Middle East News Headlines

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian opposition group accused the government on Wednesday of covering up torture at the hands of security forces.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's military censor, which has long served as the country's guardian of state secrets, is suddenly under the microscope following a pair of sensitive reports broken by the international media.

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian women are growing increasingly angry and militant as they deal with one of the unintended consequences of the Arab Spring: an epidemic of sexual assault that law enforcement has failed to contain.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels knocked down army defenses and moved in on the country's second largest airport Wednesday, reportedly killing more than 40 soldiers and bringing them closer to what could be their biggest conquest since the beginning of the civil war.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran said Wednesday that it has begun installing a new generation of centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment facility, a move that will allow it to vastly increase its pace of uranium enrichment in defiance of U.N. calls to halt such activities.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese protesters closed two major roads in northern Lebanon Wednesday to prevent fuel tankers from crossing into Syria, Lebanon's state-run news agency and security officials said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A U.S.-based rights group said Israel violated laws of war in a series of airstrikes it conducted during an eight-day military operation last November against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels fought pitched battles Wednesday against regime forces at a military base that protects a major airport in the country's north in fighting that has left more than 40 government troops dead, opposition activists said.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A Syrian government official warned Wednesday of rampant trafficking in antiquities from his country and appealed for U.N. help in halting the illicit trade that has flourished during the nearly 23-month-long civil war.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's former Foreign Ministry spokesman has made his first comments since disappearing in December, saying he left Syria because "of the polarization and violence that left no place for moderation and diplomacy."

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's state-run news agency says protesters have closed two major roads in northern Lebanon to prevent fuel tankers from crossing into Syria.

CAIRO (AP) — Masked gunmen attacked the car of Egypt's central bank governor Wednesday, killing his bodyguard and stealing the vehicle, the Interior Ministry said. The bank chief was not in the car at the time of the assault.

JERUSALEM (AP) — When Rabbi David Stav launched his official campaign last month to wrest control of Israel's top religious institution from its longtime hardline leadership, it was a long shot.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say troops loyal to President Bashar Assad are battling rebels in the country's heavily contested north along the border with Turkey.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Senior U.N. investigators are in Iran for a new round of talks with government officials over allegations that Tehran may have carried out tests on triggers for atomic weapons.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A powerful partner of Israel's prime minister says sanctions and negotiations will not stop Iran from pursuing its disputed nuclear program.

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels captured a small military base near Aleppo on Tuesday and stormed another in the same area that protects a major airport, a day after seizing Syria's largest dam.

CAIRO (AP) — Washington's envoy on human rights cautioned Tuesday against the failure of Egypt's government to identify the perpetrators behind a growing number of gruesome attacks against female protesters, as nearly 1,000 women gathered in Cairo to denounce the recent sexual assaults.