Israel detains senior Hamas officials
Thirty-three senior Hamas officials have been arrested by the Israel Defence Force (IDF). Among those detained were legislators, mayors and even the Education Minister, Nasser Shaer.
Overnight, Israeli Air Force fighter jets targeted Palestinian money exchanges accused of passing monies from Iran, Lebanon and Syria into the arming and training of Hamas militants, the IDF has said. In an earlier incident, IDF fire is reported to have killed a local farmer in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian militants have rejected calls for a ceasefire with both Israel and between the rival factions in the Gaza Strip.
Fatah al-Islam told to surrender or face force
Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr has said that Fatah al-Islam must "surrender or the army will take the military option". On Wednesday, security forces sunk two boats said to be carrying militants fleeing the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that one third of the 40,000 residents of Nahr al-Bared have fled during the current ceasefire. Amnesty International have condemned the Lebanese army for deploying heavy artillery against a heavy-populated area in its operations against Fatah al-Islam.
Fatah al-Islam has vowed to continue in its fight against the Lebanese army, claiming to have sufficient fighting hardware to sustain the group for nine months.
Read about the coordination between Fatah al-Islam and Syria on Across the Bay, by Lebanese blogger Anton Efendi, or keep up to date with events on The Syrian News Wire.
IAEA: Iran failing to cease uranium enrichment programme
A confidential International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report has revealed that Iran is not curbing its uranium enrichment activities, and has failed to provide IAEA inspectors with sufficient co-operation in their efforts to ascertain whether Iran's nuclear programme is "exclusively peaceful [in] nature" or not. The United States has warned that it will pursue further sanctions against Iran in the wake of the findings.
On Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed that Iran is close to achieving its "ultimate goals", and condemned attempts made by Western states to limit Iran's nuclear programme as designed to undermine the country's influence in the world.
Meanwhile, Iran is to introduce petrol rationing in two weeks time, in an effort to reduce the economic burden of subsidising petrol and cut fuel consumption.
Tehran's nuclear programme, regional profile and economic woes have put its regime in a corner. Sanam Vakil suggests a way out on Open Democracy.
Missing soldier's body found
The body of one of three US soldiers missing in action after an ambush two weeks ago, has been found in the Euphrates River near Baghdad. Two US soldiers were killed in the Anbar Province in combat on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a car bomb at a funeral in Falluja has killed at least 25 people and injured another 30.
Democrats drop pullout timetable
US Democrat leaders have withdrawn a proposed timeline for withdrawal from a funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, instead setting 18 benchmarks to be met by the Iraqi government if it is to secure $1.3 bn in reconstruction funding.
President George W. Bush has reiterated his advocacy of taking "the fight to the enemy", after the declassification of two-year old intelligence documents on Tuesday.
Six soldiers killed by landmine in Turkey
Six Turkish troops have been killed by a landmine in the southeast of the country.
On Wednesday, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan accused Kurdish militants in northern Iraq of having carried out a suicide attack in Ankara on Tuesday, advocating an incursion into neighbouring Iraq to tackle the Kurdistan Workers' Party if necessary.
12 former paramilitaries jailed for PM's murder
Twelve former paramilitary police officers have been jailed for the assassination of former pro-reform Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, murdered in Belgrade in March 2003.
Tamil Tigers kill 35 Sri Lankan sailors
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have said they have killed 35 Sri Lankan sailors after overrunning a naval base on the island of Delft, off the Jaffna peninsula; Navy estimates put the number at less than ten. Within hours of the incident, a Sri Lankan army bus was blown up in Colombo, injuring seven people.
ICRC teams have withdrawn indefinitely from the frontline of the Sri Lankan civil war in the north of the island. Sri Lankan forces have also closed the Omanthai checkpoint which separates government and LTTE-held territories.
Darfur sanctions will complicate crisis warns China
Newly-appointed Chinese envoy to Sudan, Liu Guijin, has warned that international sanctions against Sudan over the conflict raging in Darfur will only serve to "further complicate the situation". Instead, Guijin has called for increased humanitarian aid to the beleaguered region.
British charities have launched an emergency appeal for the region, while a Reuters AlertNet poll has revealed that four-fifths of aid agencies operating in Darfur feel unable to speak out about the humanitarian situation there for fear of being thrown out the country and jeopardising their work.
Ndesanjo Macha discusses the increasing use of blogs by aid workers, volunteers and peacekeepers in Sudan: Blogging From the Conflict Zone.
ICC investigates war crimes in Central African Republic
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is to investigate allegations of war crimes in the Central African Republic during 2002 and 2003, during fighting between ‘rebel' forces and the regime of former president Ange-Felix Patasse - specifically cases of sexual violence.
