BAGHDAD (AFP) — Roadside bombings killed seven US soldiers and an interpreter, the military said on Sunday, putting May on track to be one of the deadliest months for US forces in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.

JT with AFP dispatches ISRAELI DEPUTY PRIME Minister Shimon Peres on Sunday urged Arab countries to hold talks with the Jewish state on the peace initiative they reendorsed in March.

GAZA (Reuters) — Israel escalated its strikes against Gaza fighters on Sunday, killing eight Palestinians in an aerial assault that struck the home of a promiment Hamas politician, medics and a source in the Islamist group said.