An Israeli-Palestinian agreement on Gaza border crossings is “in sight,” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today, after holding separate meetings with leaders of both sides.

Israeli troops killed a senior Hamas militant in an overnight arrest raid today, Palestinian medical officials and neighbours of the man said.

The European Union today agreed to monitor a Gaza-Egypt border crossing that serves as the main gate to the world for Palestinians in the coastal strip as an EU delegation toured the area.

A top Mideast envoy has criticised Israel in especially tough language for moving too slowly on negotiations to open Gaza’s borders, saying the country is behaving almost as if the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip never happened.

ISRAELI troops killed a top Palestinian fugitive and a close accomplice in a West Bank shoot-out yesterday, prompting threats of “unprecedented” revenge by the violent Islamic Jihad group.

A top Middle East envoy has criticised Israel in especially tough language for moving too slowly on negotiations to open Gaza’s borders, saying the country is behaving almost as if the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip never happened.

Israel is to close the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt until further notice, officials said today, after proposing new arrangements that could include movement of Palestinians in and out of Gaza under the supervision of foreign inspectors without an Israeli presence.

Israel is proposing a dual crossing between Gaza and Egypt to allow for free exit from Gaza but control over goods entering the territory, Israeli defence officials said today.

With blazing speed, Israeli bulldozers are demolishing the 2,800 homes left behind after Israel cleared the Gaza Strip of its Jewish residents in less than a week.

ISRAEL will insist on moving the Gaza-Egypt border crossing to a new location after Israel’s pullout from Gaza so Israeli inspectors can continue to check goods and people, Israel’s Security Cabinet was told yesterday.

Israel will insist on moving the Gaza-Egypt border crossing to a new location after Israel’s pullout from Gaza so Israeli inspectors can continue to check goods and people, Israel’s Security Cabinet was told today, and the emerging position appears to rule out the deployment of foreign inspectors at Gaza crossings.

Two hundred opponents of Israel’s planned Gaza Strip evacuation stole into the coastal strip overnight in defiance of a military ban, even as security forces blocked thousands of protesters from marching into Gaza to bolster settler resistance to the withdrawal.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today pledged that the international community would continue its commitment to the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will today chair a meeting of foreign ministers from the G8 group of leading industrialised nations for talks on Iran, the Middle East peace process and Afghanistan.

An underground electric transformer exploded today, sparking a fire that forced authorities to close streets and evacuate several buildings – including the World Bank headquarters in Washington.

Private ownership around the world is key to easing poverty, outgoing World Bank President James Wolfensohn said as he toured the Pine Ridge Reservation, one of the poorest areas in the US.

Bob Geldof has hit out at the fact that the man tipped to be the World Bank's new head has been nominated by President George Bush.

THE World Bank last night unanimously confirmed Paul Wolfowitz as its president, despite quiet misgivings by some members over his role as the Bush administration’s architect of the Iraq war.

MOST banks pride themselves on their security, although few go as far as hiring one of the US president's top defence advisors to run the show.

The Pentagon’s ‘attack dog’, Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, was named by US President George Bush yesterday to take over as head of the World Bank.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan flew over the ravaged landscape of Indonesia’s tsunami-hit Aceh province yesterday and asked “Where are the people?” as Jakarta sharply raised its death toll.

The world is poised for strong economic growth this year and next, major industrial nations concluded at a weekend meeting in Washington, even though there are concerns about high oil prices and continuing unrest in the Middle East.

The European Union today issued a stern warning to a gathering of top financial officials, saying uncertainty over war in Iraq has damaged the world economy.