The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected 4 petitions by relatives of terrorist attacks to halt the transfer of Palestinian terrorists to numerous Arab countries in exchange for an Israeli Soldier kidnapped by Hamas.
Libyan rebels continue to battle Qaddaffi loyalists in pockets of Sirte and Bani Walid, while the Qaddaffi supporters have admitted the death of Qaddaffi's son Khamis, last August.
Fighting in Yemen's capital and elsewhere in the country has killed 8 people there.
Syrian rebels have killed five government Troops, while the UN and Arab League continue to talk about talking about it.
Jordan's Prime Minister has resigned amidst continued discontent there.
Iran says it's ready to consider evidence against it in the Saudi Ambassador assassination plot while continuing to deny its guilt.
The state-run IRNA news agency said Monday that Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi has urged the U.S. to present Iran with any existing documents in the case.
Iran has denied the allegations, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that any “inappropriate” political or security-related action by the United States on the issue will bring a “decisive response.”
He also said the U.S. allegations are an attempt to divert attention from its financial problems and protests at home.
Earlier Sunday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iranians are civilized and do not need to resort to assassination.
The highest-ranking U.S. Senator on intelligence matters, Diane Feinstein, told Fox News Sunday that U.S. authorities have collected ample evidence showing the involvement of Iran's elite Quds force in the plot.
She added there is “no question” that the Quds force is responsible for plotting several violent terrorist operations.
Last Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department announced it had broken up an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir. Officials said the U.S. had filed charges against two Iranians for involvement in the plot. Officials said one suspect was part of Iran's elite Quds Force.
On Friday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington had a direct meeting with Iranian officials over the alleged plot. She told reporters the meeting was to make it “absolutely clear” that the U.S. considers the alleged plot “unacceptable” and a violation of U.S. and international law.
Jordanian government officials say the prime minister has resigned.
Officials said Monday that King Abdullah plans to ask Awn al-Khasawneh, a judge in the International Court of Justice, to succeed Marouf al-Bakhit as prime minister and form a new Cabinet.
The change comes a day after a majority of parliament members called on the king to dismiss Mr. Bakhit.
Many Jordanians viewed the prime minister as unable to swiftly usher in domestic reforms.
King Abdullah dismissed his former government and appointed Mr. Bakhit as prime minister in February during protests for political change.
The king urged the new government then to take “practical and swift” steps to enact reforms.
Thousands of Jordanians had gone into the streets demanding the resignation of a government they blamed for rising food and fuel prices as well as the slow pace of political reforms.
Protests in Jordan continued, and in June, King Abdullah announced some concessions in an apparent bid to meet the demands of demonstrators.
He said he would pursue reforms that would allow the formation of future governments based on an elected parliamentary majority.
Syrian activists say clashes between security forces and gunmen believed to be army defectors have killed five government troops.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday the fighting occurred near a town in Homs province.
Clashes between government troops and suspected army defectors have been increasing in the province, as the authorities press a harsh crackdown on political opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.
From Switzerland Monday, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged President Assad to end the killing of civilians during the crackdown and accept an international inquiry into allegations of human rights abuses.
The United Nations says more than 3,000 people have been killed in Syria since anti-government protests began seven months ago.
The Arab League said late Sunday it would bring together Syria's government and opposition groups in an attempt to end the violence.
Clashes between troops loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and opposition forces have killed at least eight people in the capital, Sana'a.
Medical personnel said at least three of those killed in Monday's fighting were in the city's Change Square, which has served as a center of anti-government protests. The other victims were killed in overnight clashes around Sana'a.
The clashes come a day after loyalist forces shot at protesters in the capital, killing four. Activists there said tens of thousands of people gathered Sunday to call for the president's resignation.
There were also reports that forces in the southern city of Taiz killed one person.
Mr. Saleh has remained in office despite 10 months of mass demonstrations against his 33-year rule.
Mr. Saleh repeated in a speech earlier this month that he will not hand power to long-time rivals from the opposition parties. He said they have hijacked the youth activists' protest that began earlier this year and aim to “destroy the country.”
A Tribunal in the Haque is considering the trial of 4 Hezbollah terrorists in absentia for the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister.
The Special Tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is deciding whether to try in absentia four Hezbollah members charged with slaying the murdered Lebanese leader.
The tribunal, based in The Hague, made the announcement on Monday. The Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group has denied any involvement in the slaying.
The U.N.-backed tribunal for Lebanon identified the suspects in July as Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra.
The court has issued arrest warrants for the four, none of whom have been apprehended.
Judges with the tribunal can consider calling for a trial in absentia if the suspects are not arrested within 30 days of making their names public.
Mr. Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive truck bombing in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Libyan provisional government fighters say they have taken control of most of Bani Walid, one of the last remaining strongholds of loyalists to former leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Officials said Monday the anti-Gadhafi fighters reached the center of Bani Walid a day after launching a new assault on the desert town 170 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tripoli.
But NTC fighters continue to face pockets of resistance after weeks of fighting in and around the town.
Provisional authority forces are also trying to secure control of the coastal city of Sirte, the hometown of the ousted leader. Pro-Gadhafi fighters are hemmed into a small area of the city. National Transitional Council officials have said Sirte's capture would allow them to declare the country liberated.
Meanwhile, a Syria-based pro-Gadhafi television station says the former leader's son Khamis was killed in fighting in late August south of Tripoli.
Al-Rai television on Monday said Khamis Gadhafi was killed in the town of Tarhuna. NTC officials previously announced his death there, but Gadhafi loyalists had not confirmed the information.
Israel's Supreme Court has upheld the government's decision to exchange hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, setting the stage for the historic swap to begin early Tuesday.
The high court rejected four petitions submitted by relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks, thwarting a last-minute attempt to block the deal with the Islamist Hamas movement. The court had been widely expected not to intervene.
Under the exchange deal, 1,027 Palestinians will be freed in two stages in return for Shalit. The captured Israeli soldier will be released to Egyptian custody and then handed over to Israel at the same time as the Jewish state begins to free the Palestinians at various locations.
After his return, Shalit will be flown to an air base where he is to be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, other leaders and close family. Later, he will be taken to his home in northern Israel.
The Israeli state has transferred most of the 477 inmates expected to be released Tuesday to a holding facility in the Negev desert. About 100 will be sent to the West Bank and roughly 40 are to be deported to Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and Syria. The rest will be freed in Gaza, where Hamas has been readying a heroes' welcome. A second group of 550 inmates will be released over a two-month period.
Shalit was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists in a 2006 cross-border raid from Gaza into southern Israel.
Some of the prisoners to be released were involved in planning and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israelis, including more than 280 Palestinians serving life sentences. More than 100 are considered hardcore terrorists.
In Washington Monday, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said international mediators will meet separately with Palestinian and Israeli negotiators in Jerusalem on October 26, in an effort to re-launch peace talks. VOA.
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