China on Monday implicitly criticised Israel's air strikes in Syria as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Shanghai for a visit. The raids on military sites outside Damascus a day earlier, believed to target weapons headed for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, raised new fears of Syria's 26-month-long conflict spilling over into the wider region. "We are opposed to the use of force and believe that the sovereignty of any country should be respected," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing when asked about the raids.

Greece will be offering residence to non-EU investors purchasing or renting property over 250,000 euros ($326,000), in a bid to revive its moribund real estate industry, officials said on Monday. The initiative, voted into law by parliament last week, comes in response to strong demand from Arab, Chinese and Russian investors, the officials from the interior ministry and property groups told a news conference. Valid for five years and open to renewal, the residence plan follows similar measures adopted by Hungary, Spain and Portugal in the past.

By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Not only Syrian air defences worried Israel when its warplanes bombed a suspected Hezbollah-bound arms convoy near Damascus on January 30. Also probing the skies were the potent radars of an unfriendly NATO member close by: Turkey. That helped persuade Israel to end its almost three-year rift with Ankara in a U.S.-brokered reconciliation on March 22.

Facts on Croatia, which on Sunday elects its first deputies in the European Parliament, ahead of July 1 entry into the European Union: GEOGRAPHY: Located in southeastern Europe, Croatia borders Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina and has a maritime border with Italy. AREA: 56,542 square kilometres (21,831 square miles) of land. It has a long coastline on the Adriatic with 1,185 islands, mountains in the interior and flat plains in the northeast. POPULATION: 4.2 million (2011 census). CAPITAL: Zagreb.