By Zakaria Al-Telimis, KUNA

Gaza : Armed hostilities between heavily-armed Israeli forces and ill-equipped Palestinian guerrillas resumed on medium scale in Gaza Strip on Monday.

Witnesses said Israeli gunship helicopters fired a rocket in the direction of a group of Palestinians in the town of Bait Hanoun in the north of the strip, wounding several of them.

By Xinhua

Jerusalem : Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pulled out the ground troops from the northern Gaza Strip early Monday morning, completing the first stage of the activity dubbed Operation Hot Winter.

By IRNA

Gaza City : Israel carried at least eight different air raids on Gaza early on Monday, killing five Palestinians.

The dead are said to be either members of the Hamas government police force or the Popular Resistance Committees group.

By Prensa Latina

Gaza : At least 100 Palestinians have been killed and over 300 wounded in the Israeli offensive of the last four days against the Gaza Strip, where still another two people were killed in a bombing on Sunday.

By Prensa Latina

Nairobi : A cholera outbreak in common Kenya and Somalia border areas has claimed another 43 lives in the last 15 days, according to reports released by both countries on Sunday.

Abubakar Abdi, Chief of Public Health in Mandera district, Kenya, said that at least 30 people, including six children, died in the said locality.

By Prensa Latina

Moscow : Russia, as acting chairman of the UN Security Council, issued its agenda that comprehends the situation in Kosovo, the Middle East, Afghanistan and anti-terror drive.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitali Churkin said those are among the top priorities on the agenda for its 30-day leadership beginning March 2.

By Prensa Latina

Washington : President George W. Bush's government decided to keep the current number of troops in Iraq, at least until July, Los Angeles Times daily confirmed on Sunday.

The White House is trying that the US military units help Baghdad's administration with security of the electoral process, scheduled for the coming months in the Arab country.

By Prensa Latina

United Nations : United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon condemned the attacks by Israeli armoured troops and air force against the Gaza Strip, causing 60 dead and more than 300 injured people among the Palestinian population, in his Saturday statements.

By NNN-WAM

Sharjah : Dana Gas, the Middle East's first and largest regional private sector natural gas company, has announced that its project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to supply, process and transport natural gas to fuel urgently needed local electricity generation is progressing at a rapid pace, with over 70 per cent overall project completion to date.

By NNN-Bernama

Sungai Petani : Newspapers will continue to be the preferred choice of media by Malaysians despite the development of sophisticated technology which makes it much easier for the people to have access to information, Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said here.