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ture operating against the State of Israel and its civilians."
• Nearly 300 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel in recent weeks, including a barrage of close to 100 projectiles on Monday alone, the military said, a huge surge after years of relative quiet that followed a previous Israeli campaign to root out Gaza rocket launchers.
• "We have repeatedly warned Hamas that this must stop and Israel's defense forces are currently acting to put an end of this once and for all," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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• TOKYO (AP) -- Moscow is cozying up to its old rival China. China is holding hands with Seoul. Tokyo is striking deals with Pyongyang.
• In the ever-shifting game of Asian alliances, where just about everybody has a dispute over something or can actually remember a shooting war with their neighbors, past grudges run deep. But expedience and pragmatism often run deeper.
• While U.S. President Barack Obama tries to develop his pivot to Asia policy, the region is rapidly spinning ahead in its own direction, energized by dynamic economies, expanding trade relations and a plethora of longstanding disputes and rivalries.
• For sure, the world's mightiest countries, themselves Pacific powers, still throw a lot of weight around. But as they jockey for advantage in the world's most populous region, relations across Asia are fluid. Many countries, both at the center of the power game and on the sidelines, have both a chance to capitalize and a risk of getting frozen out:
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• FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- In the mid-1950s, air travel was a shadow of the highly advanced operation of checks and rules seen today. The skies were largely uncontrolled, and pilots outside major U.S. cities relied on sight to avoid catastrophes.

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