MAGHDUSHE, Lebanon (AFP) - Women activists planning to sail to Gaza gathered on Thursday near a statue of the Virgin Mary in south Lebanon to pray she bless their flotilla, christened "Mariam" in her honour.
"Mariam has begun to achieve its goals and aims, as Israeli officials expressed fear and sent out warnings and threats before deciding to ease the blockade on Gaza," said spokeswoman [...]
TEL AVIV (AFP) - Some 50,000 Israeli fans welcomed Elton John at a one-off concert Thursday amid relief the pop icon performed after a string of artists cancelled gigs in the Jewish state.
Israel faced a wave of recent cancellations after a deadly May 31 Israeli naval raid on a foreign aid flotilla that left nine activists dead.
Israel's Channel One television hailed John as a "single ri [...]
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Around 100,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews on Thursday rallied in Jerusalem, police said, in a show of mass defiance over a school integration ruling by Israel's highest court.
The streets were flooded with men in trademark black, wide-brimmed hats and lined with police as the rally stretched several blocks and paralysed traffic in and around the heart of the Holy City.
A simil [...]
BEIRUT (AFP) - An Ethiopian Airlines plane was forced to return to Lebanon after takeoff early on Thursday when crew noticed a door was rattling, a Beirut airport official said.
"The door had not been closed properly and some five minutes after takeoff, the pilot was able to return and land in Beirut safely and without having to signal an emergency," the official told AFP on condition of [...]
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) - A Palestinian fighter was wounded by Israeli fire near the heavily guarded border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics and witnesses said.
"A Palestinian was moderately wounded by Israeli shelling in the Abasan area east of Khan Yunis," a medical official said.
Witnesses said Israeli tanks stationed along the border had fired at a group of ar [...]
BEIRUT (AFP) - Rival Lebanese politicians on Thursday postponed until August 19 talks on a national defence strategy that would incorporate the arms of Hezbollah, the government said.
"The dialogue committee continued talks on a defence strategy and agreed on August 19 as the date for the next session," a statement said, as the politicians failed again to reach an accord.
The defence str [...]
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli settlers are continuing to build in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on new projects that expires later this year, the Peace Now settlement watchdog said Thursday.
Authorities do not appear to have issued any new construction permits since the start of the year, but the group said it had documented dozens of instances in which settlers have beg [...]
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Al-Qaeda has said it was behind a weekend raid on the Central Bank of Iraq involving suicide bombers disguised in military uniforms who killed 18 people, jihadist Internet forums reported.
A statement from the Islamic State of Iraq, the Al-Qaeda front group in the country, said Sunday's attack on the central Baghdad building involved five bombers, all of whom killed themse [...]
BRUSSELS (AFP) - European leaders decided Thursday to impose new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, going further than the UN's latest punitive measures to pile pressure on Tehran, diplomatic sources said.
The new EU sanctions would include a unique ban on new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies to Iran's key gas and oil industry, according to the tex [...]
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday warned Lebanon it would be responsible for any "violent and dangerous confrontation" with an activist aid flotilla expected to set sail for Gaza.
"I say clearly to the government of Lebanon: You are responsible for the boats leaving your ports, which have the clear and stated intention of trying to break the naval blockade [...]
Passengers jump out of plane in India after bad landing
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