Two suspected Palestinian militants died and an Israeli soldier was wounded late Saturday in an exchange of gunfire near the border of the Gaza Strip with Israel, the Israeli army announced.

Soldiers spotted the two Palestinians near the security barrier separating Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza and opened fire, killing them after a gun battle lasting some 20 minutes, an army spokesman said.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has assured Prime Minister Saad Hariri of U.S. support as a U.N. tribunal probes the 2005 assassination of his father stoking tensions in Lebanon.

Biden "spoke by phone today (Friday) with... Hariri to discuss recent developments in Lebanon and the region," the White House said in a statement, adding the vice president "reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence, and stability."

Soul legend Aretha Franklin has cancer and underwent surgery last week, media reported Wednesday, after she canceled engagements for the near future.

Fox 2 News in Detroit cited a relative as saying the 68-year-old "Queen of Soul" is doing "OK," but that the family is very concerned, and is asking for supporters to send their thoughts and prayers.

Sources close to the Elysee Palace revealed on Friday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad affirmed to his French counterpart Nicola Sarkozy that Syria will not present an initiative to solve the Lebanese crisis even though he is aware that the Lebanese are unable to reach a settlement themselves.

Al-Balad French reported the sources as saying that the meeting between Sarkozy and Assad focused on the need for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to continue its work.

Countries in the Gulf share the U.S. view on the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program and support an approach focused on sanctions against Tehran, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

"I think there is general support in the region for applying the sanctions and for doing what we can to make the sanctions effective, in trying to influence the Iranian government to walk away from their nuclear weapons program," Gates told reporters on his plane after a visit to the region.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday ruled out negotiations with Israel as long as it refuses to freeze settlement building, but did not specify if he would agree to indirect talks.

"We will not accept negotiations as long as settlements continue," Abbas told reporters in Cairo after more than one hour of talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Hackers claimed Wednesday to have attacked the websites of Mastercard and a Swiss bank in apparent revenge for their decisions to choke off funding for the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

But WikiLeaks insisted it had nothing to do with the hacking.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit urged the international community on Wednesday to call an "end game" in Middle East peace talks and set clear deadlines for reaching Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

"The Egyptian view is as follows: Let's agree on an end game," Abul Gheit said after talks in Sofia with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolay Mladenov.

A fire killed at least 81 inmates in Santiago early Wednesday in what officials called the worst ever disaster at a Chilean prison.

"It's an immense tragedy -- probably the worst in the history of our prison system," said Health Minister Jaime Manalich, after firefighters extinguished the blaze that swept through a jail in the capital city.

Marine experts on Wednesday quizzed witnesses to shark attacks as beaches at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh remained closed after a woman was torn apart by a shark.

South Sinai governor Mohammed Shosha told Agence France Presse authorities would announce later in the day whether they would reopen beaches which are visited each year by between three and four million tourists.