Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, flew into the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 7 to celebrate the first exports of liquefied natural gas from a sprawling $4.5 billion plant — the biggest ever investment in his otherwise impoverished desert country. A brass band played and politicians applauded the gas tanker as it set sail for South Korea, but Saleh's attention was elsewhere — on the attacks that Saudi Arabia's military forces were waging against antigovernment Shi'ite rebels in the ...

Pakistan denied Wednesday that it is harboring a Sunni rebel leader accused of orchestrating a suicide attack in neighboring Iran. Tehran has vowed "a crushing response" to the Sunni rebel group Jundallah for Sunday's suicide bombing in Sistan-Baluchestan province that killed 42 people. Iran has accused the United States and Pakistan of having links to Jundallah. Iran has demanded Pakistan hand over Jundallah leader Abdul Malik Rigi, whom Tehran blames for plotting the attack. But Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik ...

Wrestling legend and reality TV star Hulk Hogan reveals in a new book that he would have committed suicide were it not for a surprise phone call, according to a story in the New York Daily News. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, credits boxer and "Gladiators" co-star Laila Ali with making the call that prevented him from taking his own life. In his new book "My Life Outside the Ring," the former wrestler describes how he hit rock ...

Tehran's new uranium enrichment plant will be operational soon, and "will blind the eyes of the enemies," Iran's semi-official news agency Fars reported Saturday, quoting a senior Iranian official. Also Saturday, the head of Iran's atomic energy program said U.N. nuclear experts would be allowed to inspect the plant, according to a report from Iran-funded Press TV. Ali Akbar Salehi, the atomic energy chief, said a date would be arranged for such an inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency, ...

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday blasted U.S. plans to overhaul the setup for a missile defense shield in Europe, calling the Obama administration's intentions "anti-Iranian," state-run media reported. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also called Western concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions -- which Tehran says are only for energy purposes -- "purely a fabrication by the United States," according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. "This is something that is in the doctrine of anti-Iranianism, since the policy and the 30-year-old history ...

A radical Islamist leader in Somalia said Sunday that a suicide attack that killed 21 African Union peacekeepers was the right thing to do. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said Thursday's attack was meant to defend Islam. "The Islamic religion permits such kinds of attacks if they are against known enemies and in the defense of the religion, but there are people who distort that explanation," Aweys said, addressing hundreds of people during a religious sermon at Elashabiyaha, a suburb of ...

The Yemeni government Wednesday defended its efforts to end the practice of young girls marrying, citing last week's death during childbirth of a 12-year-old Yemeni. "Over the years, the government of Yemen has embarked on an awareness campaign to end the practice of young marriages, which has been deeply rooted in the rural cultures of Yemen," said Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman in Washington for the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, in a written statement. The Yemeni parliament tried in ...

Somalia said a senior al Qaeda operative tied to several attacks in East Africa was killed Monday in a U.S. strike in southern Somalia. Intelligence sources have confirmed to the Somali government that Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan was killed, Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle said Tuesday. "We welcome that attack because those people targeted were murderers, and they are unwanted and unwelcome in Somalia," Gelle said. U.S. special operations forces used a helicopter to fire on a car ...