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• Russia: Syria Agrees in 'Principle' to Take Part in Peace Talks
  The Syrian government has agreed "in principle" to attend a conference proposed by Russia and the United States on ending the Arab country's conflict, Russia's foreign ministry said Friday.
• Kerry's Focus Is on Middle East Peace Talks, Not Israel Settlements
  Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel's government on Friday to prevent further settlement construction where possible to help revitalize Middle East peace hopes, but stressed that the larger goal was restarting direct negotiations.
• Yemen's Main Oil Pipeline Attacked; Pumping Stopped
  Attackers blew up Yemen's main oil export pipeline on Friday, halting the flow of crude, the government and industry sources said.
• Israel to Discuss Divisive Military Plan To Draft More Ultra-Orthodox
  An Israeli committee has handed the government its proposal for ending a system granting Jewish ultra-Orthodox seminary students automatic exemptions from military service.
• De Borchgrave: Kerry Chasing 'Brass Ring' of Palestinian State
  Arnaud de Borchgrave’s Perspective: Secretary of State John Kerry, on his fourth visit to the Middle East in two months is chasing the brass ring of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement for the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
• Report: Former President Rafsanjani Blasts Iran's Rulers
  An Iranian pro-reform website is reporting that former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has strongly criticized the policies of the country's ruling clerical establishment, days after a constitutional watchdog disqualified him from running in the June 14 elections.
• At Least Five Killed, 50 Hurt in Lebanon Sectarian Violence
  Five people were killed and more than 50 wounded in overnight clashes in Tripoli between Lebanese gunmen backing rival factions in Syria's civil war, doctors and security sources said on Thursday.
• Young Jailed Conscientious Objector Challenges Israeli Army
  The Israeli military has jailed a young man for six months for refusing to serve because of his opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank, focusing attention on the longstanding conflict between the country's universal military service and divided political beliefs.
• Islamist Militants Release Seven Egyptians Kidnapped in Sinai
  Seven Egyptian security men kidnapped by Islamist militants in Sinai last week were freed on Wednesday and President Mohammed Morsi vowed to pursue a crackdown on lawlessness in the desert peninsula.
• 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.

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