A controversial plan to demolish 22 Palestinian homes for a tourist centre in Jerusalem’s eastern sector was approved by the mayor today.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered to swap territory near the Gaza Strip and West Bank in exchange for settlement blocs in the West Bank, the Haaretz newspaper claimed today.

FORMER US president Jimmy Carter said yesterday that Hamas — the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel — is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to “live as a neighbour next door in peace”.

Peace with Syria requires an Israeli commitment to surrender the strategic Golan Heights and cannot be achieved through secret negotiations, a Syrian state newspaper said today, a day after an Israeli newspaper reported that envoys of the two countries had agreed a framework for peace during secret talks.

Stevie Wonder will sing at the Detroit’s Ford Field stadium as part of a 40-day observance of the 40th anniversary of the city’s deadly 1967 riots, according to a media report.

FINTAN LANE (Irish Examiner letters, August 30) accuses me of being utterly incorrect in my assertion (Irish Examiner letters, August 18) that the area known as Shebaa Farms is generally considered to be a part of Syria. He also claims it is widely accepted to be part of Lebanon.

ACCUSED Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen was implicated in the killing of a civil rights worker in testimony from a now-deceased Klansman read in court yesterday.

Israel has begun building a controversial fence along the West Bank border, aimed at stopping suicide bombers from entering Israel.

UN secretary general Kofi Annan has accused Israel of fuelling Palestinian hatred and despair.