Beirut & Riyadh - Saudi Arabia has been taking the threats made by Hezbollah international relations official Nawaf al-Moussawi seriously, according to Elaph, a Saudi-run website.

Aintoura, Mount Lebanon - A 32 year old Lebanese citizen opened fire at construction workers, killing two Lebanese nationals and one Syrian citizen, before taking his own life on Friday.

Pakistani Taliban rebels executed two Afghans in front of thousands of people Friday after accusing them of spying, while two other people died in clashes afterwards, officials said. Militants beheaded one man and shot the other after telling the crowd

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged Friday after his party won the most seats in by-elections that he would keep pushing for the restoration of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf. The polls on Thursday were for five parliamentary

Vague statements and contradictory policies make it impossible to predict when Morocco will abolish the death penalty. But the "great confusion" on the issue is not deterring rights activists from pressing on with their public campaigning - especially among the

The Group of Eight powers on Friday called on all sides to avoid undermining Middle East peace talks, and denounced acts of violence and Israeli settlement building. Foreign ministers of the G8 - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia

Embattled Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert won yet another reprieve this week, just hours before Parliament was set to vote to dissolve itself in a move that would almost certainly have led to new elections and Olmert's ouster from office. But

The US Senate has overwhelmingly approved a much-disputed bill allotting $162 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill gives funding for the conflicts through to mid-2009 after President George W. Bush, who must now sign the bill

At least seven policemen were killed when insurgents ambushed a Somali police station in the capital, sparking deadly clashes, witnesses and officials said on Friday. The incident occurred late Thursday in Daynile, one of the most volatile districts in southern

Israel kept commercial crossings into the Gaza Strip closed on Friday after a Palestinian rocket attack the day before tested a week-old truce and was slammed by the territory's Hamas rulers. Two mortar rounds were also fired at Israel from

Group of Eight foreign ministers urged Iran on Friday to suspend uranium enrichment and "act in a more responsible and constructive manner in the region," a call quickly dismissed in Tehran as double-speak. The industrial powers - Britain, Canada, France,

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi traveled to Libya on Friday for talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi expected to focus on stemming the flow of illegal immigrants to Europe. It was Berlusconi's first diplomatic outing abroad since he returned to

Beirut- Lebanon's new cabinet is likely to be announced within the next day or two after having resolved the dispute with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun over cabinet seats.

Beirut - The focus today will again be the formation of the cabinet by Prime Minister - Designate Fouad Siniora . There were some positive signals Thursday following the meeting between PM Siniora 's adviser ambassador Shatah and General Michel

Amnesty International has set up a replica of a Guantanamo prison cell a stone's throw from the White House aiming to step up pressure on the US administration with its demonstration with a twist. The isolation cell - 3 meters

To mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, a bipartisan US group of some 200 religious leaders and former top national security and military officers have launched a campaign for a presidential order to outlaw torture and

Somalia faces a serious food crisis if no nation steps forward with naval ships to escort relief shipments through pirate-infested waters, the UN World Food Program (WFP) warned Thursday. A Dutch frigate now is in its last days shepherding two

China said Thursday it had done all it could to help ease the bloodshed and suffering in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, which has put the spotlight on China's close ties to the country. Beijing, under intense criticism for allegedly turning

Pakistan on Thursday rejected "baseless" allegations by neighboring Afghanistan that Islamabad's main spy service had masterminded an attempt to assassinate President Hamid Karzai. A spokesman for Afghan intelligence said Wednesday that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was the "real schemer and

Anti-US Arab Sunni combatants have been given 10 days to surrender to coalition forces as Iraq extended its crackdown on militias around the country, officials said Thursday. Fighters based in Salaheddin, the home province of executed President Saddam Hussein, will