Middle East News Headlines

BEIRUT (AP) — In his first reaction to Israel's weekend airstrikes, President Bashar Assad said Tuesday that Syria is capable of facing Israel, but stopped short of threatening retaliation for the attacks near the Syrian capital of Damascus.

ZAATARI, Jordan (AP) — In a tent hospital bed, a Syrian woman who was four months pregnant when she fled her country's civil war cradles one of the newest residents of this dust-swept refugee camp: Her newborn son, just delivered by cesarean.

REHOVOT, Israel (AP) — With a hand on her chest, 82-year-old Rivka Fringeru battled back tears as she reeled off a list of names she has rarely voiced in the past 70 years: her father, Moshe, then her mother, Hava, and finally her two older brothers, Michael and Yisrael.

CAIRO (AP) — Nine new Egyptian ministers joined President Mohammed Morsi's Cabinet on Tuesday, including two members of his Muslim Brotherhood, in a reshuffle that officials said was aimed at addressing the country's financial woes and securing a much-needed international loan.

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad detained four U.N. peacekeepers on Tuesday in area that separates Syria and Israel, raising tension between the two countries just days after the Jewish state launched back-to-back airstrikes near Damascus.

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya's defense minister on Tuesday rescinded his decision to resign in protest over the continuous show of force by militias that stormed government buildings in what Mohammed Al-Barghathi described as an "assault on democracy and elected authorities."

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's attorney general says he will not appeal a court ruling permitting a liberal Jewish women's group to pray freely at a Jerusalem holy site.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stopped approving new construction in West Bank settlements, two prominent Israeli activist groups said Tuesday, in what could be an attempt to clear the way for renewed peace talks with the Palestinians.

BEIRUT (AP) — President Bashar Assad's regime has given a Palestinian militant group the go-ahead to set up missiles to attack Israel in the wake of recent Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian capital, a spokesman for the group said Tuesday.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's presidential race got underway Tuesday as authorities officially opened the registration process for candidates in next month's election that will pick a successor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and offer a critical test for reformists battered after years of crackdowns.

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya's defense minister says he has resigned to protest to a show of force by militias who have been besieging government buildings to push their political demands.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A Saudi journalist says he has been banned from writing in a Saudi newspaper after criticizing the Interior Ministry.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two prominent Israeli groups say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stopped approving new construction in West Bank settlements in what could be an attempt to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Iran's foreign minister says it is Syria's Arab neighbors — not Tehran — who should respond to Israel's recent airstrikes near Damascus.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian authorities opened the registration process Tuesday for candidates in next month's presidential election that will pick a successor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and offer a critical test for reformists battered after years of crackdowns.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A Yemeni security official says tribal gunmen have kidnapped two Egyptian technicians working in a cement factory in the south.

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — The fighter's body was collected at an Iraqi border crossing with Iran, then carried on Monday through the streets of this southern city as mourners hailed his sacrifice in protecting a revered shrine in Syria.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Megastar singer Justin Bieber is known for his slick dance moves onstage. But spinning away from a mash-up between security guards and a rogue fan has become the hit of his concert in Dubai.