Hezbollah fighters sweep over much of Beirut's Muslim sector

The Shiite fighters' success in three days of street fighting dramatically strengthened the hand of the Hezbollah-led opposition in the bitter political struggle with pro-Western factions over who will guide the country.

But Hezbollah leaders signaled they weren't looking for a bloody showdown by pulling back their fighters late in the day. The group, and gunmen from allied groups, also steered clear of government buildings and made no attempt to advance toward Beirut's Christian area.

The Western-backed government, which holds only a small majority in parliament, and opposition parties led by Hezbollah have been deadlocked for 17 months over the government's course.

Sporadic street clashes had broken out the past year. But combat erupted this week after the Cabinet sought to rein in Hezbollah by ordering the removal of an airport security chief with ties to the group and demanding the dismantling of the movement's private phone network.

The quick humiliation of Sunni fighters -- who are far less organized than Hezbollah's militia -- showed the Shiite group is more than strong enough to prevent actions it opposes.

Election in Serbia may cripple hunt for Gen. Ratko Mladic

BELGRADE, Serbia -- For 13 years, he has eluded capture for atrocities a U.N. judge described as "scenes from hell ... written on the darkest pages of human history."

Gen. Ratko Mladic -- indicted for genocide in the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia -- remains one of the world's most-wanted fugitives. But Serbia's lukewarm pledge to capture him will give way to open defiance if ultranationalists win Sunday's elections.

Western officials have all but given up hope that the 65-year-old Bosnian Serb military leader -- believed to be hiding somewhere in Serbia -- will ever face justice.

Attack from Gaza kills 1, Israeli retaliation kills 5

KFAR AZA, Israel -- Gaza attackers sent mortar shells crashing into a border community late Friday, killing an Israeli in his garden and wounding three others, officials said. Israel retaliated with missile strikes that left five Hamas militants dead.

The surge in violence added pressure on Egyptian-led attempts to halt clashes between Gaza militants and the Israeli military.

Gaza's ruling Hamas movement claimed responsibility for the deadly mortar fire on Kfar Aza, a communal farm in southern Israel.

Hours later, Israeli aircraft fired missiles that slammed into two Hamas police stations in southern Gaza, killing five militants, Hamas and Gaza health officials said. The Israeli military confirmed the airstrike and said it was responding to attacks on Israel, including the deadly mortar fire on Kfar Aza.

Palestinian militants frequently fire crude rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel from Gaza, killing 14 people since late 2001.

Their pessimism reflects a growing sense of resignation that no matter who is in charge in Belgrade, U.S. and European policy toward Serbia has failed, despite years of haranguing and a $5 million State Department bounty on Mladic's head.

"It's very discouraging because we felt there was a real possibility that Mladic would be handed over," said Alex Whiting, an ex-prosecutor with the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands.

"The Serbian government has played a waiting game and has just worn down the international community," said Whiting, now an assistant professor at Harvard Law School.

Rocket hits BBC bureau in Baghdad

BAGHDAD -- Shiite militants launched rockets toward the fortified Green Zone on Friday, taking advantage of a sandstorm that gave cover from attacks by U.S. aircraft. Some rockets fell short, including one that damaged the British Broadcasting Corp. bureau.

At least seven other rocket explosions were heard. But U.S. authorities did not confirm any strikes inside the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. Embassy and much of the Iraqi government.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, said Iraqi authorities mistakenly announced Thursday that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, had been captured in the northern city of Mosul. American officials said a man who was arrested had a name similar to al-Masri's.

There have been false alarms in the past about al-Masri. At least twice -- in 2006 and last May -- reports circulated that he was dead.

Russia puts tanks and missiles back in Red Square parade

MOSCOW -- Russia showcased its military might and youthful new president to the world Friday, as heavy tanks and missile launchers rumbled across Red Square in a Victory Day parade for the first time since the Soviet era.

In a nationally broadcast speech two days after his inauguration, President Dmitry Medvedev avoided the bellicose rhetoric of his mentor and predecessor, Vladimir Putin, who drew parallels between United States and Nazi Germany during last year's parade.

However, in his speech marking victory over Adolf Hitler's Germany, the 42-year-old Medvedev said the history of World War II demonstrated that military conflicts are rooted in "irresponsible ambitions which prevail over interests of nations and entire continents."

"We must not allow contempt for the norms of international law," he said, in what sounded like veiled criticism of the United States and its Western allies.