(Reuters) – Following are developments in the fighting in the Gaza Strip as of 0500 GMT:
(* Denotes new or updated items)
*GAZA – Palestinian witnesses report heavy fighting east of the city of Gaza where Hamas militants fired anti-tank missiles and mortar bombs at advancing Israeli forces who responded with tank shells and air strikes.
*GAZA – [...]

GAZA (Reuters) – “Abu Salah died, his wife died. Abu Tawfiq died, his son died, his wife also died. Mohammed Ibrahim died, and his mother died. Ishaq died and Nasar died. The wife of Nael Samouni died. Many people died.
“There were maybe more than 25 people killed,” said Ahmed Ibrahim Samouni, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy [...]

New York, Asharq Al-Awsat – Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit denied reports that the US intends to tie its aid to Egypt to respect for human rights and greater freedoms, saying that “in all the talks we had with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice we have not talked about this issue in any [...]

Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)ÂÂ
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1200 GMT on Saturday.
NEAR BAIJI – Gunmen killed four members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol in a drive-by shooting at their checkpoint just south of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1330 GMT on Sunday.
* denotes a new or updated item.

GAZA (Reuters) – About 30 pro-Fatah Palestinians who fled to Israel after fierce clashes in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip were sent back to the coastal enclave on Sunday and were immediately detained by the Islamist group’s security forces.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi and U.S. forces now control virtually all of Iraq and Baghdad’s troops might be able to take on security responsibility for the whole country by the end of 2009, the top U.S. general in Iraq said on Monday.

(Reuters) – At least 13 people died and up to 100 were wounded on Sunday when two bombs exploded in a shopping district in Istanbul, on the eve of Constitutional Court hearings that could end with the closure of Turkey’s governing AK Party.

(Reuters) – Following are brief descriptions of the main protagonists in the Turkish court case in which the ruling AK Party is charged with Islamist activities:
TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRIME MINISTER

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1045 GMT on Sunday.
FALLUJA – A bomb wounded Zeki al-Mohammedi, a member of the Anbar provincial council and head of the Falluja branch of the Iraqi Islamic Party, and killed two of his bodyguards in Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said. The [...]

(Reuters) – A U.S. soldier was killed by an explosive charge rigged to a house while conducting operations in Diyala province, north of Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.
A U.S. Marine died on Sunday as a result of non-combat related incident in Anbar province, the U.S. military reported.

(Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Wednesday the last of five extra combat brigades deployed to Iraq last year would complete its departure next week. That will leave 140,000 troops in Iraq. Following are facts about the so-called surge:

(Reuters) – Iraq raised for the first time this week the prospect of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces as part of negotiations over a new security deal with Washington. Following are answers to questions about the issue:

(Reuters) – Lebanese leaders agreed on a unity government on Friday that gave Hezbollah and its allies a blocking minority as agreed under a deal that ended a paralyzing political conflict in the country.
Here is a chronology of Lebanon in the last 20 months.

(Reuters) – A U.S. soldier was killed on Wednesday after his vehicle was struck by a grenade in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported on Thursday.
Another U.S. soldier was killed on July 8 in Baghdad when his patrol was struck by an improvised explosive device, the U.S. military said [...]

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 9:30 EDT on Monday:
BAGHDAD – Five Iraqi appeals court judges escaped assassination attempts when bombs exploded outside their homes in eastern Baghdad, police and a judicial official said.

(Reuters) – A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is to begin on Thursday in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said. Following are some key facts about the Hamas-controlled territory.
WHERE IS GAZA?
* The Gaza Strip is a sliver of towns, villages and farmland at the southeast end of the Mediterranean, 45 km (25 miles) [...]

(Reuters) – Three U.S. soldiers were killed by small-arms fire near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, the U.S. military said. The attack took place in the town of Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad.
Following are the latest figures for soldiers and civilians killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003:
U.S.-LED COALITION [...]

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1530 GMT (11:30 a.m. EDT) on Tuesday:
*denotes new or updated item
*BAGHDAD -Iraqi security forces and multinational soldiers killed four militants in operations on Monday, the U.S. military said.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Monday:
*denotes new or updated item
* BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb wounded five people on the airport highway, in western Baghdad, police said.
* BAGHDAD – A bomb blast wounded two people in Shaab district, northern Baghdad, police said.

(Reuters) – Rival Lebanese leaders reached a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict that had pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war.
Here is a chronology of Lebanon in the last 18 months.

(Reuters) – Rival Lebanese leaders reached a deal on Wednesday to resolve disputes over a new cabinet and a law for 2009 parliamentary elections, defusing a political crisis that has pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
Many of the differences at the heart of the crisis remain:

(Reuters) – Rival Lebanese leaders agreed a deal on Wednesday to end political conflict, paving the way to elect army commander General Michel Suleiman as the next president.
The presidential election, delayed repeatedly since November, is now scheduled for June 10, but since the leaders agreed on a deal in Doha, parliamentarians are expected to confirm [...]

(Reuters) – Rival Lebanese leaders reached a deal in Qatar on Wednesday ending a political crisis that had pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war.
Following is a step by step guide to what happens next:

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 9:15 a.m. EDT on Friday.
BAGHDAD – U.S. forces killed 14 militants in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City on Thursday, the military said. Hospitals in Sadr City said they had received four bodies and 51 wounded. Children were among those hurt.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1515 GMT on Thursday.
BAGHDAD – U.S. forces said they killed 18 fighters in clashes beginning on Wednesday afternoon and running through the night in the Shi’ite district of Sadr City in the capital. Police put the death toll at 18 from fighting since Wednesday. They said [...]

Following are security developments in Iraq at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.* denotes new or updated items.
* BAQUBA – A car bomb killed 40 people and wounded 80 in the city of Baquba, 65 km (42 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

The U.S. military said that four of its soldiers were killed on Monday in separate incidents in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.Following are the latest figures for soldiers and civilians killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003:

TEHRAN (FNA)- There is perhaps no leader in the world more important to current world affairs but less known and understood than the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.
* NEAR KIRKUK – A roadside bomb targeting a local council member near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, wounded two of his bodyguards, police said.

Following are security developments in Iraq at 6:00 a.m. EST on Friday.BAGHDAD – Police said the death toll from coordinated bombings in the Karrada district of central Baghdad on Thursday had risen to 68. Another 120 were wounded in the attack, which the U.S. military and Iraqi government blamed on al Qaeda.

Here is a list of some of the deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq in the past year:
March 6, 2007 – Two suicide bombers strike in Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing 105 pilgrims. Insurgents launch a total of 12 attacks against Shi’ite pilgrims. In all, 137 pilgrims are killed and 310 are wounded.

Here are some of Islamist group Hamas’s options in Gaza:
TRUCE
Hamas has signaled its willingness to reach a ceasefire with Israel that would end rocket launchings by Hamas and other militant organizations. In return, Hamas wants Israel to cease all military strikes in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank. It also demands Israel lift a [...]

Israel killed 33 Palestinians on Saturday in one of its deepest and deadliest incursions into the Gaza Strip since pulling out in 2005, stoking fears of a broader conflict that could derail renewed U.S.-backed peace talks.