Gaza militants pummelled Israel with dozens of rockets and mortars and Israeli airstrikes killed two Palestinians in a sharp escalation of violence following a landmark visit to the coastal territory by the leader of Qatar.

A MEMBER of Syria’s parliament has left the country to join the opposition against President Bashar Assad’s regime, saying the Syrian people are suffering sweeping human rights violations.

A Syrian MP has fled the country to join the opposition against President Bashar Assad, saying the people are suffering sweeping human rights violations.

Hundreds of angry Shiites poured onto the streets of two cities south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad today to protest over what they considered insults by Al-Jazeera television against Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

US President George Bush has offered to extend US free-trade benefits already enjoyed by Israel and Jordan to other Middle East nations within a decade.