* Somalia Interior Minister Killed by Al Qaeda Locals A local Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group has murdered Somalia’s interior minister.

* Hezbollah rise in Lebanon gives Syria, Iran sway Hezbollah and its allies rose to a position of unprecedented dominance in Lebanon’s government on Monday, giving patrons Syria and Iran greater sway in the Middle East.

* Israel Holds Out Olive Branch to Turkey Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, visiting Italy, held out an olive branch on Monday for Turkey following Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election.

* Turkey election: Victorious Erdogan pledges consensus Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to build consensus with opposition parties, after securing a third term in office.

* Lebanon PM: New government to liberate land under occupation of Israeli enemy Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati announces long-delayed new government dominated by allies of Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is likely to cause alarm among Western powers.

* Lithuania gets EU backing for confrontation with Communist past A strong promoter of shedding light on the crimes against humanity committed under the Soviet occupation, Lithuania on Friday managed to get the political backing of the other 26 EU member states for measures aimed at educating the public about all totalitarian regimes in Europe.

* More Israeli-Vatican Talks, Following Vatican Call for PA State Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon heads Monday for the Vatican, leading an Israeli delegation taking part in a plenary session of the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between Israel and the Vatican.

* Abbas Set to Fire Dahlan in PA Power Struggle Palestinian Authority PA Chairman and Fatah party leader Mahmoud Abbas is tying to fire Mohammed Dahlan, his former Gaza strongman, but the Fatah movement’s Revolutionary Council is resisting and wants Dahlan investigated for corruption.

* Tony Blair reads Quran, Bible daily In interview with Observer Former British PM discusses his intriguing reading habits and why he now has better understanding of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

* Attacks on Christians: Can Egypt Deal with Extremist Mobs? “I didn’t know what was happening,” he says. But before he could consider the possibilities, the mob had pulled him from the truck. “They demanded to know if I was Christian.”