Kuwait's appeals court on Wednesday reduced to three months a one-year jail term given to a prominent writer and journalist for allegedly slandering the prime minister, his lawyer said.

The ruling means that Mohammad Abdulqader al-Jassem, who was arrested on November 22, will remain in jail at least for the time being, Abdullah al-Ahmad told AFP.

Iraqi Premier-designate Nuri al-Maliki has received orders from Iran to give the Iraqi nationality to Hizbullah members and protect them against the indictment of the international tribunal, a former Iraqi lawmaker told the Saudi daily al-Watan.

Al-Maliki "received Iranian orders to give the Iraqi nationality to members of the Lebanese Hizbullah after formation of the new cabinet," the former MP said in remarks published on Wednesday.

Israeli gunfire wounded two Palestinians near the Erez checkpoint on the border with Israel on Tuesday, a Palestinian medical source said.

The two men were among a group collecting gravel for construction north of Beit Hanoun, in an area which the Israeli military has declared a no-go zone for Palestinians.

Iran said Tuesday its nuclear and foreign policies will not change after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and replaced him with the atomic chief.

"Iran's major international policies are defined in higher levels and the foreign ministry executes these policies. We will not see any changes in our basic policies," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly briefing.

The showdown over Iran's nuclear pursuit is "still in the stage of diplomacy," and extended sanctions against the regime could help prevent it from acquiring atomic weapons, Israel's defense minister said in comments broadcast Sunday.

"I think that it's still in the stage of diplomacy," Ehud Barak told CNN in an interview.

Winds, rain and hail battered the eastern Mediterranean for a second day on Sunday, wreaking havoc across the region as a months-long drought came to a sudden, drastic end.

Drought-stricken countries across the Middle East had been praying for rain for weeks when weather conditions turned violent at the weekend, with at least four people killed and another feared dead as gale-force winds and torrential rain pounded the coastline.

Palestinian officials expressed doubt and frustration on Sunday about the future of peace talks after the United States failed to secure a new settlement freeze.

n a speech on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged that Washington would remain engaged despite the failure, encouraging the two sides to address core issues through indirect talks

Suicide attacks targeting a police checkpoint and a Shiite Muslim procession in western and central Iraq on Sunday killed 10 people, including six policemen, police and a doctor said.

The violence comes two weeks ahead of a deadline for Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki to form a cabinet in a bid to end months of government impasse, and days before the climax of the Shiite commemoration ceremony of Ashura on Friday.

Two suspected Palestinian militants died and an Israeli soldier was wounded late Saturday in an exchange of gunfire near the border of the Gaza Strip with Israel, the Israeli army announced.

Soldiers spotted the two Palestinians near the security barrier separating Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza and opened fire, killing them after a gun battle lasting some 20 minutes, an army spokesman said.

A Syrian-Saudi initiative aimed at finding a solution to the Lebanese crisis waits for a signal from Saudi King Abdullah, As-Safir newspaper reported Friday.

It cited a source who followed up on a visit to Paris by Syrian President Bashar Assad.