Forced into damage control after criticizing NATO shortcomings in Afghanistan, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates still had a message Thursday for Canada and any other allies thinking of withdrawing its troops – don’t.

GAZA – Israeli forces killed six Palestinians on Wednesday, including three members of a Gaza family in a botched air strike, a day after Palestinians said some of the worst violence in months could harm peace moves.

GAZA – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called a leader of rival Hamas on Wednesday to commiserate on the killing of his son by Israeli forces, Hamas said, the first such contact since a Palestinian factional schism last year.