Middle Orient

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday condemned a bid by state prosecutors to shut down his ruling AK Party as an attack on democracy and political stability and vowed to resist it.

The arrests came after police raids in several districts of Istanbul and the seizure of bomb-making equipment and documents, the agency said.

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s most revered cleric said in a rare fatwa this week that two writers should be tried for apostasy for their “heretical articles” and put to death if they do not repent.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s top arbitration body, the Expediency Council, here on Saturday reviewed its annual performance during a last meeting in the current Iranian year.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Government Spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham Saturday briefed reporters about the latest stances and decisions adopted during a cabinet meeting here today.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has achieved a landslide victory in Iran’s Friday elections.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Tata Steel is in advanced talks to buy chrome ore from Iran for its South African ferrochrome plant.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Officials of Iran and India agreed to expand the cooperation among the educational institutions to strengthen the cultural relations between the two old civilizations.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The turnout in Iran’s parliamentary elections was 65 percent, far higher than in the last legislative vote four years ago, a top election official said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- An Iranian official leading the latest investigation into the 2003 death of Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi accused Ottawa of illegal and biased behavior in the case.