Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has rejected the Arab League's support for resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and Palestinians.

Ismail Radwan, a senior member of Hamas, said on Thursday that the movement rejects "any cover for the resumption of direct discussions with the Zionist occupation."

Police in Phoenix have arrested over a dozen people taking part in hundreds-strong protests against Arizona's controversial immigration law.

The protesters took to the streets of Phoenix on Thursday, denouncing the controversial law, SB 1070, as racist and discriminatory, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The White House is trying to make it easier for the FBI to ask companies for records of an individual's internet activities without a court order.

President Barack Obama's administration has asked the US Congress to amend the statute, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, in the fiscal year that begins in October.

The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) has appointed General Peter Wall to take over as the new Chief of the General Staff in September this year.

The 55-year-old general will replace General David Richards, who becomes chief of the defense staff in October.

A local court has ordered the Japanese government to compensate residents living near a US airbase on the southern island of Okinawa for noise pollution.

"Due to the noise of the aircraft, the plaintiffs' ... rights to basic benefits from their daily lives are being violated and they are incurring damages such as mental suffering," said presiding Judge Yoshinori Kawabe.

Hundreds of Afghans have taken to the streets in the southwestern Helmand province to voice their anger at the killing of a 65-year-old man by US troops.

The demonstrators gathered outside the governor's office, carrying his body on Thursday.

An Afghan youth in the southeastern province of Paktia has challenged US troops to a wrestling competition, saying he can beat to strong US soldiers simultaneously.

He says such a competition could be held in presence of hundreds of spectators, a Press TV correspondent reported.

As relations between Colombia and Venezuela deteriorate, Argentina has stepped in to restore diplomatic ties between the two neighbors.

With Colombia and Venezuela on the brink of war, the South American community is trying to find a peaceful solution.

The Lebanese Army says two Israeli surveillance aircraft have violated the country's airspace, with one of them staying around for about 11 hours.

One reconnaissance plane entered the airspace at 6:30 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday, Press TV's correspondent in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Ali Rizk reported on Thursday, citing an Army statement. It flew over south Lebanon and the western Bekaa region before leaving at 5:20 p.m.

The UK prime minister's comments on Pakistan's record on fighting militancy have sparked angry reactions from both within the UK and outside.

Speaking in the Indian city of Bangalore on Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron accused Pakistan of "exporting terror."