Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said Wednesday that he expects 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgims abducted in neighboring Syria to be freed within hours.
More than 120 girls and three teachers were admitted to an Afghanistan hospital Wednesday after being poisoned in their classes with a type of spray, a Takhar provincial official said.
A prominent Iranian literary translator imprisoned since January on unknown charges has been released on bail, a source close to the family said Wednesday.
When Iranian officials arrive at the next round of nuclear talks in Baghdad on May 23, they will seek to advance several of their own goals, while only making modest changes to their nuclear program.
Two women and three men that were working for an aid group were kidnapped in a remote area of Afghanistan this week, authorities said.
With NATO meeting this week in Chicago to discuss the war in Afghanistan, CNN reached out to some everyday Afghan-Americans to see what they think.
This month, Inside the Middle East celebrates its 100th episode with a special look at education, focusing on the ways Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates are developing their future generation of leaders.
NATO leaders signed off Monday on President Barack Obama's exit strategy from Afghanistan that calls for an end to combat operations next year and the withdrawal of the U.S.-led international military force by the end of 2014.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says he will sign an agreement soon with Iran over its nuclear program, a sign that Iran may have agreed to broader inspections.
The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to tighten sanctions on Iran on Monday, three days after a dispute over whether to include the threat of American force stalled the legislation.
As Iran continues to grapple with the West over its nuclear ambitions, experts say the nation could double its already sizable oil output if sanctions were lifted to allow foreign investment into its oil industry.
CNN's Jonathan Mann talks to Greg Thielmann, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, about Iran's nuclear plan.
Iran's talks Monday with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency helped lay the groundwork for progress in upcoming negotiations, the Iranian regime said.
At least 33 more people were killed Sunday in Syria's 14-month-old crackdown on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's rule, a leading opposition group reported.
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom reports on the effect Syrian violence is having on Lebanon.
In the latest instance of the unrest in Syria spilling across the border into Lebanon, deadly clashes broke out in Beirut on Monday following the shooting death of two anti-Assad clerics at the hands of soldiers.
Iran's finance minister believes oil prices could rise as high as $160 a barrel thanks to sanctions over its nuclear program, a prediction that comes just as the chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency headed to Tehran on Sunday for high-level talks.
A U.N. report says Iran is exporting weapons to Syria. Mohammed Jamjoom reports.
A suicide bombing in southeastern Afghanistan killed eight people, including two police officers, Saturday afternoon, authorities said.
France's newly elected President Francois Hollande said Friday that he is sticking to his campaign pledge to remove his country's forces from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
The GOP-controlled House of Representatives on Friday passed a nearly $643 billion defense bill -- a measure at odds with prior military spending agreements and President Barack Obama's Pentagon plans.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency plans to fly to Iran on Sunday to discuss nuclear issues with high-level officials in Tehran.
Afghanistan's recent signings of strategic partnerships with the United States and other countries have provided a measure of reassurance to Afghans about the international community's sustained engagement in the country beyond 2014, when the drawdown of NATO combat forces will be complete. But these documents are short on specifics and do not fully tackle the political, economic and regional challenges that need to be addressed so the Afghan army and police can take responsibility for the security of the country.
Three roadside bombs exploded Friday in quick succession at an outdoor pet market in Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 31 others, police officials said.
CNN's Reza Sayah reports on an Iranian rapper who is facing death threats over one of his songs.
Iran is taking on one of the world's biggest Internet giants, threatening to sue over something that is not on its maps.
The United States will provide an additional $70 million to support Israel's short-range missile defense system, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday.
Republicans blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats on Thursday to pass new sanctions against Iran, complaining the final language in the bill, which they had negotiated for months, is not tough enough to deter Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
A confidential U.N. report reveals Iran is exporting arms to the Syrian government in violation of a ban on weapons sales, the same day President Bashar al-Assad blamed the violence in his country on the work of foreign-backed fighters.
Suicide attackers with explosives stormed a governor's compound in southwestern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing themselves and seven people, officials said.
As events continue to unfold in Syria, the future of this Arab nation remains unknown.
CNN's Ivan Watson reports from one town along the Turkey - Syria border where Syrian rebels are in control.
Fouad Ajami says Pres. Obama may regret not helping people in Syria the way Pres. Clinton did after the Rwanda Genocide.
A notorious prison in Baghdad's Green Zone is still open despite the Iraqi government having said more than a year ago it was closed, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
IN FOCUS: Social media in the Middle East
Facebook is launching its long-awaited Initial Public Offering this week. With nearly a billion users the social networking site is hoping investors will dig deep to buy a stake in the company that has become a global phenomenon. Recently, the role of social media has increased sharply in the Middle East and, as MME found out, is becoming a crucial part of doing business.
FACETIME: Fadi Ghandour, CEO & founder, Aramex
Aramex is a global logistics company with its roots in the Middle East. With a revenue of more than $700 million and a presence in more than 60 countries, the company is competing with the likes of Fedex, DHL and UPS. MME sat down with the CEO and Founder Fadi Ghandour to talk about the new areas of growth, his retirement and how social media has affected his business.
Marketplace Middle East airs weekly at the following times (all GMT):
Iran has executed a man who was convicted of killing one of its nuclear scientists, state-run Press TV reported Tuesday.
A bomb exploded inside a shop in the northern Afghanistan province of Faryab on Monday, killing nine people, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry.
Two Turkish journalists have been freed from a Syria prison. CNN's Ivan Watson reports.
Ahead of upcoming nuclear talks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad downplayed the threat Israel poses to Iran, comparing it to an annoying bug.
Negotiations to end a mass hunger strike by up to 2,000 Palestinians detained by Israel are making progress and a resolution may be only days away, Palestinian officials said Saturday.
A video purportedly released by a shadowy, Syrian-based terrorist group claimed responsibility Saturday for dual suicide bombings that killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the country's capital this week.
Two Turkish journalists who were imprisoned in a Syrian jail were released and flew to Tehran on Saturday as part of what appears to be a prisoner swap between Turkey and Iran.
Two powerful explosions kill dozens of people in the Syrian capital of Damascus. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.
A U.N. nuclear inspector from South Korea was killed Tuesday in a car accident in Iran, state-run media reported.
Former Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert tells Christiane Amanpour that military action against Iran is a last resort.
Iran is accepting renminbi for some of the crude oil it supplies to China, industry executives in Beijing and Kuwait and Dubai-based bankers said, partly as a consequence of US sanctions aimed at limiting Tehran's nuclear programme.
Flash flooding in northern Afghanistan killed at least 26 people in northern Afghanistan and rescue workers fear the toll may rise, officials said Monday.
CNN's Don Lemon and Azadeh Ansari go beyond the headlines into female athlete participation in the 2012 London Olympics.
Bahiya Al-Hamad is a 19-year-old college student and air-rifle shooter who is about to make history for her country.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Mike Rogers weigh in on the future of Afghanistan as U.S. troops withdraw.
One of two Turkish journalists missing in Syria called home Saturday, ending nearly two months of speculation about their well-being but failing to clear up questions about who is holding them or when they might be freed.
Syrians are expected to go to the polls Monday to vote in parliamentary elections that are being held amid ongoing violence and increasing international pressure on the embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad.
An explosion at a car wash near Syria's largest city of Aleppo killed at least five people Saturday, opposition activists said.
CNN looks at a diplomatic spat between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
A soldier serving in Afghanistan is under investigation on allegations involving the production and possession of child pornography and blackmail, the Washington State Patrol said Friday.
President Barack Obama marked the first anniversary of the death of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden with an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, signing a long-awaited strategic partnership agreement meant to set the conditions of an American withdrawal from the war-torn nation.
FACETIME: Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, Egyptian Minister of Tourism
Israel, by necessity, has developed one of the most able security and intelligence apparatus in the world. There has been no necessity to develop a world-class political apparatus, however, and it shows.
President Barack Obama, speaking early Wednesday in Afghanistan at the tail end of a surprise visit there, discussed how the war will end and promised a steady drawdown of U.S. troops.
Good evening from Bagram Air Base. This outpost is more than 7,000 miles from home, but for over a decade it has been close to our hearts. Because here, in Afghanistan, more than half a million of our sons and daughters have sacrificed to protect our country.
One year ago, the enemy that had haunted America for nearly a decade met his end in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discusses his country's issues with Iran.
U.N. observers continued their mission Monday in Syria to chronicle what is happening in the beleaguered nation, though even the team's leader admitted its efforts are futile unless all factions commit to full candor and peace.
Two gunmen attacked a governor's compound in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing two police officers, the interior ministry said.
Four people died and another 11 were wounded in a pair of apparently coordinated bomb blasts Thursday in Baghdad, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.
Jordan's prime minister resigned Thursday, the Jordanian Royal Court and state-run Petra news agency said.
For 13 months, violence has raged in Syria between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the opposition in a lopsided battle that has seen thousands killed amid a number of international attempts to broker a peace deal.
A group representing 1,650 Palestinian prisoners who are on a hunger strike in protest of the conditions of their detention urged Israel Thursday to start urgent talks on the treatment of prisoners.
Israel's top general said Iran is led by "very rational people" and doesn't appear poised to build a nuclear bomb that would threaten his nation.
This month "Inside the Middle East" travels to the tiny state of Qatar, where vast oil and gas reserves have transformed a once-impoverished strip of desert into the richest country in the world -- all in the span of just half a century.
To Iraqi artist Hanaa' Malallah her shoes are weapons of mass destruction that appear in many of her works.
Two state-run Egyptian energy companies have abruptly ended a gas export deal to Israel, raising questions about the move's legal validity and the political effect on relations between the two countries.
The United States and Afghanistan appeared close to signing a vital diplomatic deal Sunday, a pact that would continue cooperation between the two countries after the planned departure of NATO troops in 2014.
Two service members with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were killed in a blast in eastern Afghanistan, the force said Monday.
Strong explosions rocked the devastated city of Homs early on Monday, opposition activists said, just days after the U.N. Security Council voted to send as many as 300 observers to monitor a tenuous cease-fire in Syria.
Afghan security officials said Saturday they had seized 10 tonnes of explosives and foiled plans to stage attacks in the capital, Kabul.
The Taliban claimed responsibility Friday for downing a Black Hawk helicopter in southern Afghanistan.
The international sense of urgency over the Syrian crisis grew on Thursday, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for an arms embargo and other tough U.N. Security Council steps against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
A Black Hawk helicopter crashed Thursday in southern Afghanistan, likely killing all four of its crew members -- all of them Americans -- a U.S. military official said.
Iraq foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari discusses the reintegration of Iraq into the Arab regional environment.
A series of explosions rocked Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing at least 31 people and leaving more than 50 others injured, Iraq's interior ministry said.
IN FOCUS: Abu Dhabi's aerospace ambitions
Wives of U.N. diplomats tell Syria's first lady to "stop being a bystander." CNN's Hala Gorani reports.
Kofi Annan says the increase in refugees crossing into Turkey can only be the result of increased fighting in Syria.
Turkish port authorities boarded a German-owned cargo ship reported to be carrying Iranian weapons bound for Syria, TV news footage showed on Wednesday.
An upsurge in violence in Syria leave little hope for a genuine truce, as CNN's Ivan Watson reports.
Russia's top diplomat took a shot at the Western and Arab attempts to bring democratic change to Syria on Tuesday.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh discusses what Australia's troop drawdown will mean for Afghan security.
The beginning of the U.N. observer mission to Syria heralds a new phase in more than a year of upheaval across the country. Success, however unlikely, could open the door to some form of dialogue between the regime and its opponents. But such is the polarization in Syria that most analysts see the mission as the least worst option before violence sets the agenda again.
When Afghan forces repelled a barrage of attacks from insurgents near Kabul's green zone over the weekend it was hailed as proof of how far local security forces had come.
The Taliban says it was behind a string of weekend attacks in Afghanistan.
An American who suffered a heart attack last week during a commercial flight from Dubai to Seattle, Washington, is expected to return to the U.S. Tuesday after being treated in Iran, State Department officials told CNN Monday.
Nick Paton Walsh accompanied U.S. and Afghan forces on a manhunt for most-wanted militants in the Taliban heartland.
The first members of a U.N. observer team were expected to begin their work in Syria on Monday, monitoring a tenuous cease-fire that is showing signs of collapse amid growing reports of bloodshed.
As talks over Iran's nuclear program are set to resume Isarelis express scepticism about deal being brokered.
President Obama has firmly rejected a complaint by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran was given a "freebie" on its nuclear program.
Nuclear talks will resume in May between Iran and the P5-plus-1 group of countries.
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