Israelis are voting in elections following a campaign focused on economic issues such as the high cost of living, rather than fears of a nuclear Iran or the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Australia's Channel 10 has apologised for broadcasting a question on the quiz show 'Family Feud' which was deemed sexist.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian civilians yesterday to leave immediately any site where militants are operating, one day after Israel flattened a 13-storey apartment block in Gaza.

Israel said it withdrew the last of its ground forces from Gaza today as it and Hamas began a temporary ceasefire.

An Israeli soldier feared by the the military to have been abducted by Palestinian gunmen in a firefight that shattered Gaza’s temporary ceasefire has been declared dead.

Israel will not participate in indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas for now and instead plans to scale back its 26-day military operation in Gaza on its own terms, according to officials and media reports.

Israel has denied claims by Hamas that they have kidnapped one of its soldiers in Gaza.

Swimming champion Ian Thorpe has thanked supporters, after he announced he is gay.

Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe has announced in a television interview that he is gay.

Israel’s prime minister has said that three teenagers missing from the West Bank were taken by a terror group.

Ireland's favourite anthropomorphic potato made his Australian television debut on St Patrick's Day.

WHEN Barack Obama made history in Nov 2008, Nitzan Horowitz, then covering the campaign for Israel’s Channel 10, had a front-row seat.

Nurit Modai (Letters, Jul 6) now seeks to deny the existence of Palestinians.

Satanic Verses novelist Salman Rushdie has poked fun at Kim Kardashian in a series of tweets forming a limerick about the doomed marriage.

Celebrations have erupted across the Middle East after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt’s president.

A DJ has been sacked as a TV judge on 'Australian Idol' and his radio job is in jeopardy after an on-air stunt resulted in a teenage girl revealing she had been raped.

A lost humpback whale calf has bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother, according to reports in Australia.

ISRAEL formally declared last year’s fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrillas a war yesterday, but it is searching for a name for the 34-day conflict.

A distraught Nicole Kidman has shortened her Christmas holiday and left Australia after calling on police to protect her from paparazzi harassment.

THE Irish singer crowned Australian Idol winner was last night congratulated by the Government.

ISRAELI police have recommended that President Moshe Katsav should be charged with rape.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided today to launch an expanded ground offensive in southern Lebanon, after expressing dissatisfaction over an emerging ceasefire deal, government officials said.

A Hezbollah rocket slammed into a building today in the mainly Arab town of Nazareth, killing three people, including two children, Israeli authorities said.

Lebanese guerrillas fired a relentless barrage of rockets into the northern Israeli city of Haifa today, killing nine people and wounding dozens of others, police in Israel said.

Prime minister John Howard called today for the Australian version of Big Brother to be axed after a woman on the show claimed two male contestants sexually assaulted her.

Russia has launched a satellite for Israel that the Israelis say will be used to spy on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Three explosions tonight rocked the Egyptian resort city of Dahab at the height of the tourist season, killing at least 18 people and wounding more 150 at just one hotel, according to police and rescuers.

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up near a fast food restaurant in a bustling commercial area of Tel Aviv during the Jewish holiday of Passover today, wounding at least 35 people, including several seriously, police and medics said.

Acting Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he won’t wait years for Hamas to recognise his country, a precondition for peace talks, and that he is prepared to take unilateral steps in the meantime.

Israelis might have been better off when Saddam Hussein was in power in Iraq, Shin Bet’s security chief said, according to a tape recording broadcast in Jerusalem.

Israeli forces with bulldozers and pile-drivers tore down nine houses in an illegal West Bank settlement outpost yesterday after hours of bloody clashes between settlers and their extremist reinforcements against police and soldiers left more than 200 injured on both sides.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon remained comatose and in a critical condition today, nine days after his massive stroke.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon remained comatose and in a critical condition today, nine days after his stroke.

Israel TV reported today that Ariel Sharon was taken back to the operating theatre following a brain scan, quoting the prime minister’s aides.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was taken to hospital in Jerusalem tonight after feeling unwell while working in his office.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today announced his candidacy for leadership of the ruling Likud Party, issuing a direct challenge to current party head Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

A JEWISH extremist opened fire inside a bus yesterday, killing four Israeli Arabs before being slain by an angry crowd, police said.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a group of Israelis soldiers in the West Bank yesterday, killing one and wounding three, just a day after militant leaders in the area told Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas they were ready to abide by a cease-fire.

YASSER ARAFAT was lying in a coma “between life and death” yesterday as a row brewed between Israelis and Palestinians over a likely burial site.

Israel’s attorney general is about to drop a bribery case against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israeli TV stations reported tonight.

Australians will continue working in Saudi Arabia despite an Australian engineer being shot dead in an attack probably linked to al-Qaida, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.

JUDGING by Clive Woodward’s look of thunder it was just as well the Channel 7 cameraman was filming from the open door of a hovering helicopter.

Israel will invite Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas to Jerusalem to discuss restarting the stalled peace process once a new Palestinian Cabinet is in place, an Israeli official said today.