Middle Orient

GAZA (Reuters) – A senior adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s government was abducted by unknown gunmen in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday, Abbas’s Fatah faction said.

PARIS (Reuters) – France hosts an international aid conference on Monday to raise funds for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas Islamists as he negotiates peace with Israel.

GAZA (Reuters) – An explosion near a funeral procession in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday injured least 20 mourners, medical officials said.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Lebanon has asked the United Nations to help it investigate a car bomb that killed a top general this week in the latest of a string of political assassinations, the world body said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush on Thursday condemned the assassination of a Lebanese general and warned Syria against interfering in Lebanon. Brig. Gen. Francois al-Hajj, who was poised to become Lebanon’s army chief, was killed by a car bomb on Wednesday. He was a leading contender to replace …

GENEVA (Reuters) – Israeli restrictions have caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank that is growing worse, leaving hospitals unable to treat the sick and keeping farmers off their land, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Plans to rein in Palestinian government spending and boost foreign aid will not be enough to revive the Palestinian economy if Israeli restrictions stay in place, the World Bank said on Thursday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Two-thirds of Pakistanis want President Pervez Musharraf to resign and his allies will fare badly in parliamentary elections next month, according to the first major poll published since he declared emergency rule.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Already furious at President Pervez Musharraf over a crackdown on opponents and emergency rule, Pakistanis from middle class housewives to the poor have a new gripe just weeks ahead of an election — the price of bread.

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers attacked a military checkpost in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, on Thursday, killing three soldiers and four civilians, the military said.