GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas security forces arrested Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s top Fatah representatives in the Gaza Strip on Friday, ratcheting up tensions between the rival factions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israel’s peace efforts with Syria should continue, without preconditions, after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert steps down, a candidate to succeed him said on Friday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Calling graft a threat to Russia’s security, President Dmitry Medvedev released on Friday his national plan to fight red tape and corruption.