Middle Orient

ISRAELI AIR STRIKES on Lebanon killed 61 civilians and a Hizbollah fighter on Wednesday, the deadliest toll of the eight-day-old war, as thousands of villagers fled north and more foreigners were evacuated.

BAQOUBA — An Iraqi army commander tells his men that he might forgive them if they were to place a bomb outside his door but never if they succumbed to the sectarian divisions ripping the country apart.

DUBAI (AP) — Governments of three Gulf states have pledged a total of $90 million (72 million euros) in immediate aid to Lebanon to help it deal with the humanitarian consequences of Israel’s air strikes.

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Kuwait’s parliament Monday passed a key election reform bill which slashes the number of polling constituencies in line with a key opposition demand aimed at curbing corruption.

PARIS (AFP) — Foreign capitals rushed to evacuate frightened nationals from the escalating Lebanese conflict Monday, as Israel indicated it may provide windows in its campaign of aerial bombardment to facilitate safe passage.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Gunmen killed over 50 people in an attack around a crowded market in a violent town near Baghdad on Monday, one of the bloodiest incidents in Iraq this year.

DAMASCUS (AP) — The United Nations and Britain urged the deployment of peacekeepers in Lebanon and Russia offered troops for any such force, as the UN dispatched an envoy to Israel on Monday in the first big swirl of diplomatic efforts to stem the Mideast violence.

BEIRUT — Israel’s assault on Lebanon threatens to weaken Arab moderates throughout the region, bolstering the image of Islamic fighters at a time when anger among the Arab public is running high over the “war on terror” and America’s role in Iraq.

ISRAELI AIR STRIKES killed 42 people across Lebanon on Monday, including 10 civilians hit on a southern bridge, on the sixth day of a bombardment that has wreaked the heaviest destruction in Lebanon for over 20 years.

Lebanon has accused the United States of blocking a Security Council statement calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, and said the impotence of the UN’s most powerful body sent wrong signals to small countries.