruction spending, saying Thursday that U.S. critics of its multibillion dollar surplus were overlooking Baghdad's progress over the past three years.But a senior Iraqi official and a private Iraqi economic analyst both acknowledged that inefficiency and ...

Iraqi cleric links truce, US withdrawal timetable

11 hours, 2 minutes ago

(AP) Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call on his fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops but may lift the order if a planned Iraq-U.S. security agreement lacks a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, a spokesman said Thursday.The statement by Sheik Salah al-Obeidi comes as al-Sadr plans to ...

Oil up after Kurdish rebels claim pipeline fire

11 hours, 23 minutes ago

(AP) Global oil prices are bouncing back above $120 per barrel after a pro-Kurdish news agency said Kurdish rebels claimed responsibility for a fire at a critical Turkish pipeline.Firat news agency reported the Kurdish rebel organization admitted sabotaging the pipeline Tuesday night. The fire was still smoldering Thursday.Oil companies declared force ...

Report: 3 injured in Istanbul explosions

15 hours, 56 minutes ago

(AP) A series of explosions at a municipal government building in Istanbul slightly injured three people Thursday, an official and Turkish news reports said.Three blasts occurred near a municipal building in the Uskudar district, a municipal official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to ...

Iraqi official defends spending

16 hours, 23 minutes ago

(AP) An Iraqi lawmaker close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki defended the government's record on spending for reconstruction, saying Thursday that U.S. critics were overlooking Baghdad's progress over the past three years.A report Tuesday by the U.S. General Accounting Office predicted Iraq could finish the year with as much as a ...