Syrian media say Israeli soldiers shot and killed at least two pro-Palestinian demonstrators and wounded several others Sunday in the Golan Heights area.
The crowd had gathered at a fence at the Syrian border to mark the anniversary of the Arab defeat in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the conflict, also claiming the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
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Saudi officials said Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has arrived in Saudi Arabia for treatment of injuries he received in a rocket attack on Friday.
Yemeni state media said Saturday the country's prime minister and at least four other high-ranking officials had traveled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after they too were wounded in the attack on the presidential compound in Sana'a. It is unclear how badly the Yemeni leaders were hurt.
Earlier Saturday, Yemeni government officials and rebel tribesmen agreed to a new cease-fire brokered by Saudi Arabia.
Representatives of both sides said they will accept the plan. Just a week ago, a similar truce quickly collapsed in renewed fighting between President Saleh's forces and loyalists to an opposition tribal leader, Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar.
Clashes continued Saturday in Sana'a, where Mr. Saleh's forces have been shelling the homes of anti-government leaders. The home base of al-Ahmar was among those targeted.
Tribal officials said 10 people were killed and 35 wounded in the government's shelling of al-Ahmar's neighborhood.
Separately, government and opposition leaders say security forces have withdrawn from the southern city of Taiz, a flashpoint of anti-government protests. The Reuters news agency quotes an opposition leader as saying looting and other unrest have been spreading in the city since the forces pulled out.
The ongoing conflict between forces loyal to Mr. Saleh and anti-government rebels has led to to fears the country may be on the brink of civil war. Mr. Saleh has three times over the past several weeks defied an accord negotiated by the Gulf Cooperation Council to would end his 33-year reign.
Nearly 400 people have been killed since the popular uprising against Mr. Saleh began in January.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Kabul Saturday with a mixture of praise for his commitment to Afghanistan and frustrated rhetoric ordering an end to coalition-caused civilian casualties. Gates is in the country on a previously unannounced farewell tour before he leaves office later this month.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates shortly after his arrival Saturday in Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai said Gates is a "friend" of the country and presented him with its highest governmental award, the Wazir Akbar Khan medal, for his work during the past four-and-a-half years.
But President Karzai also took the opportunity to voice several times the Afghans' frustration over civilian deaths resulting from coalition air strikes on homes. "[The] bombardment of civilian homes is an issue that the Afghans definitely want to end. We cannot take this anymore, and the Afghans want a change in it," he said.
Late last month, a NATO air strike on a home killed 14 Afghans, including women and children. The incident agitated the long-simmering tensions regarding the issue between the Afghans and coalition and caused Mr. Karzai to proclaim what he called his "last warning" to NATO on ending the strikes.
Speaking alongside President Karzai in a garden at the presidential palace Saturday evening, Gates expressed Washington's profound regret for the cost of this nearly 10-year war. "There is weariness in both our countries over the duration and cost of this conflict. I am keenly aware that ISAF military operations have at times impacted the Afghan people in unwelcome ways, from minor, but grating inconveniences to, in some rare but tragic cases, civilians accidentally killed or injured -- losses we mourn and profoundly regret," he said.
However, Gates had his own stern message for the Afghan government as the coalition prepares to start handing over security duties next month. "While the international commitment here is strong and durable, that commitment is not infinite in either time or resources. For the upcoming transition to be successful, the Afghan government and security forces must be willing to step up and take more and more responsibility for governing and defending their own territory," he said.
President Karzai's administration has long faced accusations of government corruption, undermining his rule both domestically and on the international stage.
But because of the recent security gains following a surge of coalition troops during the past year and a half, Gates said at a security conference in Singapore earlier Saturday that he thought he saw an end in sight to the Afghan war. "If we can further expand the security bubble, we have enough evidence that the Taliban are under pressure and that their capabilities are being degraded that perhaps this winter the possibility of some kind of political talks or reconciliation might be substantive enough to offer some hope of progress," he said.
While on his last official visit to Afghanistan as U.S. defense secretary, Gates is expected to meet with U.S. and Afghan troops.
Later in the week, he heads to Brussels for a NATO security conference, which is expected to focus in part on the situation in Afghanistan.
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British Foreign Secretary William Hague has arrived in Libya for talks with opposition leaders in the rebel stronghold, Benghazi.
Hague is one of the highest-ranking foreign officials to visit the rebel-held territory. The foreign secretary said he plans to meet with leaders of the opposition's Transitional National Council on Saturday as part of his efforts to "show support for the Libyan people." He is accompanied by British International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.
Their visit to Libya comes at a time when NATO is employing new strategies for targeting installations linked to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
For the first time, the alliance sent attack helicopters on low-altitude missions against military installations early Saturday.
NATO said British Apache and French Tiger and Gazelle helicopters carried out the assaults. Military officials said about 20 targets were destroyed, including a radar site and an armed checkpoint, in the first deployment of the aircraft since British and French leaders approved their use in recent days.
The commander of NATO's forces in Libya, Canadian Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, said the successful assault demonstrates the "unique capabilities" of the attack helicopters. The use of lower-flying helicopters for attacks could diminish the possibility of civilian casualties, although they also could be vulnerable to strikes by surface-to-air missiles.
Despite this increase in the military campaign, there are new diplomatic efforts to try to persuade Gadhafi to give up power. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Friday that his country is working with those close to the Libyan leader to get him to leave.
Russia is sending a special presidential representative, Mikhail Margelov, to Benghazi, to meet with the rebels.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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Thousands of people turned out Saturday for the funerals of anti-government protesters killed in unrest in Syria.
Syrian rights groups say at least 63 people died Friday as protesters continued to demand the departure of President Bashar al-Assad.
Those groups say the vast majority of deaths were reported in Hama, a city about 300 kilometers north of Damascus. Witnesses say security forces used live ammunition to try to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets in Hama after Friday prayers.
Demonstrations also took place in Damascus and other cities, following a call by opposition groups to denounce a growing number of casualties among children in recent weeks of the uprising against Assad.
Despite official denials, protest organizers say at least 25 children have died. The victims include a 13-year-old boy who was reported to have been tortured and killed by security forces - an accusation that Syrian authorities dispute.
Meanwhile, rights groups say Syrian authorities have freed Ali Abdullah, a prominent activist who was jailed for at least three years. The groups say Abdullah walked free on Saturday. Authorities have freed hundreds of political prisoners since President Saleh announced a general amnesty on Tuesday in an apparent bid to appease opposition protesters.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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The Chinese city of Hong Kong was the scene Saturday of demonstrations to mark the 22nd anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown during which hundreds, perhaps thousands, died.
On June 4, 1989, the Chinese government sent tanks and soldiers into the square in central Beijing, the Chinese capital, to crush weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations.
Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong held up candles in a night time vigil Saturday in Victoria Park, turning the area into a sea of lights.
The anniversary was not marked by China's state-run media. Tiananmen Square was open Saturday and packed with tourists as usual, but was under heavy security.
On the democratic island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own, President Ma Ying-jeou issued a statement calling on China to respect human rights, institute political reforms and release imprisoned dissidents.
The U.S. State Department also called on China to release jailed dissidents and account for those killed, detained or missing in the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
But a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman (Hong Lei) Saturday insisted the matter is closed.
Saturday's anniversary is being marked in the midst of another Chinese government crackdown, this one against activists, lawyers, writers and bloggers.
The group Chinese Human Rights Defenders said Saturday that security officers took former government official Bao Tong to an unknown location this week. And the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said liberal intellectual Chen Ziming and many others have been placed under house arrest.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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There is a new effort to restart the stalled Middle East peace process-this time through European mediation.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted a French proposal to convene Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Paris to discuss reviving peace talks. The initiative calls for the meeting to take place by early July.
Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Mr. Abbas, says the ball is in Israel's court. In remarks broadcast on Israel Television, Erekat said the French initiative supports U.S. President Barack Obama's call for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. He said the Palestinians are waiting for an answer from the Israeli government.
Israel is considering the proposal.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said senior officials would meet in the coming days to formulate a response.
It is a problematic issue for Israel. During a visit to Washington last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly clashed with President Obama, saying Israel would not return to the 1967 borders which he described as "indefensible."
In Tel Aviv Saturday, about 10,000 Israelis held a march for peace, demanding that Mr. Netanyahu change course.
Yariv Oppenheimer, who heads the left-wing Peace Now movement, called on Mr. Netanyahu to accept the French proposal. He said the Prime Minister must prove to the Israeli public that "he wants peace and not a collision in September."
That was a reference to fears of an eruption of violence in September, when the Palestinians plans to seek United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state without Israel's approval.
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One of India's most popular yoga gurus is leading followers in what is being called a fast to the death, part of a populist campaign to fight corruption.
Swami Baba Ramdev began his fast in front of thousands of supporters in New Delhi Saturday, promising India would be saved. He told them "nothing is impossible" and vowed they would not be defeated.
Ramdev's demands include a return of so-called black money, cash stashed in foreign bank accounts and used to pay bribes. He also is calling for the execution of corrupt government officials.
Critics charge Ramdev has ties to right-wing Hindu groups and question his sincerity, arguing he lives lavishly with money from his multi-million dollar business ventures. But his call to end widespread corruption appears to be resonating in a country still reeling from a $39 billion telecom scandal and a scandal-plagued Commonwealth Games that have seen some ministers end up in jail.
Earlier Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent four government ministers to meet with Ramdev in an attempt to stop his protest.
Ramdev refused to comment on what was said during the meeting but told supporters he would not be deterred.
Ramdev's supporters joined in mass fasting Saturday in Mumbai and other states across India.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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The U.N. Security Council is condemning Sudan's government for seizing control of the oil-rich Abyei region last month.
The council Friday called on Sudan's military to stop all looting, burning and illegal resettlement in the region and to withdraw its forces immediately.
It described Sudan's military operations in Abyei a "serious violation" of the 2005 peace agreement between north and south Sudan.
North Sudanese forces seized control of the contested and oil-rich Abyei region in May, and has rejected calls from the United States, United Nations and south Sudan to remove its troops.
The Security Council warned that those responsible for violations of international law in Abyei will be held accountable.
It also said that because of the ongoing insecurity in Abyei it believes that both sides would benefit from the continued presence of U.N. troops in the region
Sudan informed the United Nations in New York earlier this week that it wants the U.N. peacekeeping force on its southern border to leave its territory when south Sudan becomes independent.
South Sudan is set to declare independence on July 9 after voting to split from the north in a January referendum. Abyei was scheduled to decide at the same time on whether to join the north or the south, but that referendum failed to happen because the sides could not agree on who was eligible to vote.
North and south Sudan fought a 21-year civil war that ended in 2005.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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U.S. President Barack Obama is celebrating the resurgence of the "Big Three" automakers - Ford, GM and Chrysler.
During Saturday's weekly address recorded at a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, Obama said Chrysler and GM are all adding jobs since his administration stepped in with a taxpayer financed bailout.
The president says Chrysler has repaid its loan six years ahead of schedule.
Obama also says the government this week reached a deal to sell its stake in Chrysler, meaning the company will be returning to all private ownership.
Ford has also recovered from the recession and is adding jobs. Its turnaround came without a government bailout.
Watch President Obama's weekly speech
In the Republican address, Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander criticized Obama administration efforts of keeping jobs in the country.
Senator Alexander blamed the National Labor Relations Board and unions for making it more difficult to create private sector jobs in the United States.
Watch weekly Republican address
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The Puyehue volcano in southern Chile has erupted for the first time in a half century, sending a column of gas about 10 kilometers into the air.
Authorities say they plan to evacuate 3,500 people from areas around the mountain, which is nearly 1,000 kilometers south of the Chilean capital, Santiago. The eruption also prompted authorities to shut a border crossing into Argentina.
Emergency officials recorded many small earthquakes in the region Saturday.
There have been no reports of injuries.
Chile has the second largest volcanic chain in the world after Indonesia. Of some 2,000 volcanoes in Chile, about 500 are active. Other Chilean volcanos, Llaima and Chaiten, have erupted in recent years.
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Pope Benedict says he supports Croatia's membership in the European Union (EU) if the mainly Catholic Balkan nation helps to defend Christian values. The pontiff made his remarks in the capital, Zagreb, at the start of his two-day trip to the country.
A small boy and a small girl, dressed in traditional Croatian costumes, were among the first to meet Pope Benedict, handing him a bouquet of flowers.
The pontiff's arrival at Zagreb's Pleso airport marked the beginning of his first visit to Croatia, at a time when it seeks membership in the European Union.
A military honor guard stood nearby as the 84-year-old pope slowly walked over a red carpet to a platform to shield him from the burning Balkan sun.
There, Croatia's President Ivo Josipovic told Pope Benedict that his trip comes at a historic moment for Croatia, where nearly nine out of 10 people are Roman Catholics.
Mr. Josipovic says that as president he shares "the joy of millions of Croatian Catholic believers who are greeting" the pope on this pastoral visit. The president recalls that Croatia declared itself an independent democratic state 20 years ago and that the Vatican was among the first to recognize this Balkan nation. The 20th anniversary also coincides with the expected completion of Croatia's European Union membership negotiations.
President Josipovic also said the Roman Catholic church played a key role in "ending aggression" against his country, a reference to attacks by Serb forces who opposed Croatia's independence from Serb-led Yugoslavia in 1991.
Pope Benedict stood up, saying he supports European Union membership for Croatia. However, he also made clear that he expects Croatia to protect Christian values. Pope Benedict spoke of Croatia sharing its human and Christian values with other European countries as it enters the European Union, and that he wants the country to help Europe preserve what he called the "common heritage" of Christian values.
The Vatican has expressed concerns about what it views as Europe straying away from Christianity, amid growing materialism and secularism.
Croatia is expected to learn this month or next if talks to join the 27-member EU can be concluded, with membership expected in 2012 or 2013. Croatian officials hope Pope Benedict will help to make more people enthusiastic for membership.
Anti-EU sentiment grew in April after the Netherlands-based United Nations Tribunal sentenced wartime General Ante Gotovina to 24 years in prison because of his role in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied.
The EU had made his transfer to the tribunal a key condition for Croatia's membership, but many Croats view the general as a hero.
There have also been protests against the pope's arrival by people who oppose spending several millions of dollars on the trip at a time of economic crisis.
On Sunday, the pontiff is to celebrate Mass to mark the Croatian national family day. He was also to pray before the tomb of World War II era anti-communist Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, whom the late Pope John Paul beatified during a 1998 trip.
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India's defense minister says India would likely retaliate if Pakistan-based militants launched an attack similar to the Mumbai assaults that killed more than 160 people.
M.M. Pallam Raju said Saturday at a security conference in Singapore that India, if attacked again, would have difficulty justifying what he called "the self-restraint" it showed in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
India has long suspected that members of Pakistan's intelligence agency were involved in the Mumbai attack. The Pakistani government has denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani-American man has recently confessed in a trial in Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois that he scouted the Mumbai sites and received weapons and other training from the Pakistan militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. David Headly said Lashkar has links with Pakistan intelligence.
Laskhar terrorists took over a hotel, a Jewish center and other buildings in Mumbai for three days in November 2008. The attack killed 166 people.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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Yemen's state media say that several officials wounded in Friday's attack on the presidential compound are being treated in Saudi Arabia, but officials denied a report that President Ali Abdullah Saleh is among them.
Yemeni officials said President Saleh is in a military hospital in Yemen receiving treatment for what they said were minor injuries suffered in the attack. Saleh has not been seen in public since then, but gave an audio address late Friday saying he was well.
Deputy Information Minister Abdu Janadi Saturday tried to counter reports that Saleh had left for treatment abroad.
He said that President Saleh is still in Sana'a, but the head of the parliament, the prime minister, and other officials have been taken to Saudi Arabia. He insists that President Saleh is in excellent health, and his injuries were light.
Officials blame members of the al-Ahmar clan for Friday's attack, which hit the president's mosque and, according to officials, killed seven people. Clan members deny they were involved, adding they would take credit if they had been.
Fighting between the government and al-Ahmar loyalists continued Saturday in the capital, with rocket fire and machine gunfire heard in the family's al-Hasaba district. While the forces arrayed against Saleh are many - political, military, tribal and Islamist - the violence has even some of his fiercest critics concerned.
General Abdullah Allawiya is a former defense minister who has broken with the president, and represents many of the opposition army officers.
He says they repeat their adherence to the peaceful nature of the revolution and strongly condemn all attempts by some parties to try to push the country into civil war.
The opposition wants Saleh to sign a Gulf Cooperation Council plan that would see a transition to a more representative government, but he has rejected it three times.
With no end to the violence in sight, more residents are trying to leave the capital, while at government checkpoints, troops are trying to prevent supporters of the al-Ahmar clan and the wider Hashid tribal federation from entering. Among those staying, there was widespread suspicion about both the extent of the president's injuries as well as the perpetrators of the attack - a tendency toward conspiracy resulting, in part, from decades of government media manipulation. This Sana'a resident believes the attack could have been for any number of reasons.
He says it could be the work of Saleh himself, or spring from internal disputes within the presidential palace, or even have been a mistaken attack intended for members of the al-Ahmar clan or political protesters who have been holding anti-government rallies.
Whatever the cause, the attack was the first time in the four months of unrest that the president's compound was hit. What began as peaceful political protests has threatened to spiral out of control in the past two weeks, with fighting in other cities, including Taiz and Zinjibar as well as the capital.
The upheaval is prompting more countries, including Germany, India and Britain, Saturday to work to evacuate their citizens or advise them to leave as soon as possible.
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Fighting broke out again in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a Saturday, with the forces of President Ali Abdullah Saleh shelling the homes of anti-government leaders.
Sporadic rocket fire and firefights erupted in the al-Hasaba district of northern Sana'a, the home base of dissident tribesman Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar. He is a leader of what Saleh said was a "gang of outlaws" that carried out a rocket attack on the presidential compound Friday. Thousands fled the city on Saturday and roads were clogged at daybreak.
Seven people were killed in the rocket attack Friday, including key government officials, while Saleh was "lightly wounded" as the group attended prayers at a mosque inside the presidential compound.
Several top government officials wounded in the attack were flown to neighboring Saudi Arabia for treatment. Al-Arabiya TV reported that Saleh was among them, but a Yemeni spokesman said the report was not true and that he was still in Yemen.
The ongoing warfare between forces loyal to Saleh and anti-government protesters seemed to leave the country on the brink of a civil war. Saleh has three times promised to end his 33-year reign in a deal brokered by neighboring countries, but so far has reneged on the agreement.
Nearly 400 people have been killed since a popular uprising began against Saleh in January.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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A series of bombings rattled Afghanistan Saturday, increasing the death toll in the troubled country.
In eastern Afghanistan, four NATO troops were killed in what the coalition said was a roadside bombing.
Earlier, NATO said two of its members were killed in separate attacks on Friday in southern Afghanistan.
At least 220 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year.
The continuous bombings are also taking a toll on the civilian population.
Officials at Kandahar University said two students died and at least two people were injured following bombings there Saturday.
Witnesses said the first bomb was hidden on a motorcycle and that the second blast went off after a crowd started to gather around the victims.
Afghan police say one of the victims was a student who also served as the secretary to Kandahar's chief of police.
The U.S. commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, warned last month of a tough summer ahead as insurgents bid to show they are still a potent force amid what he said was crucial progress made by the international coalition.
The Taliban announced the start of its spring and summer fighting season at the end of April.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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