Saudi security forces in communication with Yemen counterparts have freed two young German girls held hostage for nearly a year in the northern Yemen. But the fate of their bother and parents stayed unknown, authorities added. Saudi interior ministry official General Mansour al-Turki told the two girls aged three and five, are in a Saudi hospital. "Their condition is okay. But they are in the hospital to make sure they get any medical care they might need,"... Read more »

Members of al-Shabab group have fired mortars at the parliament building in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Rebels confront the UN-backed Somali government. Local police authorities said the fire missed its intended target, but the African Union forces responded by shelling al-Shabab positions in the capital Bakara market. The returned fire resulted in 13 civilians killed and dozens more injured. It was the first session since December for Somali parliament, ... Read more »

Top Saudi prince and former intelligence chief Turki al-Faisal have accused the incumbent Iraqi prime minister of "hijacking" the results of March general election. The speech was given at the conference hosted by Arab News for diplomats, journalists and businessmen. "Adding to the brutal mayhem taking place there, we are watching a deliberate effort on the part of the incumbent prime minister, Mr al-Maliki, to hijack the results of the election and deny th... Read more »

Sudanese armed forces say they have seized control of a rebel held area in western Darfur. More than 150 members of the Justice and Equality Movement were killed, 61 rebels were detained, 16 cars and three large trucks were confiscated. "We have liberated Jebel Moon from the Justice and Equality Movement," Aljazeera.net quotes Al-Sawarmi Khaled, an army spokesman, as saying. The army gave no information of its casualties in the clashes. The Sudanese governm... Read more »

The electoral commission completed a manual recount of votes in Iraqi capital, no instances of violation or fraud have been revealed. "We finished the recount of 11,298 ballot boxes and no violations or fraud have been found," Aljazeera.net. quotes Qassim al-Abboudi, an electoral commission spokesman, as saying. He added that the Independent High Electoral Commission would release the official results of the recount on Monday. The recount of 2.5 million vot... Read more »

A 10-year old Dutch boy is the only survivor in a plane crash in Tripoli. Libyan plane arriving from South Africa exploded on landing just a meter from the runway on Wednesday. 93 passengers and 11 crew members were killed. "I can confirm the crash but not the number of the dead," Alarabiya.net quotes Bongani Sithole, an official of the airline at Johannesburg airport as saying. According to Libya's Transport Minister Mohammed Zidan the survivor is in hospi... Read more »

More than 100 people have been killed and 350 wounded in a series of shootings and suicide bombings in Iraq – the deadliest this year. The central city of Hilla saw maximum of death toll when staff at a textiles factory were hit by three bomb attacks, killing at least 45 people. Two car bombs exploded one right after another at the entrance to the factory, just as workers boarded buses to go home. Later, as passers by and emergency services rushed in to hel... Read more »

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is considering the implementation of a comprehensive National Strategy to augment the country’s stock of affordable housing. HRH King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz has emphasized the need to expedite measures for facilitating easier access to housing for low- to middle-income citizens. Around 80 per cent of the Saudi population, which continues to grow at an annual rate of 2.9 per cent, is under the age of 39. Many of them are married c... Read more »

Four Egyptians and one Saudi are to stand emergency trial in Egypt on June 14. They are charged of money laundering and funding the officially banned Muslim Brotherhood movement. According to a judicial source, the trial will start at the emergency High State Security Court. The five are accused of channeling money through a British-based Islamic charity fund to supply activities of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt with money. Totally they managed to lau... Read more »

Authorities of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Fatah movement have claimed their backing to indirect peace talks with Israel to be resumed. They announced the decision on Saturday after a three-hour meeting in the West Bank. "The Palestinian leadership has approved the proximity talks," Aljazzera.net quotes Jibril Rajub, a leading member of the Fatah movement as saying. George Mitchell, the US special envoy for the Middle East arrived in... Read more »