Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek alternate sleeping arrangements when traveling after receiving a sky-high bill for installing a customized bed on a recent flight to London, officials close to the Israeli leader said.

Two explosive-laden cars blew up in a small Turkish town near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 18 people in one of the deadliest recent attacks in the volatile area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, officials said Saturday, amid concerns Moscow may be about to deliver advanced missiles to Syria.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Saturday registered to stand in the June 14 presidential election, joining several conservative hopefuls aiming to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani registered for Iran's presidential election minutes before the expiry of the deadline for candidates to declare, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Egypt's interior minister said on Saturday police arrested members of an al-Qaida-linked cell that plotted to carry out a suicide bombing against a Western embassy and other targets in the country.

Pakistanis voted in a landmark test of democracy on Saturday and were quickly reminded of the militant violence that plagues the country, with election-related bombings in several cities.

Britain said on Thursday it was "very likely" the Syrian government had used chemical weapons, and Turkey announced it was stepping up testing of people fleeing the Syrian civil war for traces.

Gunmen kidnapped the son of a former Pakistani prime minister on Thursday as a letter from the leader of the Pakistani Taliban revealed plans for suicide bomb attacks on election day.

A Pakistani prisoner who was savagely beaten in an Indian jail in an apparent tit-for-tat assault died on Thursday, prompting Islamabad to demand an international probe into the “heinous” crime.