Kuwait-Iraq flights to resume after 20 years: officials

BAGHDAD: Iraq has approved a request from Kuwait's Jazeera Airways to operate services to Baghdad and Najaf, more than 20 years after direct flights between the neighbours were halted, officials said Thursday. full story... 

Iran cuts oil to Greek firms over payment problems-Press TV

DUBAI: Iran has blocked oil sales to two Greek companies, Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil Hellas after they failed to make payment, Iranian state television reported on Thursday. full story... 

Saudi rules out sending women athletes to London

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: The head of the Saudi Olympic Committee has ruled out sending women athletes from the ultra-conservative kingdom to the London Olympics this summer, local dailies reported on Thursday. full story... 

Abbas accuses Netanyahu of undermining Palestinian Authority

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli daily (Haaretz) said that it has obtained a copy of a letter that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas intends to send to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he accuses Netanyahu of undermining the Palestinian Authority. full story... 

Suicide bomb kills three in Karachi: Pakistan police

KARACHI: A suicide bomber targeted a police official in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding 13 others, police said. full story... 

Taliban kill eight Afghan police: official

HERAT, Afghanistan: Taliban gunmen killed eight local policemen in an attack on a remote post in western Afghanistan, a provincial official said Thursday. full story...

Journalists hurt in clashes after retiree's suicide: police

ATHENS: At least two journalists were rough-handled by riot police who broke up a protest in Athens that erupted after an elderly man fatally shot himself in an act of apparent debt despair, a police source said Thursday. full story... 

Blast on Iraq Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline shuts oil flow

ANKARA: An explosion on one of the two pipelines bringing crude from Kirkuk in Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean led to a large fire on Thursday, shutting oil flows on that pipe, a Turkish energy official said. full story... 

Indian prisoners to be released for Italian hostages

BHUBANESWAR, India: Indian authorities have agreed to release 27 prisoners in exchange for an Italian tour guide and a local lawmaker held hostage by armed Maoist rebels in the eastern state of Orissa. full story...