In Turkey, protesters try a new approach: Standing still

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s demonstrations took a new twist on Tuesday, as plazas, malls and public spaces across the country filled with people trying a new form of protest: doing nothing.Protesters opposed to the 10-year rule of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that he may have driven them from central Istanbul’s Gezi Park, which they had occupied for more than two weeks, but that h

Sunnis, Shiites clash in Lebanese town

BEIRUT — Fighting erupted in the southern Lebanese town of Sidon on Tuesday between the supporters of a Salafist sheikh and local Shiites affiliated with the Hezbollah movement in the latest example of sectarian tensions fueled by the conflict in neighboring Syria. Read full article >>

In Israel, mixed signals on prospect for peace with Palestinians

JERUSALEM — As the United States seeks to revive Middle East peace talks, the coalition government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a babel of voices whose members issue contradictory statements, sometimes hourly, declaring that negotiations with the Palestinians are: Read full article >>

Egypt’s Morsi gets poor reviews from Islamists after first year of presidency

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT — As the first year of Mohamed Morsi’s presidency draws to a close later this month, this country is bracing for what organizers promise will be massive protests by liberal and secular Egyptians who demand his ouster. Read full article >>

Turkish government could use armed forces against protesters, senior official warns

ISTANBUL —Turkey’s leaders are prepared to use the armed forces against protesters if they consider it necessary, the deputy prime minister said Monday, raising the threat of military intervention for the first time during the ongoing unrest, in a country that has only recently moved away from its long history of army coups. Read full article >>

Iran’s new president says U.S. outreach possible if ‘our nuclear rights’ are respected

TEHRAN — In his first news conference since being elected president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani said Monday that he wants to improve his country’s relations with the United States, but not at the expense of Iran’s nuclear program. Read full article >>

Turkey turmoil could lead to new flash points

ISTANBUL — The turmoil in Turkey entered a new stage Sunday, with riot police tearing through residential neighborhoods in Istanbul to clear streets of protesters as Prime Minister Recep Tay­yip Erdogan delivered a fiery speech to tens of thousands of supporters on the city’s outskirts. Read full article >>

Multiple attacks kill 32 people across Iraq

BAGHDAD — A string of nearly a dozen apparently coordinated bombings and a shooting in cities across Iraq killed at least 32 people and wounded dozens Sunday, extending a wave of violence that is raising fears of a return to widespread killing a decade after the U.S.-led invasion. Read full article >>

Iran’s new president more cautious than reformist

TEHRAN — This capital city was calm on Sunday after a long night of spontaneous street celebrations following the surprise victory of president-elect Hassan Rouhani, a cleric whose moderate views have inspired hope among Iranians eager for new personal freedoms and quick social change. Read full article >>

Defector Syrian general will be conduit for U.S. military aid to rebels

BEIRUT — A mild-mannered ­Syrian general who taught at a military academy before he defected last year is poised to play a key role in shaping the outcome of Syria’s war now that the United States has said it will provide direct military assistance to the rebels. Read full article >>

Moderate Rouhani takes early lead in Iranian presidential election

TEHRAN —After a larger than expected voter turnout for Friday’s election, early returns indicate a strong showing by the most moderate of the six candidates running for president of Iran.Hassan Rouhani, the only cleric in the race, had more than 49 percent of the votes cast in more than 5,800 polling stations — about 10 percent of the total vote — whose results were announced early Saturday.

Syrian rebels say they need heavy weaponry, not small arms, from U.S.

BEIRUT — Syria’s rebels on Friday criticized the U.S. decision to offer small-scale military assistance as late and inadequate, saying they will need heavy weapons to counter the growing challenge posed by a reinvigorated Syrian army that is already receiving foreign help. Read full article >>

Netanyahu helps dedicate upgraded Holocaust exhibit at Auschwitz

OSWIECIM, Poland — For decades, the Communist-era memorial to Jewish victims at the barracks known as Block 27 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex of Nazi death camps stood dilapidated and mostly ignored. Read full article >>

As Turkish protests rage, Ataturk is a winner

ISTANBUL — If one clear winner has emerged in the battle over personal freedoms in Turkey, it may be modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.As Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday met for the first time with representatives from some of the main groups behind the protests that have swept his country for two weeks, Ataturk flags fluttered on both sides of the conflict. Read

Tehran calm on eve of presidential election as Iranians weigh whether to vote

TEHRAN — Official campaigning for Friday’s presidential election ended here Wednesday night with small but spirited rallies by supporters of the six candidates.The street scenes in the Iranian capital were just a shadow of the massive rallies leading up to the 2009 presidential election, in which hundreds of thousands of Tehran residents participated, but they also served as a reminder of the

Syria conflict has killed nearly 93,000, U.N. says

BEIRUT — Nearly 93,000 people have been confirmed killed in the conflict in Syria, the United Nations said Thursday, as it warned that more bloodshed could be imminent in the northern city of Aleppo, where government troops have massed. Read full article >>

Egypt frets, fumes over Ethiopia’s Nile plan

GIZA, EGYPT — Since long before the Pyramids towered above the rich soil of this riverside town, Egyptians have given thanks to the muddy waters of the Nile.“Plants, animals, humans,” said Ibrahim Abdel Aziz, a 45-year-old farmer, “we all come from this river.” Read full article >>

Turkey’s Erdogan hints at concession to protesters

ISTANBUL — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that he has ordered his interior minister to put an end to the protests sweeping his country within 24 hours, while signaling openness to a referendum on plans to raze a park in Istanbul, which were the original source of public discontent. Read full article >>

For Lebanon’s Sunnis, growing rage at Hezbollah over role in Syria

SIDON, Lebanon — In a soccer stadium in Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon, thousands of Sunnis gathered last weekend to rail against Shiite Hezbollah’s deepening role in the Syrian war. But even with a new rallying call, Lebanon’s Sunnis remain rudderless and fractured, forced to temper their war cries. Read full article >>

Syrian rebels kill dozens in mostly Shiite village

BEIRUT — Rebels have killed dozens of Shiite Muslims in a village in eastern Syria, activists said Wednesday, as the nation’s drawn-out civil war takes on increasingly sectarian undertones. About 60 civilians and pro-government fighters were killed Tuesday as rebels stormed the largely Shiite village of Hatla in Deir al-Zour province, near the Iraqi border, according to the Britain-based Syri

Iran emerging as victor in Syrian conflict

BEIRUT — As fighters with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement wage the battles that are helping Syria’s regime survive, their chief sponsor, Iran, is emerging as the biggest victor in the wider regional struggle for influence that the Syrian conflict has become. Read full article >>

Israel warily watches Iranian election

JERUSALEM — Israel’s leaders are watching Iran’s upcoming presidential election with a mixture of resignation and dread, as top officials here say they have no reason to believe that a new government in Tehran will back away from a pursuit of nuclear weapons. Read full article >>

In Iran, moderates see Hassan Rouhani as best alternative to conservatives

TEHRAN — Three days before the presidentialelection, moderates and reformists in Iran are coalescing behind Hassan Rouhani, a cleric and former nuclear negotiator, as their best hope of staving off a field of divided conservatives, who had been seen as having the upper hand in the race. Read full article >>

Israeli drivers forgo traditional GPS devices to ride Waze craze

Israelis have a reputation as some of the most aggressive drivers in the world. The tanned guy with the shaved head and wraparound sunglasses leaning on his horn, three inches from your bumper? He’s in a hurry. Read full article >>

Car bomb outside Afghanistan’s Supreme Court kills 14

KABUL —A car bomb Tuesday killed at least 14 civilians, most of them employees of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in the past year.The explosives were detonated at the entrance of the Supreme Court just as employees were boarding buses to go home, said Gen. Mohammed Zahir, chief of the Kabul police investigative division. In addition to the fataliti

Iranian authorities impose subdued tone for election campaign

TEHRAN — In the nights leading up to the 2009 election, hundreds of thousands of Tehran residents flooded the streets in a show of excitement over a presidential contest that few had expected would attract much attention. Read full article >>

Amid rising ethnic tension, Kurdish brigade soldiers stop taking orders from Baghdad

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi army’s 16th Brigade was once a hopeful symbol of cooperation between Iraq’s rival ethnic groups. Roughly half Arab and half Kurdish, the brigade had provided security since 2008 for an ethnically mixed population in one of the most volatile parts of the country. Read full article >>

Anti-Hezbollah protester shot dead outside Iranian Embassy in Beirut

BEIRUT — A protester was fatally shot in clashes outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut on Sunday as Lebanon struggles to contain the backlash from the Shiite Hezbollah movement’s military support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Read full article >>

Iran’s presidential debate gets personal

TEHRAN — In their third and final televised debate Friday, Iran’s eight presidential candidates traded pointed accusations, including blaming one of their number for his role in responding to anti-government protests and criticizing another for the lack of progress in talks on the country’s nuclear program. Read full article >>

U.N. seeks more than $5 billion in aid for Syria

BEIRUT — The United Nations made the largest humanitarian appeal in its history Friday, sharply increasing its estimate for the funds needed for Syria, as rights groups said it must do more to ensure its aid cannot be used by President Bashar al-Assad as a weapon of war. Read full article >>