Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cheering U.S. Congress on Tuesday he was willing to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, but he offered little concrete to entice Palestinians back to the bargaining table.

By giving such a high-profile speech before overwhelmingly supportive U.S. lawmakers, Netanyahu was able to demonstrate to Israelis that he retains strong backing in the United States despite his frosty relations with President Barack Obama.

The United States on Tuesday announced it is imposing sanctions against seven foreign firms, including Venezuelan, Singaporean, and Israeli companies, as part of efforts to check Iran's nuclear ambitions.

It also imposed sanctions against 16 other foreign firms and individuals, including from China, over trade with Iran, Syria and North Korea in goods or technology that may be used for weapons of mass destruction or missiles.

Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were on Tuesday referred to a criminal court on suspicion of graft and ordering deadly fire against anti-government protesters, state media reported.

The official MENA news agency said the 83-year-old former strongman and his two sons Alaa and Gamal have been charged with "premeditated murder of some participants in the peaceful protests of the January 25 revolution".

This week marks a new decade for Naharnet as it bids farewell to its 10-year-old website and enters a new era with a groundbreaking Content Management Platform completely built in-house.

The initial Naharnet 2.0 website will slowly develop into a new environment that will redefine Naharnet as a digital and social media destination for the Lebanese and Arabs across the world.

Shelling in Yemen's capital killed five supporters of a powerful chieftain on Tuesday, his tribe said, as clashes intensified between embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces and tribesmen seeking his ouster.

In the second successive day of fighting, a source close to tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar told Agence France Presse that "an armored vehicle stationed near the interior ministry fired shells and killed five people" outside his home.

President Barack Obama is a "pawn" who cannot save Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"You are a pawn who has been given a mission to save American and the Zionist regime but of course you won't be able to do it," Ahmadinejad said, addressing the U.S. president.

Libya's rebels have accepted an invitation to open a representative office in Washington, top United States official Jeffrey Feltman said on Tuesday.

"I delivered a formal invitation to the council for the opening of a representation in Washington," Feltman told a news conference, referring to the rebels' National Transitional Council.

Palestinian authorities do not intend to declare unilateral independence, a top Fatah member said Tuesday following talks with senior Russian officials.

"We do not intend to unilaterally declare independence," Fatah member Azzam al-Ahmed said one day after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was recovering from a procedure in hospital Tuesday after suffering heart trouble during a private U.S. visit, his office said.

Fayyad was taken to the Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas on Sunday after complaining of "severe pains in the chest," the premier's office in Ramallah said in a statement.

Powerful explosions rocked Tripoli Tuesday as NATO launched its heaviest bombardment yet of the capital, while France and Britain piled pressure on Moammar Gadhafi by bringing attack helicopters into the Libya fray.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters that at least three people died and 150 were wounded in the air strikes, which he said targeted a deserted military barracks but which instead hit civilians living nearby.