Syria Rebels say they control base

Syrian rebels claimed to have taken full control of a long-contested military air base near the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday morning, boosting morale for pressured opposition fighters. Rebels overran the compound after carrying out a suicide bombing on Monday near Menagh airport's main building, which had become a last refuge for government troops. While President Bashar Assad's forces, which denied the claim, have gained ground in central Syria, the reported capture of Menagh underscores the strength of rebel forces in the norths. The loss of the base would be a deflating blow for the government and free up rebel fighters for elsewhere.

WASHINGTON POST

Indian deaths Add to Kashmir tension

India said 20 heavily-armed "terrorists" along with men dressed in Pakistan army uniforms killed five Indian soldiers along the border in the disputed region of Kashmir, in a blow to efforts to resume peace talks. The attack Tuesday is part of a growing trend of violence at the frontier separating the nuclear-armed neighbors, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said in parliament. Pakistan's foreign ministry in a statement rejected India's "baseless and unfounded allegations," and said it is committed to a 2003 cease-fire agreement. The latest violence in the Himalayan region, claimed by both nations and at the heart of two of their three wars since 1947, may hinder efforts to repair ties between the South Asian neighbors shattered by the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Separatists claim to kill 13 on buses

Baluch separatists in Pakistan claimed responsibility for the killing of 13 people who had been abducted a day earlier from two buses. Gunmen kidnapped at least 26 people on Monday from the buses in Machh, a small town in southwestern's Pakistan Baluchistan. The bullet-riddled bodies of 13 people were recovered from the mountains. At least 10 passengers had been allowed to leave unharmed after their national identification cards showed them to be natives of Baluchistan, officials said. Most of those killed were from Punjab Province and at least three of them had worked for the security forces, officials said.

NEW YORK TIMES

Israelis balk at PEACE DEAL TERMS

In a worrisome sign for U.S.-brokered Mideast peace talks, a poll released Tuesday found that more than half of Jewish Israelis would oppose a peace deal based on terms that have long been seen as the foundation of any resolution.

According to the latest Peace Index, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, 63 percent of Jewish Israeli respondents said they would not support a permanent peace deal even if it included security arrangements for Israel, the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state, international guarantees, a declaration by Palestinians that the conflict was over and withdrawal to the 1967 borders with territorial swaps.

When told that Israel could keep its major West Bank settlement blocs, 58 percent said they were still opposed.

LOS ANGELES TIMES