The Vatican has scrambled to defend the Pope after a top Turkish cleric asked him to apologise for his comments on Islamic holy war.

Anti-Israel demonstrations erupted across the Arab world today after Israel assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, with a missile attack outside a Gaza City mosque.

Arabs universally condemned the assassination of the Palestinian militant leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, vowing revenge on Israelis.