An American journalist has been missing in Syria since he was kidnapped more than one month ago, his family said today, less than two years after he was held by government forces in Libya while covering that country’s civil war.

New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has died in eastern Syria after slipping into the country to report on the uprising against its president.

Four New York Times journalists, including a Briton, have been reported missing while covering the fighting in Libya.

Israeli forces widened their offensive into the West Bank today, briefly entering Bethlehem, occupying several other towns and continuing a sweep for militants in fully occupied Ramallah.