The fear in the past few days has been that the violence in Gaza could spread to northern Israel and the Lebanese border area, Mike Sergeant reports from Jerusalem.

BBC: Israel bombs Gaza into the night

The Turkish military said Saturday's air operation targeted the PKK's "hiding positions" in the Avasin-Basyan area of northern Iraq near the border with Turkey.

CNN: Turkish airstrikes target Kurdish rebels

Moderate conditions prevail along the northern Front Range from the Denver area to the Wyoming border.

MSN: Despite snow, Colorado's drought outlook uncertain

Mr Berger said that although the Dundalk area, just south of the Northern Ireland border, had been badly affected by the Troubles, it was currently "a model of economic regeneration".

BBC: Clinton 'will not negotiate' in NI

Later, Hagel was flown in an Israeli Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over northern Israel to view the Golan Heights, an area along the Syrian border that Israel captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.

NPR: Hagel: US Committed To Israel's Military Edge

Islamist rebels are believed to have retreated to the Ifoghas mountains - a desert area in the Kidal region near the border with Algeria - after being forced from northern population centres in recent weeks.

BBC: Mali conflict: 'Many die' in Ifoghas mountain battle

He said that using the same method, scientists determined another area that was "ready" for a potentially devastating shaking - northern Chile, close to the border with Peru.

BBC: Further Chile earthquakes 'possible', say scientists

The group of Syrian soldiers and government employees had entered Iraq through the Yaarubiyeh border in the northern Nineveh province over the weekend, as anti-government rebels launched an attack on the area.

BBC: Attackers 'kill Syrian soldiers' in Iraq