* Abbas appoints Salam Fayyad as new PA prime minister Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas appointed former finance minister Salam Fayyad as the new PA prime minister on Friday.

* Olmert appoints Barak defense minister The government unanimously approved the appointment of newly elected Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak as Israel’s next defense minister.

* Fighting flares at Lebanon camp Four Lebanese soldiers have been killed in renewed clashes with Islamist militants entrenched in a Palestinian refugee camp, officials say.

* US to continue training Abbas’ guard The United States will continue financing the Palestinian Authority’s presidential guard.

* Final ‘surge’ troops arrive in Iraq The US military has said it completed the deployment of extra troops to Iraq as part of the “surge” aimed at curbing sectarian violence.

* ‘Multinational force must fight Hamas’ A proposed multinational force deployed along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt must be willing to fight Hamas to stop weapons smuggling in the area.

* Turkey president calls referendum Turkey’s president has called a referendum on plans to for the head of state to be elected directly by the public rather than by parliament.

* Arab Media Reports Syria Making Preparations for War with Israel A Qatari newspaper, Al Watan, reported Friday that Syria is making concrete preparations for war with Israel.

* The fall of Gaza First Hamas won at the ballot box, now it has won again, with bullets.

* US sticks to European missile shield plan NATO and Washington have poured cold water on Moscow’s offer to use a Russia-operated radar base in Azerbaijan.