Middle Orient

HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) – The death of nine Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, Israel’s deadliest day of the war so far, left ordinary citizens all the more determined on Thursday that the army should forge ahead with its 15-day offensive.

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli attacks killed three people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a day after fighting that left 24 Palestinians dead, Palestinian medical workers said.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The failure by major donors to follow through on aid pledges to Afghanistan could undermine its efforts to quell an insurgency in the impoverished Muslim state, NATO warned on Thursday. The alliance is set to takeover military operations from the U.S.-led coalition in the violent south of …

HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) – The death of nine Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, Israel’s deadliest day of the war so far, left ordinary citizens all the more determined on Thursday that the army should forge ahead with its 15-day offensive.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters)- An international press freedom group on Thursday asked Pakistan to investigate the deaths of seven Pakistani journalists as vigorously as it did the slaying of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

KABUL (Reuters) – NATO has approved plans to take charge of security responsibilities in Afghanistan’s volatile south in what will likely be one of its most testing missions ever, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Tire, Lebanon (Reuters) – Car after car races north along the coastal road toward Lebanon’s capital Beirut. Each vehicle is adorned with white: white flags, white T-shirts, white sheets, white plastic bags, white rags.

KABUL (Reuters) – All 16 people aboard a helicopter, including several foreigners, were killed in Wednesday’s crash in rugged mountain terrain in southeastern Afghanistan, U.S.-led coalition forces said. The cause of the crash was not known, but it took place in an area where insurgents are active. At least two …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pakistan must provide written security assurances as part of a deal for $5.1 billion in American-made F-16 fighter jets and no equipment will be transferred until anti-diversion protections are in place, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has promised Congress.

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli forces killed 23 Palestinians in fighting across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including at least 11 militants, three children and a handicapped man, medics and witnesses said.