EGYPT’S ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) scored a sweeping victory in elections for the upper house of parliament after its members won all but two seats in the run-off round, state media reported overnight.

CAIRO, Egypt, June 19–A meeting of the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers due next week in Egypt will likely be put off after some partners asked for a delay following the Palestinian Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip, top Arab diplomats said on Tuesday.

The investment company of Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris has taken a 9.7 percent stake in Raleigh construction-aggregates company Martin Marietta.

Egypt is attempting to arrange safe passage to the West Bank for approximately 340 Palestinian refugees who fled to Egypt in the aftermath of the Hamas victory in Gaza.

As of Tuesday, June 19, 2007, at least 337 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures June 19, 2007.

KABUL, Afghanistan – Goodwill toward foreign forces is eroding across Afghanistan because airstrikes and botched raids by U.S. and NATO troops have killed at least 230 civilians this year, an umbrella group for aid agencies said Tuesday.

Investigate Abuses at Three Detention Centers (London, June 19, 2007) – Iran should immediately halt the mass deportations of Afghan nationals and investigate allegations that its authorities have abused numerous deportees, Human Rights Watch said today.

A former Serbian police general was transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Sunday (June 17th), hours after being arrested in Montenegro.

US special envoy Frank Wisner was in Pristina on Friday (June 15th) to urge patience as the status process winds towards resolution. He reiterated Washington’s support for Kosovo’s independence, and said sovereignty for the province must be the end goal of any new round of talks between Belgrade and Pristina.

NCRI – Mrs. Jole Santelli, Member of the Italian Parliament and responsible for Immigration and Security in Italian Party, Forza Italia in a statement welcomed the resolution approved by the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Italian Parliament regarding the People’s Mojahedin organization of Iran (PMOI).