Israel braced itself for conflict on two fronts against militants in Gaza and an Iranian government persisting with its nuclear programme.
Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, said the “pendulum is closer” to a large scale military operation in Gaza after another Israeli civilian was killed by a mortar fired from Gaza on Thursday.
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One of Mr Olmert’s [...]

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South Asia’s nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan resumed peace talks May 20 amid reminders of how vulnerable the two nations are to terrorism. Bombings in Jaipur (IANS) allegedly by Bangladeshi extremists and heightened tension (CSM) with Pakistan across the long-disputed border in Kashmir has New Delhi on edge. The U.S. State Department’s 2007 report on [...]

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But by the next morning, the battle for Beirut was mostly over. After just six hours of all-out fighting, Hizballah militants were in control of areas of West Beirut that had previously been the government’s preserve. This made for some incongruous scenes. Bearded men with rifles and rocket launchers secured lingerie shops and a Starbucks [...]

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The Bush administration accused Iran and Syria on Friday of fueling ongoing violence in Lebanon by inciting members of the radical Shiite Hezbollah movement to take up arms against the country’s western-backed government.
As Hezbollah militants seized control of large parts of Beirut, the administration denounced the show of force, which it said was being supported [...]

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