UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called together major powers on Tuesday in an effort to promote unity on the Middle East crisis and rescheduled a meeting of potential troop contributors for an international force.

SRIFA — They use three-digit numbers as code names, live off canned tuna, and tape over their jewelry so an accidental twinkle doesn’t give away their position to Israeli war planes.

Arab papers splashed gory pictures of Lebanese children killed in Israel’s strike on Qana on their front pages Monday and warned that what some branded “a new Holocaust” could mark a turning point in the region.  “The tragedies in Qana suggest to the Lebanese that the Israelis, who are

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday he hoped the Islamic republic could one day “avenge the blood of innocent people in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan”.  “We have to keep this sacred hatred of the enemies of

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has arrived in Vietnam for talks on energy as part of a tour dominated by countries known for their often-hostile relations with the United States.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has said she believes a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon could be forged this week.  Rice, who has just ended a diplomatic mission to the region

Syria on Saturday slammed Rice’s call for an international force to pacify southern Lebanon as an occupation force that would do the Zionist regime’s job.  An editorial in the official Tishrin daily said: “The international force proposed by Rice intends to occupy southern Lebanon and it, instead of

Air strike kills more than 60, including 37 children as Lebanon shuns Rice; US says Tel Aviv agrees to 48-hour suspension of aerial activity in south QANA (Agencies) — An Israeli air strike Sunday killed more than 60 Lebanese, mostly women and children, when it leveled a building where they …

KING ABDULLAH AND Saudi King Abdullah on Sunday strongly condemned Israel’s “ugly” massacre in the Lebanese village of Qana as the deadliest attack on Lebanon so far drew torrents of rage across the world. At a Jeddah meeting, the two leaders said the “grievous crime flagrantly breached” humanitarian principles and …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel’s bombing of a Lebanese village on Sunday will make it harder for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to continue to justify Washington’s refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire.