Don't keep coronavirus cases quiet: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned countries with possible cases of the SARS-like novel coronavirus that they must share information and not allow commercial labs to profit from the virus, which has killed 22 people worldwide.

• Sars-like virus spreads from patient to nurse
• Panic grips Saudis amid fears of Sars-like virus
• 'Coronavirus epidemic awaits'

Aid agencies warn of Gaza disaster

A group of 38 aid agencies have urged the international community to take action to secure a ceasefire in Gaza to prevent "another widespread humanitarian disaster".

• UN chief to meet Netanyahu, Abbas
• Israel, Hamas present conditions for halt
• Israeli offensive enters critical stage

Israeli air strikes kill 12 in Gaza

Twelve Palestinians, most of them fighters, were killed and at least 20 wounded in a series of Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say.

• Palestinian women seek inmate's release
• Militants fire 2 rockets into Israel

G8 pledges financial help for Arab states

Group of Eight leaders have promised to support new Arab democracies, according to a statement they are to release following a meeting in the French town of Deauville.

• EU plans Egypt asset freezes
• Fears for reform as Egypt economy stalls
• 'North Africa uprisings a warning to SA'
• SA cuts business ties with Libya
• DSK distraction
• G8 says world economy improving

Libya's revolt hits Tripoli

Gaddafi's four-decade-old rule appears in increasing jeopardy as anti-government protests reached the capital for the first time, leaving dozens dead.

• Libya cuts internet access
• Libya turmoil sets oil surging
• Libyan turmoil pushes oil price higher

Hariri returns to crisis-hit Lebanon

Lebanon's premier Saad Hariri has returned to Beirut, two days after Hezbollah forced the collapse of his government, says an official close to the leader.

• Hezbollah forces Lebanon govt collapse
• Israel warns of Hezbollah coup in Lebanon
• UN: Lebanon in hyper-dangerous state

Chavez: Israel is a threat

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has described Israel as a genocidal state that has acted as an assassin for the United States, predicting the Middle East nation would one day be "put in its place."

• Chavez slams critical media boss
• Hugo Chavez warns of war
• Anti-Chavez TV boss to be arrested

Gaza war: Israel charges 2

Israeli army prosecutors have charged two soldiers for using a young Palestinian boy to check for booby-traps during last year's fighting in Gaza.

• UN: Credible Gaza war probe

Israeli PM approved hit - report

A British newspaper has reported that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu met members of a Mossad hit squad before they went to Dubai to kill a Hamas commander.

• Dubai: Mossad killed Hamas man
• Heat on Israeli hit squad
• Hit squad UK passports 'fake'

Syria says Israel rejects peace

Syria fired a new round in its war of words with Israel by saying the Jewish state did not want Middle East peace.

• 'No deal' on Golan Heights

Hamas 'hit civilians by accident'

The Islamist group Hamas says three Israeli civilians killed in rocket attacks by its members during Israel's Gaza offensive last year were hit by mistake.

• Hamas rockets 'a war crime'
• 40 rockets fired from Gaza Strip
• Seven Gaza rockets hit Israel

Egypt defends Gaza barrier

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has defended the underground barrier on the border with Gaza as a matter of national security and sovereignty.

• Steel border wall in Gaza
• Egypt ups Gaza border security

US activists blocked in Cairo

Egyptian security forces have prevented dozens of US activists from reaching the Gaza Strip by delaying them at the US Embassy in Cairo.

• Gaza aid convoy refused entry
• Egypt ups Gaza border security

Hamas grip tighter a year on

One year after Israel struck at the Gaza Strip, the Islamist Hamas group which rules the enclave remains defiant and in full control.

• Drug amnesty offered in Gaza
• EU council denied entry to Gaza
• Hamas celebrates 22nd birthday

Israel kills six Palestinians

Israeli soldiers have killed six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the bloodiest violent outbreak in months.

• Israel won't pay 'any price'
• Missing Israeli settler killed

Abbas says no deal yet

Mahmud Abbas has said a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas was still stuck on the question of which prisoners to exchange.

• Talks on prisoner swop not dead
• Soldiers 'seized for swop'
• Israel could swap 980 for one

Gaza: 4 French docs see Shalit

It is reported that French doctors have visited the Gaza Strip to examine an Israeli soldier ahead of a possible prisoner exchange.

Israel strikes Gaza

Israeli warplanes carried out three air strikes in the Gaza Strip, without causing casualties, the army and Palestinian witnesses have said.

• Gaza water supply 'at risk'
• Gaza's 'abject poor' triples

Obama welcomes settlement move

US President Barack Obama has praised Israel for "movement in the right direction" on settlements.

• Israel throws out 'loyalty law'
• US wants settlement freeze

ME peace 'unlikely' for now

Israel's foreign minister says Middle East peace is unlikely in the coming years, due to the Palestinians' "radical and uncompromising positions" on a number of key issues.

• US policy on Israel 'misguided'
• Israel 'a crime against Muslims'