The Daily Star Lebanon Breaking News, Lebanon News, Middle East News & World News

CAIRO: An Israeli delegation was to arrive Monday in Cairo for indirect talks with Hamas on easing the Gaza blockade, the Palestinian faction’s number two said, warning his group may act if there is any delay. Mussa Abu Marzuk said Hamas did not commit to stop arming itself in truce talks that ended a week-long conflict in and around Gaza with an agreement for Israel to ease its …

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s dialogue session scheduled for Nov. 29 is ongoing despite the March 14-led opposition’s decision to abstain from the all-party-talks until the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government, sources close to Baabda told The Daily Star Tuesday. According to Baabda sources, President Michel Sleiman still insists on holding the scheduled session on Thursday, hoping his more than month-long efforts will succeed in bringing back …

CAIRO: Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was to meet with senior judges on Monday in a bid to defuse a crisis that erupted after he assumed sweeping new powers, sparking strikes and deadly protests. The crisis talks, on the eve of rival rallies which threaten to deepen the country’s divisions, come a day after a member of his party was killed in …

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday he was quitting politics, a surprise decision that deepens uncertainty over how Israel will confront Iran’s nuclear programme. Barak’s political fortunes appeared to be on the rise after Israel’s eight-day offensive in the Gaza Strip ended in a truce, but polls predicted his centrist party, a junior partner in right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, would win …

BEIRUT: Rain fell in waves and thunder cracked as the annual Beirut Marathon got under way early Sunday, with a slightly depressed turnout thanks to the weather. Those who did show up for the marathon or other races were undeterred, however. Over 33,000 people registered for the race, but the rain and rivers of water they caused in the streets clearly kept …

VALENCIA, Spain: Dani Pedrosa of Spain won pole position at the Valencia Grand Prix on Saturday, setting a track record for qualifying with a fastest lap of 1 minute, 30.844 seconds. Pedrosa steered his Honda around the 4-kilometer (2.48-mile) Comunitat Valenciana circuit with a last flying lap to claim his 24th career pole in MotoGP. Recently crowned world MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo will start Sunday’s race from second place, with retiring two-time …

TUNIS: A key proposal by Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party to outlaw blasphemy in the new constitution, which stoked fears of creeping Islamisation, is to be dropped from the final text, Assembly speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar told AFP. The agreement to drop the clause follows negotiations between the three parties in the ruling coalition and must still be approved by the …

AMMAN: King Abdullah II of Jordan has as part of his reform initiatives set up a constitutional court comprising nine members, according to a royal decree published on Sunday. The court, the first of its kind in the kingdom, will be the only one authorised to verify that laws comply with the constitution, the decree states. It is chaired by …