VATICAN CITY (AP): Pope Benedict XVI issued an impassioned call yesterday for "the immediate cessation of all hostilities" in the Middle East, saying that "nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, wherever it is coming from."
BAGHDAD (Reuters): Thousands of Shi'ite civilians charged with guarding neighbourhoods in Iraq marched through Baghdad yesterday in a show of force likely to stir passions in a country ravaged by sectarian violence.
BEIRUT (AP): Hezbollah said yesterday it had fired a second round of Khaibar-1 rockets on the central Israeli town of Afula, south of Haifa. The announcement came hours after the guerrillas struck deeper into Israel than ever before...
