Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei warned the United States against destabilizing Pakistan.

Suicide bombers have struck near two Shia mosques in Baghdad, killing 20 people and wounding another 25, Iraqi security officials said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei pledged Iranian support for the Palestinians and the Hamas government.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Israel has reportedly sought US support for a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities last spring.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Eyed with suspicion by the state but credited with dealing al Qaeda a heavy blow, Iraq’s largely Sunni Arab neighborhood guards cautiously welcomed their transfer from U.S. to government control on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The number of civilians killed in Iraq last month more than halved to 359 compared to a year ago, Iraqi government figures showed, and the number of U.S. troops killed in action also fell dramatically.

The US defence department says the fundamental character of the conflict in Iraq remains unchanged, despite dramatic security improvements there.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israel has cut purchases of U.S.-made cluster bombs, defense officials said Tuesday, stocking up on supplies from a state-owned Israeli company rather than heeding calls for an outright ban.

ASIRA AL-KIBLIYA, West Bank (Reuters) – Armed with guns, slingshots, knives and stun grenades, Jewish settlers pelted the house of Palestinian Nahla Makhlouf with stones, uprooted young trees and painted the Star of David on her walls.

The Lebanese parliament has approved a new election law as part of a reconciliation process begun in May.