Uri Dan, a veteran Israeli journalist and close confidant of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, died Sunday in Tel Aviv after a long illness. He was 71. Israeli media said he had been suffering from lung cancer. During a career spanning more than three decades, Dan wrote for a number of Israeli publications, including the Maariv daily and the English-language Jerusalem Post. He also authored several books, and served as the Israel correspondent for the New York Post. Full Story