ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan has appointed a new chief for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, months after U.S. officials had questioned the reliability of the military’s premier spy agency in the war against terrorism.

KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani tribesmen backed by army helicopter gunships battled Islamist militants in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing several of the militants, a tribal elder said.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israel has cut purchases of U.S.-made cluster bombs, defense officials said Tuesday, stocking up on supplies from a state-owned Israeli company rather than heeding calls for an outright ban.

ASIRA AL-KIBLIYA, West Bank (Reuters) – Armed with guns, slingshots, knives and stun grenades, Jewish settlers pelted the house of Palestinian Nahla Makhlouf with stones, uprooted young trees and painted the Star of David on her walls.

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Rival Somali pirates arguing over what to do with a hijacked Ukrainian ship and its cargo of 33 tanks engaged in a shootout on board, killing three of their number, a maritime group said on Tuesday.

KABUL (Reuters) – Three soldiers from a U.S.-led coalition force in Afghanistan have been killed in a blast in the south of the country, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that he has made repeated efforts over the last two years to engage Saudi Arabia in peace talks with the Taleban.

The Lebanese parliament has approved a new election law as part of a reconciliation process begun in May.

A group of Western tourists, who spent 10 days as hostages in the Sahara Desert, have returned home.

The Iraqi government says it will allow doctors to carry guns for self-defence. The decision follows complaints by medical workers and other professionals that they have been repeatedly targeted by criminals and militants.