ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke makes it unlikely that he will return to power.

A SOLICITOR attempted to introduce investments into a billion dollar oil-drilling scheme by falsely claiming $10 million was being held by his employers, a disciplinary tribunal heard yesterday.

srael effectively shut down today as a trade union federation launched an open-ended general strike in protest at the government’s planned budget cuts.

A PALESTINIAN suicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded bus as it drove along a busy Tel Aviv street at lunch-time today, killing at least five other people and wounding 49.