Hizbullah stressed on Friday that the bombings that took place in Syria will not weaken the resolve of the forces of resistance in the region.

It said in a statement: “The United States and its regional proxies are behind the Damascus bombings.”

The United States on Thursday offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a key al-Qaida fundraiser, who is said to be a Syrian operating from Iran.

The reward for Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil marks the first time that a "terrorist financier" has been targeted in such a way, said Robert Hartung, assistant director for threat investigations with the State Department.

The United States on Wednesday warned of new international measures to halt Syria's bloody crackdown on protests after reports that more than 200 people had been "massacred" in two days.

The White House said if Damascus did not fully implement an Arab League plan to contain the violence, "the international community will take additional steps to pressure the Assad regime to stop its crackdown."

A small plane heading for Georgia spiraled out of control and crashed Tuesday morning on a major New York-area highway, hitting a wooded median and scattering wreckage across the road. All five people aboard, including two investment bankers, were killed, but no one on the ground was injured.

The pilot had discussed icy conditions with controllers just before the plane went down, but investigators were unsure what role, if any, icing played in the crash.

The United States government hit 10 firms linked to Iran's shipping industry with sanctions on Tuesday, accusing them of helping the Islamic Republic's missile and other military programs.

The Treasury Department said 10 Malta-based shipping and front companies and one individual were linked to the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, Irano Hind -- a joint venture with the Indian government -- and ISI Maritime.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to NATO-led night raids after the military insisted the operations will continue despite the recent death of a pregnant woman.

Karzai has led public criticism of the controversial raids, saying they endanger lives and harass local communities, and repeatedly called on U.S.-led international forces to stop entering Afghan homes.

The United States, its European allies and key Arab states are intensifying talks on how to maintain stability in the global energy markets in case of a formal embargo on Iran's oil exports and its central bank, The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday.

Citing unnamed U.S. and European officials, the newspaper said such an embargo would constitute the most direct economic confrontation yet between Iran and the West.

An alleged CIA agent being held in Tehran is a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin, state television said Sunday in a report showing the young man confessing to his "mission" to infiltrate the intelligence ministry.

The channel named him as Amir Mirzai Hekmati and said he was an American of Iranian descent, born in the U.S. state of Arizona.

Tens of thousands gathered in one of the biggest-ever protests in the Pakistani city of Lahore Sunday to condemn NATO and United States over the killing of 24 soldiers along the Afghan border.

The protestors, mainly from Islamist groups and political parties, vowed they would march to the capital Islamabad if the government did not cancel agreements with the U.S. designed to fight terrorism.

The last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border to neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday, whooping, fist bumping and hugging each other in a burst of joy and relief. Their exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered, with troubling questions lingering over whether the Arab nation will remain a steadfast U.S. ally.

The mission cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The question of whether it was worth it all is yet unanswered.