Middle East News

KABUL, Afghanistan - It's painful for US soldiers to hear discussions and watch movies about modern wars when the dialogue is full of obsolete slang, like "chopper" and "GI."

Pope Francis called for prayers Wednesday for 12 Orthodox nuns reportedly taken by force from their convent in Syria by rebels.

While holding the record for the least-productive and most unpopular Congress in memory, the Republican-controlled House took a sudden turn Tuesday and passed by voice vote a 10-year extension of a federal gun control law.

Mohammed Ishtayeh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also says he believes U.S. mediation is "unbalanced" in favor of Israel and that other world powers must join the talks.

A senior commander for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was gunned down Wednesday outside his home in southern Beirut, security officials said.

It faces resistance, however, from regional rival Saudi Arabia. With the 12-nation cartel expected to keep production levels on hold, attention will turn to Iran's bid to reassert itself in the group.

Turkish imam and rock musician Ahmet Muhsin Tuzer gives the call to prayer on Feb. 11, 2013, in Kas.

Cranes are lifting trailers into place and tents are being packed away as international aid workers rush to winterize a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan - trying to avoid a repeat of last year when three days of torrential rain turned the massive site into a muddy swamp.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's widow says extensive investigation by French scientists has ruled out poisoning by radioactive polonium.

A poll by the Israel Democracy Institute think tank and Tel Aviv University found 77 percent of Israelis don't believe the deal will prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Health authorities in the capital of the United Arab Emirates said a woman has died from a SARS-like virus that has been centered in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Iranian newly-appointed Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham attends the handover ceremony to take over her position in Tehran on September 1, 2013.

The secret network of black site prisons across Europe that the CIA used to interrogate terror suspects is getting a rare public hearing Tuesday at Europe's human rights court.

Top trade officials began talks Tuesday that will either produce an eleventh hour deal that could boost the global economy by $1 trillion or possibly spell the end of the World Trade Organization's relevance as a forum for negotiations.

Suspected al-Qaida militants attacked Monday a Yemeni military checkpoint in a southern province, sparking a clash that left three militants and two soldiers dead, a military official said.

Now that his three-year world tour for "The Wall" has finally come to an end, Roger Waters wants to set the record straight over criticism he's received from Jewish groups regarding his use of the Star of David symbol in the show and his support for a cultural boycott of Israel.

The Lebanese government authorized the army on Monday to take control of the northern city of Tripoli for six months following three days of sectarian clashes, a decision meant to allay fears that fighting in Lebanon's second largest city was spiraling out of control.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, presents Pope Francis with a Menorah during their meeting at the Vatican, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013.

Israeli soldiers prepare their Armoured Personnel Carrier in a training field in the Golan Heights, next to the Israeli-Syrian border, on October 10, 2013.

In an interview Sunday, Tom Donilon, former national security adviser to the Obama White House, traced a clear path between President Barack Obama's decision to implement sanctions against Iran and the deal brokered with Tehran last week.