Middle East

By Agencies

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, has blamed the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, for much of the “unacceptable levels of violence and abuses” occurring every day in the 15-month-long crisis in Syria.

Read more: UN slams Syria for 'unacceptable' violence

By Agencies

Ballot counting is nearing an end in Egypt after two days of historic voting to choose the country's first democratically elected president, with the Muslim Brotherhood and a former regime official likely to face one another in a runoff.

Read more: Egypt’s polls indicate divisive runoff race

By Agencies

Syrian rebels have released Lebanese hostages kidnapped in northern Syria, an Islamist cleric who brokered their release has said.

Read more: Lebanese pilgrims freed by Syrian abductors

By Agencies

A Bahraini court has sentenced Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of a prominent imprisoned opposition activist, to one month in jail for trying to organise an anti-government protest, her mother said.

Read more: Bahrain jails daughter of hunger striker

By Agencies

Yemeni forces have killed at least 35 al-Qaeda fighters in the southern part of the country, the defence ministry said.

Read more: Yemeni army kills 35 fighters in the south

By Agencies

Ballot counting has begun in Egypt after two days of historic voting to choose the country's first democratically elected president, with the Muslim Brotherhood claiming lead.

Read more: Brotherhood claims early lead

By Agencies

Syrian forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands of protesters calling for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, reportedly killing two people in the northern city of Aleppo, opposition groups have said.

Read more: Syrian troops continue protest crackdowns

By Agencies

Iran and world powers will meet in Moscow next month for more talks to try solve a longstanding dispute about Iran's nuclear energy programme, Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign-policy chief, has said.

Read more: More talks on Iran nuclear issue planned

By Agencies

Polling stations have reopened on the second day of Egypt's first free presidential election, 15 months after the government of former president Hosni Mubarak was toppled.

Read more: Egypt returns to polls in landmark elections

By Agencies

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has told the nation's new parliament that his government will be able to find a way out of the crisis currently gripping Syria.

Read more: Assad says Syria 'able' to get out of crisis