BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) – Thousands of U.S. soldiers on the offensive north of Baghdad are facing fierce resistance from hundreds of al Qaeda militants who are ready to fight to the death, an American general said on Friday.

The US House of Representatives approved a foreign aid bill late Thursday with $2.4 billion in military aid to Israel but withholding $200 million in military funds for Egypt until the US Secretary of State certifies that Cairo is working to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.

There have been promising developments in the case against judge Abdel Fatah Murad, who has filed multiple fabricated charges against the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and HRinfo, as well as bloggers and human rights and news websites, report the law center and HRinfo.

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Egypt’s president has invited the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to a peace summit, officials said Thursday, the biggest show of support yet by moderate Arab states for beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet next week in Egypt in the first direct talks since Abbas dissolved a coalition government with Islamist Hamas, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Thursday.

Preşedintele Traian Băsescu şi premierul Călin Popescu Tăriceanu participă la Consiliul European de Vară de la Bruxelles.

În jur de 200.000 de euro stau în calea destrămării Alianţei PNL-PD. Secretarii generali ai celor două partide, Dan Motreanu şi Vasile Blaga, au încercat, ieri, la Parlament, să lichideze conturile, astfel încât ruptura dintre liberali şi democraţi să devină oficială.

Preşedintele PC, Dan Voiculescu, a declarat la Târgu-Mureş că partidul său va iniţia un proiect de lege prin care etnicii maghiari care nu cunosc limba română să rămână fără cetăţenie.

PSD a depus, miercuri, moţiunea simplă pe sănătate. Social-democraţii au mai depus marţi, la Camera Deputaţilor, o altă moţiune simplă pe tema agriculturii.

PODGORICA, Montenegro — Foreign Minister Milan Rocen said on Tuesday (June 19th) that the government is working to meet EU criteria, and views these as more important than setting deadlines for accession.