BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia is reported to be in the "final stage" of negotiating a deal with Russia to buy up to 30 assault helicopters, a major departure by a key U.S. ally that is slated to get advanced U.S. weaponry worth billions of dollars over the next decade.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- When Fatah, the Palestinian political movement, last held a party congress it was 1989, in Tunisia, and Yasser Arafat was the chairman. Arafat died in a French hospital in 2004, but his presence looms over the Fatah congress currently being held in Bethlehem.

WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- Britain calls for a change in Afghan strategy, urging the Afghan government to engage in diplomacy with “moderate” Taliban. Trouble is CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus doesn’t believe in moderate Taliban. But Pakistani strategy is now based on some kind of accommodation with Taliban. This is also Britain’s new position.

SANAA, Yemen, June 15 (UPI) -- The strategically important Red Sea region, a key route for global oil supplies, is showing signs of becoming a new front in the U.S.-led war against terrorism and the smoldering conflict between Iran and Israel.

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama flew to Riyadh Wednesday in an effort to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but Saudi officials have cautioned that his appeals to King Abdallah to make a new gesture to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may fall on deaf ears.

SHUNEH, Jordan, May 18 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday in Jordan that he sees "eye to eye" with King Abdullah II after a meeting with the Jordanian monarch.

OTTAWA, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Canadian officials say they have initiated talks with officials in Saudi Arabia regarding a Canadian national scheduled for execution in that country.

WASHINGTON, April 28 (UPI) -- The White House said Monday President Bush will meet with the leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt during a five-day trip to the Middle East next month.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 22 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney discussed ways to steady the global oil market with Saudi Arabia's King Abdallah in Riyadh, a report said.