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• Sectarian Violence Over Syria Rages in Lebanon's Tripoli
  Lebanese supporters of rival factions in Syria's civil war battled overnight in the city of Tripoli in the worst such bout of spillover violence since the conflict started two years ago.
• Britain: Iran, Hezbollah Increasing Support for Syria's Assad
  British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday Iran and its militant Shiite Lebanese ally Hezbollah were "propping up" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and giving him increasing support.
• Syrian Opposition Urges Rebels to Join Key Battle
  Syria's main opposition group is urging rebels to come from around the country to reinforce Qusair, a western town under attack by Syrian troops and members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group.
• Israel Extends Palestinians' Gaza Fishing Zone
  Israel on Tuesday expanded the distance it permits Gaza fishermen to head out to sea, restoring a limit it cut in half two months ago in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave.
• Egyptian Troops Mistakenly Fire on a Sinai Funeral
  Egyptian officials say troops and police mistakenly fired on a Bedouin funeral in the Sinai during a sweep searching for security personnel kidnapped by suspected militants.
• Jordan Turns Away Syrian Refugees in Border Clampdown
  Jordan has turned away thousands of Syrian refugees in the past week in the first such clampdown since the crisis in Syria began more than two years ago, diplomats, activists, and aid workers said on Tuesday.
• Attacks Kill 95 in Iraq; Hint of Syrian Spillover
  Iraq's wave of bloodshed sharply escalated Monday with more than a dozen car bombings across the country, part of attacks that killed at least 95 people and brought echoes of past sectarian carnage and fears of a dangerous spillover from Syria's civil war next door.
• Former Border Guard Kills 5 in Murder-Suicide at Israel Bank
  A former honored Israeli Border Police officer stormed into a bank in Southern Israel Monday, fatally shooting four people and seizing a hostage before committing suicide, because he was upset the institution had cut his credit line.
• Threats Painted on Israeli Woman Prayer Activist's Home
  Threatening slogans were spray painted Monday outside the doorway of an Israeli activist in a Jewish women's prayer group seeking equal rights of worship for women at Jerusalem's holy Western Wall.
• NYT's Friedman: Drought Led to Syria Civil War
  A severe drought that began in 2006, and ravaged 60 percent of Syria’s land mass, is the spark that precipitated the nearly two-year civil war, Thomas Friedman wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times Sunday after a recent trip to the beleaguered country.
• Gunmen Storm Egyptian Security Post in Lawless Sinai Peninsula
  Gunmen stormed an Egyptian security forces base in the Sinai Peninsula at dawn on Monday and exchanged gunfire with forces inside the base before retreating, security sources said.
• Car Bombs Kill at Least 31 in Iraq
  At least 20 people were killed by a series of car bombs in mainly Shiite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday and 11 others were killed by attacks in the southern city of Basra, police and medics said.
• Netanyahu Takes Aim at Weapons 'Leakage' in Syria
  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah and other militant groups.
• Iran's Guard Bracing for Post-Election Turmoil
  Several Iranian newspapers are citing a senior Revolutionary Guard commander as warning his forces will be on watch for possible unrest after the June 14 presidential election.
• Syrian Army Bombards Key Rebel Stronghold
  Syrian troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault Sunday on a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, pounding the area with airstrikes and artillery salvos that killed at least 30 people.
• Report: Iran Hangs Two Spies Working for Israel and US
  Iranian authorities executed two men on Sunday convicted of working for Israeli and U.S. spy agencies, Iran's Fars news agency reported.
• Egyptian Police Block Israel Border Crossing in Fury at Kidnapping
  Egyptian police enraged by the kidnapping of seven of their colleagues by Islamist gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula blocked a commercial border crossing with Israel on Sunday, security sources said.
• Egypt Alliance: Muslim Brotherhood Moves to Silence Rights Groups
  Egypt's main opposition bloc said on Saturday that a Muslim Brotherhood-backed bill to regulate human rights groups and other private organizations was an attempt to stifle their work.
• Gunmen Kidnap Elderly Father of Ranking Syrian Official
  The office of Syria's deputy foreign minister says gunmen have abducted his elderly father in the southern Daraa province.
• Rebel Groups Clash in Northern Syria, Risk Split
  A wave of kidnappings between rival Islamic militant groups in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo risks sparking large-scale internal fighting between rebels after clashes killed at least four militants earlier this week, activists said Saturday.
• Egyptian Christians Targeted with Blasphemy Charges
  Blasphemy charges were not uncommon in Egypt under the now-ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak's regime, but there has been a surge in such cases in recent months, according to rights activists.
• Suspected Islamist Gunmen Assassinate Yemeni Colonel
  Gunmen shot dead a senior Yemeni military intelligence officer who had been targeted for assassination by al-Qaida-linked militants, a local security official said.
• Dozens Dead in Attacks as Iraq's Violence Intensifies
  Two bombs exploded outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in the Iraqi city of Baquba as worshippers left Friday prayers, killing at least 43 people in one of the deadliest attacks in a month-long surge in sectarian violence.
• Pro-Assad Hackers Attack Financial Times
  The website and Twitter feed of the Financial Times were hacked on Friday, apparently by the "Syrian Electronic Army," a group of online activists who say they support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The group posted links on the newspaper's Twitter feed to a YouTube...
• Blasts Kill at Least 32 Outside Sunni Mosque in Iraq
  At least 32 people were killed in two explosions outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in Baquba, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Baghdad, after Friday prayers, police and medics said.

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