Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu condemns a unity deal between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, saying it damages prospects for peace.

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Israel condemns Fatah-Hamas move

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority embraced reconciliation with the Hamas movement, but much remains to be done, and the effect on a bid for Palestinian statehood remains unknown.

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Unity Deal Brings Risks for Abbas and Israel

The political leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, is due to visit Jordan, 13 years after it expelled Hamas leaders.

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Hamas leader goes back to Jordan

Israel faced an escalating cyber war on Monday as unknown attackers disrupted access to the symbolically strategic Web sites of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and El Al, the national airline.

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Cyberattacks Temporarily Cripple 2 Israeli Web Sites

I grew up on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, which is known to the world as Atlantis. My father was a pioneer in the casino industry. Everything about our lives revolved around being a part of the resort. It became part of my blood. I was 7 years old when we moved to Atlantic City. It wasn’t much different. My dad was part of the group that opened Resorts International more than 30 years ago. Read full article > >

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New at the top: Robert J. Norton

At least five Palestinians at an Islamic Jihad training site in southern Gaza were killed, according to witnesses and the militant group, and militants responded with rocket fire.

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Israeli Drone Strike Kills Militants in Gaza

Twenty-five Egyptian prisoners were set free in exchange for the freedom of Ilan Grapel, an American-Israeli dual citizen who was charged with spying in Egypt.

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Ilan Grapel, an American-Israeli Held by Egypt, Is Released in Prisoner Exchange

Israel released the names of the first Palestinian prisoners that it will exchange for a soldier held by Hamas, most of whom have been convicted of manslaughter, attempted murder or intentionally causing death.

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Israel Releases Names of 477 Prisoners to Be Freed in Trade

One result of the deal could be a more confrontational, Hamas-imbued Palestinian movement that could reshape regional relationships and pose a challenge to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

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Israel-Hamas Prisoner Swap May Reshape Regional Politics

For those dismayed at the domination of Israeli politics by extreme right-wing war criminals , this has truly been a summer to remember. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who long claimed he could not negotiate peace with a “divided” Palestinian people, suddenly reversed himself after the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement was announced. Netanyahu then traveled to the United States to publicly embarrass President Obama for doing nothing more than repeating what U.S. Presidents have said for years: that the pre-1967 borders should be the basis for Palestinian-Israeli settlement talks. This was followed by a typically hyperbolic speech before a joint session of Congress in which Netanyahu received many standing ovations for blatant lies (e.g., that the West Bank is not occupied territory) and for his racist characterizations of Palestinians as terrorists.

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A Long, Strange, and Conservative Summer in Israeli Politics

MIAMI — Hurricane Katia has weakened to a Category 3 storm as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean after briefly becoming a Category 4 system. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Katia’s maximum sustained winds early Tuesday have decreased to near 125 mph (205 kph). The hurricane center says some fluctuation in strength is possible over the next 24 hours followed by slow weakening. Forecast maps show Katia veering to the northeast, away from the U.S. in the coming week, but the hurricane center says large swells from the hurricane could affect the East Coast, Bermuda, the Greater Antilles and parts of the Bahamas over the next few days. Read full article > >

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Hurricane Katia weakens to a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds as it crosses the Atlantic

MIAMI — Hurricane Katia has weakened to a Category 3 storm as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean after briefly becoming a Category 4 system. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Katia’s maximum sustained winds early Tuesday have decreased to near 125 mph (205 kph). The hurricane center says some fluctuation in strength is possible over the next 24 hours followed by slow weakening. Forecast maps show Katia veering to the northeast, away from the U.S. in the coming week, but the hurricane center says large swells from the hurricane could affect the East Coast, Bermuda, the Greater Antilles and parts of the Bahamas over the next few days. Read full article > >

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Hurricane Katia weakens to a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds as it crosses the Atlantic

Egypt said on Saturday it would recall its ambassador to Israel, the latest development that threatened to undermine a decades-old peace between the two countries.

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Egypt Recalls Ambassador to Israel Over Shootings

The high school students had won scholarships to attend school in the United States, where they were to stay with host families.

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No U.S. Trip for Students From Gaza, Hamas Says

The Hamas military wing announced early Saturday that it was ending a de facto two-year truce with Israel as the Israeli military continued to attack sites in Gaza.

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Hamas military calls off truce with Israel