JERUSALEM, Oct 9, 2008 (AFP) - Cars and stores were damaged as Jews and Arabs clashed in the Israeli city of Acre after an Arab man was assaulted for driving during Yom Kippur, the Haaretz newpaper reported on Thursday.

Fatah and Hamas will meet in Cairo on October 25 for Egyptian-mediated
talks aimed at forming a transitional government comprising ministers
acceptable to the rival factions, Hamas said on Thursday.

JERUSALEM, Oct 9, 2008 (AFP) - Israel came to a standstill on Thursday as the country marked Yom Kippur -- the Day of Atonement -- the most sacred observance in the Jewish calendar.

JERUSALEM, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Israel has closed off the West Bank ahead of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, which starts at sunset on Wednesday, a military spokesman said.

The closure became effective before dawn and will continue until 8 am (0600 GMT) on Friday, the spokesman said.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Gulf stock markets tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday amid growing fears that policymakers may be powerless to stop the worst financial shock since the Great Depression.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Arab stock markets tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday amid growing fears that policymakers may be powerless to stop the worst financial shock since the Great Depression.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Arab stock markets tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday amid growing fears that policymakers may be powerless to stop the worst financial shock since the Great Depression.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Arab stock markets tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday as concerns mounted about the impact of the global financial crisis on the oil-rich region.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Arab stock markets tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday but the Saudi bourse, the region's largest, rebounded strongly after a coordinated international rate cut.

CAIRO, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Senior Hamas officials met Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss an Egyptian proposal for a Palestinian unity government, the official MENA news agency reported.

MOSCOW, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was in Moscow on Tuesday for talks expected to touch on the Middle East peace process, the Iran nuclear crisis and possible Russian weapons sales to Syria.

GAZA CITY, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas movement was to send a delegation to Egypt on Tuesday for talks aimed at restoring Palestinian unity amid a dispute over the presidency that could sharpen internal divisions.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Shares plunged across the Arab world on Tuesday as panic over the global financial crisis gripped investors, with the market in oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia sinking by more than seven percent.

BRUSSELS, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Talks between Egypt and Hamas on Wednesday must work towards a non-factional unity government for the Palestinian territories, Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said.

'What must happen is an agreement to reunite the country, that's our top priority,' Fayyad said in Brussels Tuesday after talks with Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme.

GAZA CITY, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas movement sent a delegation to Egypt on Tuesday for talks aimed at restoring Palestinian unity amid a dispute over the presidency that could sharpen internal divisions.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Stock markets plunged across the Arab world on Tuesday as panic over the global financial crisis gripped investors, wiping billions of dollars off share values.

In contrast, the Israeli bourse surged after the Bank of Israel cut its base rate.

MOSCOW, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev assured outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday that Moscow wants to play a 'constructive role' in the Middle East, news agencies reported.

GAZA CITY, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip on Tuesday blamed what it called a 'Jewish lobby' in the United States for the global financial crisis.

CAIRO, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Egyptian police blocked an opposition convoy carrying medical supplies to the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip and arrested at least 15 activists on Monday, security officials said.

CAIRO, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Egyptian police blocked an opposition convoy carrying medical supplies to the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip and arrested at least 15 activists on Monday, security officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert headed to Moscow on Monday for talks
expected to cover the Middle East peace process, the Iran nuclear
crisis and possible Russian weapons sales to Syria.

JERUSALEM, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert headed to Moscow on Monday for talks expected to cover the Middle East peace process, the Iran nuclear crisis and possible Russian weapons sales to Syria.

The outgoing premier is due to hold talks with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov before returning on Tuesday, officials said.

Egyptian police blocked an opposition convoy carrying medical supplies
to the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip and arrested at least
30 activists on Monday

PARIS, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - The exiled leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said in an interview Monday that negotiations with Israel on freeing captured soldier Gilat Shalit were deadlocked.

JERUSALEM, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni pressed ahead with efforts to secure a ruling coalition on Monday, a day after delivering her first foreign policy speech since being named to form a new government.

GAZA CITY, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Hamas members of parliament said on Monday that they will not recognise Mahmud Abbas as president after January 8, a move that could sharpen the internal divisions plaguing the Palestinians.

Faced with political uncertainty at home, Israel can at least bank on
continued US support in confronting potential threats from Iran and in
Middle East peace negotiations, whoever wins the US election, analysts
say

JERUSALEM, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday urged Russia not to upset the strategic balance in the Middle East with its arms sales to Muslim countries.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was meeting Palestinian
officials in the West Bank on Saturday, the first day of a two-day
visit aimed at salvaging the Middle East peace process.

French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner was meeting Palestinian officials in the West Bank on
Saturday, the first day of a two-day trip aimed at reviving the Middle
East peace process ahead of a year-end deadline for a deal.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner offered greater European engagement with the Middle East on Saturday but said an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was unlikely by the end of the year.

JENIN, West Bank, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - A Middle East peace deal is unlikely by the end of the year, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Saturday, while urging Israelis and Palestinians to continue US-backed talks.

JENIN, West Bank, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - A Middle East peace deal is unlikely by the end of the year, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Saturday, while urging Israel and the Palestinians to continue US-backed talks.

TEHRAN, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - Iran rejected the Bahrain foreign minister's call for a new regional grouping which would include Israel as well as Arab states, Iran and Turkey, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

JERUSALEM, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - Israel will install two massive radar antennae near the Dimona nuclear plant to bolster its defence measures against Iran, a Maariv newspaper reported on Friday.

JERUSALEM, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - A senior Israeli military commander said on Friday that any Hezbollah strike would bring 'enormous destruction' on Lebanon that would exceed that caused by the 2006 war on the Shiite militant group.

JERUSALEM, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - Israel will install two massive radar antennae near the Dimona nuclear plant to bolster its defence measures against Iran, the Maariv newspaper reported on Friday.