CAIRO – Egypt said on Monday it wanted the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas to control the border crossing with the Gaza Strip, excluding Hamas Islamists who have run the territory since June.

ISLAMABAD – Gunmen who took up to 250 Pakistani school children hostage on Monday in a northwestern town freed them all and surrendered to tribal elders, a government spokesman said.

BEIRUT – Hezbollah, Lebanon’s most powerful faction, on Monday demanded to know who was behind shooting that killed eight opposition supporters in some of Beirut’s worst street violence since the 1975-90 civil war.