BEIRUT - Lebanon's army stepped up patrols on Tuesday as part of a drive to restore order after a week of fighting between Hezbollah fighters and pro-government gunmen. More »
JERUSALEM - Israel has agreed to ease gradually some travel and trade restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Middle East envoy Tony Blair said on Tuesday. More »
BEIRUT (AFP) - - Lebanese troops were ready to use force on Tuesday to disarm gunmen and enforce law and order after six days of deadly sectarian gunbattles that have plunged the nation into fear and chaos. More »
GAZA CITY (AFP) - - The Islamist Hamas movement on Tuesday said the release of an Israeli soldier captured in 2006 would not be part of a proposed Gaza truce, despite Israeli demands for progress on the issue. More »
KHARTOUM - Human Rights Watch voiced concern on Tuesday at mass arrests in Khartoum after an attack on Sudan's capital by Darfur rebels and said it feared some people had been tortured or killed. More »
BAGHDAD - Gunmen launched numerous attacks on U.S. troops in the Baghdad bastion of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr overnight, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, in a sign that many militia are ignoring a pact to halt fighting. More »
KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition forces called in airstrikes against the Taliban, killing a dozen militants during fighting in southern Afghanistan that has displaced many families, officials said Tuesday. More »
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush heads back to the Middle East on Tuesday facing broad scepticism over his chances of securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before he leaves office in less than nine months. More »
JERUSALEM - A rocket fired by Palestinian militants killed a 75-year-old Israeli woman Monday, just as an Egyptian mediator was winding up truce talks in Israel _ underlining both the urgency and complexity of working out a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers. More »
BAGHDAD - Iraqi hospital officials say clashes in Sadr City have killed 11 men and wounded 19 others. More »

Olympic torch relay scaled down after China quake



