AP - President Bush is putting the finishing touch on his celebrate-and-be-celebrated Israel stay, leaving the Holy Land with no movement on Mideast peace but hoping to fare better in Saudi Arabia at obtaining help for soaring gas prices at home.

AFP - US President George W. Bush was wrapping up a visit to Israel on Friday before heading on to the world's biggest crude producer Saudi Arabia for talks on record oil prices that have hit Western consumers hard.

AFP - Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden will release a new audio-video message to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel, US groups monitoring Islamist websites said Thursday.

Reuters - President George W. Bush heads for Saudi Arabia on Friday to renew his appeal to help tame record oil prices and try to shore up Arab support for containing Iran's growing regional clout.

Reuters - Rival Lebanese leaders are scheduled to talks in Qatar on Friday aiming to end a protracted political conflict that pushed the country to the brink of a new civil war.

AFP - Squabbling Lebanese factions agreed on an Arab League-mediated deal on Thursday to begin talks on defusing a long-running feud that drove the deeply divided country to the brink of a new civil war.

AP - A Jewish-American billionaire questioned by police as part of a corruption investigation into Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday he has never given money to the Israeli leader and called suggestions of any wrongdoing "insulting."

AP - Hezbollah has proven it can force Lebanon's U.S.-backed government to cave in on key issues. But the Shiite militant group's power is not absolute ? the government is still in place and Hezbollah has lost support among the people by turning its guns on them.

AFP - The employers of a Palestinian cameraman who was killed by Israeli tank fire while filming in the Gaza Strip a month ago called for answers over his death from Israel's military Thursday.

AFP - Israel warned on Thursday that its forces were prepared to launch a major military assault on Gaza after a rocket attack wounded at least 14 people while US President George W. Bush was in Israel.

AFP - Palestinians protested across the occupied territories on Thursday on the 60th anniversary of the "catastrophe" of the birth of Israel and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

AFP - US President George W. Bush warned on Thursday that allowing Iran to obtain a atomic bomb would be "an unforgivable betrayal" as he made his second visit to Israel in five months.

AP - On a sun-baked tour Thursday of an ancient Israeli fortress overlooking the Dead Sea, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took a sip of water from a silver cup, then handed it to President Bush.

Reuters - President George W. Bush told Israelis on Thursday they were a "chosen people" who can forever count on American support against enemies like Hamas and Iran.

AFP - Militants loyal to Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition on Thursday began removing roadblocks on the highway leading to Beirut's international airport, paving the way for commercial flights to resume, an AFP correspondent said.

AP - Palestinians marked the 60th anniversary of their uprooting with rallies, sirens and black balloons Thursday ? an annual ritual made even darker this year by crippling internal divisions and diminishing independence hopes.

Reuters - A month after journalist Fadel Shana was killed by an Israeli tank crew in the Gaza Strip, Reuters renewed its demand on Thursday for a prompt explanation from the Israeli army of why it fired on its cameraman.

Reuters - George W. Bush, in the Middle East to encourage struggling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, has emphasized historic ties with Israel saying the United States was its "oldest and best friend in the world."