Moscow, Dec 22 (DPA) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Russia Sunday strongly criticized the radical Islamic Hamas movement.

Tehran, Dec 22 (DPA) The Tehran offices of Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi have been closed and sealed off by Iranian police, local media reported.

Tel Aviv/Gaza City, Dec 22 (DPA) Palestinian militants pounded Israel with rockets Sunday, and Israel launched an air strike against a rocket-launching squad, as violence returned to southern Israel and the Gaza Strip after the end of a six-month truce.

Tehran, Dec 22 (DPA) Iran Sunday warned the US over the dispatch of a further 3,000 troops to Afghanistan early next year in support of some 30,000 troops already involved in the conflict with the Taliban.

Baghdad, Dec 21 (Xinhua) Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Sunday said he would not file a lawsuit against the reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush during a news conference here last week.

Tehran, Dec 21 (DPA) The police Sunday closed and sealed off the office of Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi in Tehran, sources close to Ebadi said.

Tehran, Dec 21 (DPA) The police Sunday closed and sealed off the office of Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi in Tehran, sources close to Ebadi said.

Shanghai, Dec 21 (Xinhua) China Sunday announced a 10-point plan, including financial aid, to help Taiwan through the global economic crisis.