Israeli forces pounded dozens of Hamas targets early today as the army kept up pressure on the Islamic militant group ahead of a crucial vote on whether to end Israel’s punishing three-week-long campaign against Gaza’s rulers.

France and Egypt announced an initiative to stop the fighting in Gaza early today as Israel agreed to a “humanitarian corridor” for vital supplies.

Israel did not seek US approval before launching a ground invasion against Hamas, in an escalation of the bloodiest Israeli-Palestinian clash in years.

US President George Bush branded the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel an “act of terror” and outlined his own condition for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying no peace deal would be acceptable without monitoring to halt the flow of smuggled weapons to terrorist groups.

Israel, under international pressure, is considering a 48-hour halt to its punishing four-day air campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza to see if Palestinian militants will stop their rocket attacks on southern Israel, Israeli officials said.

Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets today to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George Bush.

Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets today to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George Bush during a press conference.

Police found two bombs at Mumbai’s main train station nearly a week after they were left there by gunmen behind the attacks – in a stunning new example of the botched security that has become a major issue in India since the deadly three-day siege.

The US is suspending a trade deal with Bolivia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

The Bush administration warned of “real consequences” for Iraq if it rejects a newly negotiated security pact.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she’s excited about a landmark trip she will make to Libya today, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the North African country in more than a half-century.

RUSSIA formally recognised the breakaway territories at the heart of its war with Georgia yesterday, heightening tensions with the west as the United States dispatched a military ship bearing aid to a port city still patrolled by Russian troops.

ISRAEL freed nearly 200 jailed Palestinians yesterday — including a militant mastermind from the 1970s — in a goodwill gesture just hours before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began her latest peace mission to the region.

RUSSIAN soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia yesterday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American military vehicles awaiting shipment back to the US.

Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgian troops prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia today.

SCRABBLING to find ways to punish Russia for its invasion of pro-Western Georgia, the US and its allies are considering expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of wealthy nations and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.

Iran test-fired more long-range missiles in a second round of exercises meant to show that the country can defend itself against any attack by the US or Israel, Iranian state television reported today.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised China’s post-earthquake recovery efforts during a visit to the disaster zone today, saying it contrasted with Burma’s reluctance to allow in aid after a devastating cyclone.

The year-end goal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is still “achievable,” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party claimed an early lead today in elections, including in some of President Robert Mugabe rural strongholds – an apparent effort to thwart any government attempt to skew the results.

Fifty-four people, including two dozen civilians, were killed as clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants escalated today.

Governments gave strong backing today to Kenya’s power-sharing agreement and promised support to help the country emerge from two months of ethnic violence sparked by a disputed presidential election.

Poland has agreed in principle to allow the US to install a missile defence system on its soil.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the reduction in attacks across Iraq and called for similar improvements in the political arena.

A women wearing a suicide vest blew herself up near a popular market and a Shiite mosque in restive Diyala province north of the capital Baghdad today, killing eight civilians and wounding seven others, police said.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last night “there will be no peace” unless attacks are halted from all parts of the Palestinian territories, including those not controlled by his negotiating partners in the Palestinian leadership.

Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons at crowds gathered in Kenya today for a protest rally.

US President George Bush has announced he will visit the Middle East in early January.

President George Bush invited the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the White House today to officially inaugurate the first formal, direct negotiations in seven years.

The US will try to get a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before President Bush’s term ends, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today.

Nicolas Sarkozy made a minor gaffe on his first US visit as France’s president by wrongly suggesting that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recent immigrant roots.

Protesters shouted “Shame on You!” as baton-wielding police empowered by Pakistan’s state of emergency violently broke up a rally today and rounded up hundreds of opposition activists nationwide. The government said parliamentary elections could be delayed by up to a year, as it tries to stamp out a growing Islamic militant threat.

Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf sent troops into the streets and imposed emergency rule tonight, suspending the constitution before a crucial Supreme Court ruling on his future as president.

Pentagon chief Robert Gates said he saw little sense in air strikes or major ground assaults by US or Turkish forces against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq until more is known about their locations along the border.

Palestinians hope US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Jesus’ traditional birthplace today will not just be a religious experience, but will also bring their daily difficulties of life under Israeli occupation into sharper focus.

A top UN envoy arrived in Thailand today to renew efforts to negotiate political reconciliation in neighbouring Burma where the ruling junta crushed peaceful pro-democracy protests and continues to detain dissidents.

Burmese security forces raided two Buddhist monasteries this morning, beating up and hauling away more than 70 monks after a day of violent confrontation, sources said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today said an upcoming US-sponsored Mideast conference must be “substantive,” and that the two sides must draft a document before the meeting that lays “foundations for serious negotiations.”

US President George Bush, cheered on by Iraq war veterans and their families at the White House, urged politicians today to back his plan to withdraw some US troops from Iraq but keep at least 130,000 through to the middle of 2008 or longer.

Iraqi soldiers hoisted the nation’s flag over the Basra palace compound today after British troops withdrew from their last garrison in the city.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Israel is ready to discuss “fundamental issues” with Palestinians who are now governed by leaders accepted by the Jewish state and the West.

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has praised Sean Penn for his critical stance against the war in Iraq, saying the two chatted by phone and soon plan to meet in person.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the entire Palestinian Cabinet today, a gesture of support for the team of moderates that replaced the Hamas government after the Islamic militants seized Gaza by force.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Ramallah today for talks with the moderate West Bank Palestinian leadership, to lay the groundwork for a peace conference with Israel.

Senate Republicans today scuttled a Democratic proposal ordering US troop withdrawals from Iraq in a showdown that capped an all-night debate on the war.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush yesterday announced an international conference this autumn to include Israel, the Palestinian authority and some of their Arab neighbours to help restart Middle East peace talks.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to head to the Middle East in a fresh push for peace, hoping to build on momentum created by the appointment of Tony Blair as a special envoy for the region.

A car bomb explosion killed six UN peacekeepers patrolling a southern Lebanon road in an attack that could have serious repercussions beyond Lebanon’s borders.

The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba and move terror suspects from there to military prisons on US soil, it emerged last night..

Turkey could risk expanding regional tensions with a “robust” move of troops into northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.