Hundreds of Hamas fighters firing rockets and mortar shells captured the headquarters of the Fatah-allied security forces in northern Gaza, scoring a key victory in the bloody battle for control of the seaside strip.

The United Nations last week temporarily grounded all helicopters involved in earthquake relief work in northern Pakistan due to growing anger over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in Western media, an official said today.

The Israeli army is searching for a Palestinian teenager they fear has been recruited to carry out a suicide attack.

The parents of two young sisters who were killed in a horrific motorway crash on Britain's M25 early today also lost a son in a road accident eight years ago, it has emerged.