AN Irish-owned aid vessel was sailing closer to Gaza’s shores last night amid threats by Israel that it was standing firm over its blockade ofthe war-torn Palestinian territory.

High-profile humanitarian activists tonight pleaded with EU chiefs to use sanctions to force an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

An adviser to Mahmoud Abbas said today that the Palestinian president sees no need to quit indirect Middle East peace talks over Israel’s assault on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid ship.

The death toll in the earthquake that struck Peru’s southern desert has risen to 450 with about 1,500 injured, a senior UN official said today, quoting figures from the National Disaster Management Authority in Peru.

Troop commitments from France, Italy and several other European nations mean the United Nations will be able to deploy an initial force of 3,500 peacekeepers to south Lebanon in the coming days as it had hoped, a senior UN official said.

Five years after a landmark UN resolution committed governments to protect women from the abuses of war, the Security Council has condemned the continuing sexual exploitation and violence against women.

A DOCTOR and former political prisoner yesterday appealed to the Government to allow Iraqi torture victims to travel to Ireland for treatment.

THE farm lobby yesterday increased pressure on Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh to have international markets for Irish beef re-opened.

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the abduction by Somalia militias of UN staff and aid workers.