02/28/13

* Iraqi PM warns Syrian rebel victory will bring chaos Iraq's prime minister warned Wednesday that a victory for Syria's rebels will spark sectarian wars in his own country and in Lebanon.

* EU diplomats urge financial sanctions on Israeli settlers Senior EU diplomats have called for financial sanctions and travel bans on Israeli settlers in a last-ditch effort to save the Middle East peace process.

* Palestinians in Israeli jail end hunger strike Palestinian prisoners held by Israel have ended their hunger strike of nearly three months and two other hunger strikers have been hospitalized.

* US: $60 million in new aid to Syria opposition The Obama administration said Thursday that it will provide the Syrian opposition with an additional $60 million in assistance.

* Erdogan calls Zionism a 'crime against humanity' Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday described Zionism as a "crime against humanity" on par with anti-Semitism and fascism.

* Liberman: West 'stands down' as Iran 'races' toward bomb The world has been retreating in the face of Iran's rush toward nuclear weapons capability.

* Gaza's massive haul of devil rays sparks big fish story Palestinian fishermen on Wednesday dragged hundreds of endangered rays out of the waters off the Gaza Strip.

* New sophisticated malware targets 23 countries, including Israel Israel is one of 23 countries targeted by a just-born virus that cleverly exploits Adobe Reader PDF files to install a new, highly customized malicious program on computers.

* Expert: Stuxnet part of long-term effort to stop Iran nukes Stuxnet, the virus that attacked Iran's nuclear program and that may or may not have been developed by Israel and the US, was already doing its destructive work in 2007.

* Pope Benedict quits Vatican with promise to obey successor Pope Benedict left the Vatican on Thursday after pledging unconditional obedience to whoever succeeds him to guide the Roman Catholic Church.