VENEZUELA - Protesters cheer envoy's expulsion
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) : Protesters condemning Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip sprayed graffiti and hurled shoes at the country's embassy in Venezuela yesterday, backing President Hugo Chávez's decision to expel the Israeli ambassador...

MIDEAST - UN halts aid shipments
JERUSALEM (AP): The United Nations halted deliveries to the Gaza Strip yesterday after gunfire from an Israeli tank killed an aid truck driver, and the international Red Cross said it would restrict activities after one of its drivers was injured ...

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - US-led force to battle pirates
DUBAI (AP): A new international naval force under American command will soon begin patrols to confront escalating attacks by Somali pirates, after more than 100 ships came under siege in the past year, the United States Navy...

MIDEAST- Lebanon fires rockets on Israel
JERUSALEM (AP): Militants in Lebanon fired at least three rockets into Israel early yesterday, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip...