Israel yesterday destroyed a cross-border tunnel running from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, which it said was dug by the Palestinian Hamas group with the aim of carrying out attacks. There was no immediate comment from Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel in the past decade and is the dominant Palestinian armed force in Gaza.

The United States said Wednesday it will refuse any post-war reconstruction assistance to Syria if Iran is present, expanding the rationale for US involvement in the conflict.

Top Saudi leaders deployed a 15-man hit squad to lay in wait for dissident writer and journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul, The New York Times said in an explosive story.

The Syrian government has announced an amnesty for men who deserted the army or have avoided military service, giving them several months to report for duty without facing punishment, it said yesterday.

The United Nations human rights office and the US have called on Turkey and Saudi Arabia to properly investigate the fate of prominent Saudi journalist and regime critic Jamal Khashoggi, who vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week.

Qatar's decision to abolish its controversial exit visa system will come into force by the end of October, a leading global trade union official said yesterday.

Iran's parliament yesterday approved a bill to counter terrorist financing that was strongly opposed by conservatives but seen as vital to

The wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu, went on trial yesterday for allegedly using state funds to

Three Palestinians including a 14-year-old boy were killed by Israeli fire on Friday on the Gaza border, as clashes erupted with

Oil giant Saudi Arabia backed down at the last minute yesterday from obstructing the adoption of a major report by the UN's climate

The lives of many villagers living at the epicentre of a devastating earthquake that struck Indonesia's Sulawesi island and killed more than

More bodies were unearthed from the earthquake-and-tsunami-ravaged Indonesian city of Palu yesterday, as authorities move closer

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday vowed "never" to allow the Islamic republic to bow to the demands of its enemies, at a time of increased tensions between Tehran and Washington.

The United States said Wednesday it was quitting an international accord related to the top UN court after the Palestinians challenged the US move of its Israel embassy to Jerusalem.

A veteran Saudi journalist who has been critical of the government goes missing after visiting the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, the Washington Post reports.

A Saudi woman has lost a judicial battle to marry the man of her choice as a court deemed him "religiously" unfit because he plays a musical instrument, a Saudi newspaper reported yesterday.

Iran yesterday fired missiles at militants in Syria it blamed for an attack in southwestern Iran on September 22, the Revolutionary Guards said, in what it called a sign of Tehran's readiness to punish its enemies' "wickedness".

Voting began yesterday across Iraq's Kurdistan for a new parliament in the autonomous region. Almost 3.1 million voters are eligible to

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Saturday the Palestinians have petitioned the UN's top court, alleging that the US

Syria's foreign minister on Saturday denounced US, French and Turkish forces operating in his country as "occupying forces" and