AP - After months of wavering, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took a decisive step Monday toward reconciliation with the Islamic militant group Hamas, a move Israel promptly warned would close the door to any future peace talks.
The Christian Science Monitor - The two feuding Palestinian factions took an important step toward reconciliation today, agreeing that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would lead an interim powersharing government with Hamas.
AP - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday took a decisive step toward reconciliation with the Islamic militant Hamas, agreeing to head an interim unity government that would prepare for elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Reuters - The leaders of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a deal in Qatar on Monday to form a unity government of independent technocrats for the West Bank and Gaza, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
AP - A Gaza-born woman recently sneaked into her native land through a smugglers' tunnel because the legal route was blocked. A car mechanic who settled in the West Bank 15 years ago to raise a family lives in fear of deportation because his ID card says he's originally from Gaza.
AP - The Palestinian president and the head of rival Hamas resumed talks Sunday over efforts to move along a reconciliation pact that remains stalled after nearly a year.
Reuters - Bahraini opposition parties, launching a week-long 'sit-in' for political reforms at a mass rally, swore on Sunday to take their campaign to the centre of last year's democracy protest in the capital Manama.
AP - Palestinians say extremist Jews have scrawled their home in a West Bank village with offensive graffiti in retaliation for an upcoming demolition of a wildcat Jewish outpost.
Reuters - Bahrainis of different political stripes faced off in a rare forum on Saturday to try to bridge deep rifts against a backdrop of continued disturbances outside the Gulf Arab state's capital.
The Christian Science Monitor - Tensions between Israel and Iran are on the rise after a group of top Israeli leaders engaged in a round of saber-rattling on Thursday and Iran’s Supreme Leader answered on Friday with a pledge to "remove" Israel.
Reuters - Anti-government protesters clashed with Bahraini police in Manama on Thursday, a rare protest in the capital as majority Shi'ite Muslims try to sustain pressure for more reforms ahead of the February 14 anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising.
AP - New financial incentives designed to lure Israelis to poorer, outlying areas have been revised to exclude West Bank settlements, officials said Thursday.
AP - Senior members of Bahrain's ruling family have met with the head of an independent inquiry that called for reforms in the violence-wracked Gulf nation.
Reuters - Dozens of Palestinians threw shoes, sticks and stones at U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's convoy as it crossed into the Gaza Strip Thursday, protesting against what they saw as a slight against Palestinians jailed in Israel.
