Heavy shelling and gunfire in Mogadishu have killed three people and wounded about 30 in the battle between government and rebel forces for Somalia’s capital, witnesses said.

Rihanna's upcoming concert in Malaysia has been given the go ahead by the country's government, despite opposition from conservative Muslims.

The royal titular head of a Malaysian state has criticised an Islamic opposition party for opposing a planned music concert, dismissing the protest as “hypocritical” and “trivial” in a rare outburst.

Turkey’s parliament today approved the first of two constitutional amendments that would lift a decades-old ban on Islamic head scarves in universities despite the fierce opposition of the secular establishment.

Al-Qaida’s North African affiliate claimed responsibility today for a car bombing in Algeria that killed 30 coastguard officers and another recent blast that ripped through a crowd waiting for the president.

At least 16 people were killed and more than 74 injured by a bomb that ripped through a crowd waiting for the Algerian president to arrive in an eastern town.

Iraq’s prime minister and president today announced a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds, saying Sunni moderates refused to join but the door remained open to them.

Security forces killed a man described as the military adviser to the head of an al Qaida affiliate in Algeria in an assault on a mountain hide-out, it was reported.

Saudi Arabia brought the two main Palestinian leaders to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, today for a last-ditch attempt to end their bloody conflict and complete a power-sharing agreement on a coalition government.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told the PLO’s top decision-making body today that unity government talks with Hamas were dead and he blamed the radical Islamic group for their collapse, participants in the meeting said.

SISTER of Iraq’s new Sunni Arab vice-president was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad yesterday, a day after the politician called for the Sunni-dominated insurgency to be crushed by force.

A top Shiite politicians today said names of selections for top posts in the new Iraqi government must be agreed upon before parliament can convene next week, casting doubt on whether the legislature will meet as announced.

Iraq police and the leader of the Islamic Party today reported that kidnapped US reporter Jill Carroll has been released after nearly three months in captivity.

About 3,000 Malaysian Muslims burned an effigy of US President George Bush and called for an international boycott of Danish products today to protest against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded polling stations today to cast ballots in their first parliamentary election in a decade, a watershed vote that will bring Islamic militants into the political fold and set Palestinians on a course of negotiation or confrontation with Israel.

Insurgents exploded a suicide car bomb and launched two mortar shells at Iraq’s Interior Ministry during National Police Day celebrations today, killing 29 people and injuring 18.

A SUICIDE bomber killed 32 mourners and injured dozens at a funeral for the nephew of a Shi'ite politician in Iraq yesterday.

A series of bombs in two Bangladesh cities killed at least eight people and injured 66 today in what appeared to be the latest attack by militant Muslims who want to impose harsh Islamic law, officials said.

SUNNI insurgents determined to derail this weekend's constitutional referendum attacked the largest Sunni Arab political party yesterday, bombing and burning offices and the home of one of its leaders.

Iraqi negotiators have reached a breakthrough deal on the constitution, and at least one Sunni Arab party said it would now urge its followers to approve the charter in this weekend’s referendum.

The Iraqi parliament delayed a session today on whether to approve a new constitution hours before a deadline as faction leaders failed in last-minute talks to agree on a federated state and other divisive issues.

The Iraqi parliament session on whether to sign off on the new constitution was postponed today for two hours, Shiite member Mohammed Baqir al-Bahadli said.

FOUR American and four Italian military personnel were killed in separate aircraft crashes, military officials said yesterday, as Iraq’s prime minister condemned the arrest of a top Sunni political leader by US troops.

TWO suicide bombers blew themselves up yesterday in a crowd of police officers south of Baghdad, killing up to 30 people and wounding dozens, while US forces briefly detained a Sunni political leader on the second day of an Iraqi-led security sweep in the capital.

PALESTINIANS voted for local governments in dozens of towns and villages across the West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday — a contest that is expected to boost the Islamic militant group Hamas and could foreshadow results of parliamentary elections in July.

Palestinians voted for local governments in dozens of towns and villages across the West Bank and Gaza Strip today – a contest that is expected to boost the Islamic militant group Hamas and could foreshadow results of parliamentary elections in July.

Malaysia’s largest Islamic opposition party denounced the Thai government today after 85 Muslims died during a military crackdown on protesters in the country’s south.

US forces delayed joint Iraqi-American patrols in Fallujah after three days of fighting and pressure increased on the United States to prevent an escalation of violence in the besieged city.

Malaysia’s prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi won a landslide victory yesterday after voters resoundingly rejected the fundamentalist Islamic opposition and handed the secular leader a mandate for cleaner government.

An explosion just before dawn at an office belonging to Iraq’s major Shiite party killed one Iraqi woman and wounded five others in Baghdad today.

TWO leaders of Algeria’s banned Islamic Salvation Front party were freed after being jailed for threatening state security more than a decade ago.

Pakistani opposition figures today denounced constitutional amendments granting President Pervez Musharraf sweeping powers, saying they were a blow to democracy.

The most influential and hard-line Islamic party in Indian Kashmir delivered a political shock today when it announced it had severed ties with Muslim rebels and Pakistan.

At least nine people have been injured after a bomb exploded outside a club in Karachi.

Pakistan's Islamic groups say they will continue nationwide rallies in support of the Taliban militia.

Police today moved to block a major protest against the US-led air campaign in Afghanistan by barring the head of Pakistan’s largest Islamic party from travelling and arresting scores of militants.

Muslim clerics - disappointed by the rigid stands of the Taliban and the US, have cancelled a planned visit to Afghanistan aimed at resolving the crisis over Osama bin Laden,.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the US today said the lifting of US sanctions against her country was ‘‘a very important development’’ that will enable Pakistan to receive much-needed aid.

Hardline Muslims are pushing for a nationwide strike to show their opposition to Pakistan's decision to co-operate with the United States.

Hindus will be required to wear an identity label on their clothing in Islamic Afghanistan to distinguish them from Muslims, a Taliban minister said today.