Middle Orient

TYRE  — Nine-year-old Hussein Mahdi writhes in pain on a Beirut hospital bed, trying not to lie on burned parts of his body. His doctors say the severe burns on his chest, face, hands, legs and back were caused by phosphorous incendiary bombs dropped by the Israelis on civilian areas …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Four US Marines were killed in a Sunni Arab rebel stronghold west of Baghdad as pressure mounted Sunday in parliament to replace the country’s interior minister because of the security crisis in the capital. Also Sunday, a US F-16 jet dropped two precision-guided bombs on a building …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice started talks in Israel on Saturday to seek a deal on an international force to end fighting in Lebanon but Hizbollah charged her trip would only serve Israeli interests.

BAGHDAD (AP) — The US command announced it was sending 3,700 troops to Baghdad to try to quell sectarian violence sweeping the capital, and a US official said more American soldiers would follow as the military gears up to take the streets back from gunmen.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday his government has no intention of teaming up with Shiite group Hizbollah on negotiating the release of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.

HAIFA — Johnny Mansour drops his cigarette and rushes indoors. His wife, Lilian, and two sons, Elias, 14, and Adey, 10, are well ahead of him as the family rushes to the safe room of the house, which doubles as Adey’s bedroom.

KFAR ROUMAN, Lebanon —Blacksmith Mohammad Jouny, embittered by his government’s failure to come to the aid of south Lebanon, opposes the deployment of an international force along the border with Israel. He and his family want to see the Lebanese army there instead.

BEIRUT — The Mediterranean is threatened by its worst ever environmental disaster after Israel’s bombing of a power plant in Lebanon sent thousands of tonnes of fuel gushing into the sea, the environment minister charged on Saturday.

DUBAI — A male news anchor appeared on screen from the safety of Arabic station Al Jazeera’s studio in Doha as two female correspondents in full war gear reported live from both sides of the Lebanon-Israel frontline.

It’s a catchy slogan, but it appears the nation’s legal system is taking Microsoft’s cue. Sadly, the ill-fated recipient is yet another young Muslim man.