Middle Orient

US military officials are worried about the increasing use of chemical bombs in Iraq.Insurgents yesterday exploded a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters – the second such “dirty” chemical attack in two days

Israel’s army has denied a Palestinian report that its forces had entered the southern Gaza Strip searching for smuggling tunnels.

Denmark was expected to announce plans to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq at a news conference today, Danish media reported.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran vowed on Wednesday to press on with its nuclear fuel program, ignoring a U.N. deadline to freeze uranium enrichment or face broader sanctions, but offered to guarantee it would not try to develop atomic weapons.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter made a “hard landing” north of Baghdad on Wednesday and the crew was recovered safely by a rescue chopper, a military spokesman said.

World powers sought common ground Wednesday to confront Palestinian Hamas militants who are politically emboldened by a new power-sharing pact with moderates.

Israeli troops on Wednesday fatally shot a West Bank leader of the Islamic Jihad militant group who was involved in an attempted bombing near Tel Aviv, the army said.

Lebanese anti-aircraft guns fired at Israeli warplanes over southern Lebanon on Wednesday, a military spokesman said, indicating that Lebanon’s army is taking a new assertiveness toward Israel.

Vice President Dick Cheney reaffirmed the Bush administration’s commitment to the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq during a visit to a U.S. aircraft carrier Wednesday, saying “the American people will not support a policy of retreat.”

Egyptian border and security authorities have arrested 23 Palestinians and Egyptians in the Sinai region, including one who was wearing an explosives belt and had crossed from Gaza to Egypt in an underground tunnel, security officials said Wednesday.