Middle Orient

Two Palestinian boys have been shot dead by Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources say.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon – Advancing under a blanket of artillery and tank fire, Lebanese troops overran positions held by al-Qaida-inspired militants at a Palestinian refugee camp on Friday, reportedly killing 18 people.

Syria says it will refuse to cooperate with a new U.N.-backed tribunal for suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

AL-EIN AL-SOKHNA, Egypt, May 31 (CEIS): Chinese and Egyptian officials yesterday laid foundation stone for a joint project to manufacture oil drills, which is the first land oil rigs plant in the Middle East region.

 The warm smile, anecdotal stories and freshly-squeezed lemonade almost make me miss the fact that I have just been told I am more dangerous than Iran’s nuclear program.

Turkey sent more tanks and troops to its border with Iraq on Wednesday (May 30th), fuelling speculation about an imminent military offensive against Kurdish rebels based in the neighbouring country’s north.

DAMASCUS — Syria is digging its heels in for a long confrontation with the United Nations after the Security Council voted to set up a special court to try suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Saudi Arabian detainee died Wednesday at Guantanamo Bay prison and the US military said he apparently committed suicide.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel is prepared to transfer withheld tax revenues to the Palestinians through a mechanism that guarantees none of the money will go to the Hamas-led government or fighters, Israeli officials said on Thursday.

ANKARA (AP) — Turkey’s military, building up troops on the Iraqi border, said Thursday it was ready to launch a cross-border offensive to fight Kurdish fighters — pressuring the government to support the idea which could strain ties with Washington and lead to tensions with Iraqi Kurds.