Rocket explodes close to Israeli Minister 

BEIRUT: Rocket exploded close to Israeli Minister Tzipi Livni in Sha'ar HaNegev, Israeli Yedioth Ahronot reported.

The incident comes on the 12th day of Israel’s offensive on Gaza, as the death toll among the Palestinians has reached over 500, with two Israelis dead from rocket attacks and more than a dozen Israeli soldiers dead since the ground invasion began last week.

Gaza burning, UAE dispute

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi has accused the Al-Jazeera TV channel and websites close to Qatar of "fabricating" information suggesting UAE supported Israel's attack in Gaza, in the latest tensions between both countries.---------------

'What exactly are they trying to hide?' Obama says of Russiaand Ukrainian rebels

Hrabove, Ukraine (CNN) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. President Barack Obama lashed out Monday at Russia over conditions at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, saying Russian-backed rebels still are impeding efforts to find out exactly what happened.

Poroshenko, speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, pleaded for international solidarity against the pro-Russian rebels believed by many international officials to be responsible for firing the missile that downed the plane Thursday, killing all 298 aboard.

"I don't see any differences" between 9/11, the Lockerbie bombing and the attack on Flight 17, Poroshenko said, referring to the 2001 terror attacks on the United States and the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland in 1988.

Gaza's Shejaiya: a moonscape strewn with bodies

GAZA CITY: The ambulances and firetrucks of Gaza's emergency services gathered on the edge of the Shejaiya district to await news of a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group.

The word arrived at 1030GMT -- a two-hour truce to allow the retrieval of the dead and wounded, as well as evacuate the terrified people who remained inside the district after a night of non-stop Israeli tank fire.

A convoy of vehicles formed, advancing slowly into the district, with the sound of shelling still thudding through the air.

Egypt vows to punish attackers in checkpoint assault

Egypt vows to punish attackers in checkpoint assault

Cairo

CAIRO: Egypt vowed Sunday to punish the attackers who killed 22 border guards in its western desert near the frontier with restive Libya.Militants firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns attacked a checkpoint, 630 kilometers west of Cairo, Saturday, killing 22 soldiers and wounding another four.