NOW the days have shortened, and the cold weather is well and truly here, something we can all look forward to is the Winter Fair!

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today said he is close to calling new legislative elections, a move designed to freeze the Hamas militant group from power.

President George Bush offered encouragement to war-weary Iraqis today but acknowledged they have paid a heavy price – 30,000 dead – as a result of the US-led invasion and its bloody aftermath.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan beseeched the world's governments and private donors yesterday to give more generously to help millions of Pakistanis rebuild lives and homes destroyed by last month's earthquake.

DOCTORS fanned out yesterday to immunise children in Pakistan’s earthquake zone against measles and other diseases ahead of winter, but they warned they may not have enough money to finish the job.

Nato forces were setting up winter shelters high in the mountains of Pakistan’s earthquake zone today, as doctors rushed to immunise children against measles and other diseases before snows cut off remote areas.

US President George Bush, linking hurricane recovery and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks four years ago, declared today that the nation was ready to “overcome any challenge.”

President George Bush has said he sees the value – and the humour – in the idea that aides could secretly feed him advice through a radio receiver hidden on his back.

THE wife of US election hopeful John Kerry apologised to First Lady Laura Bush after saying in an interview: “I don’t know that she’s ever had a real job.”

THE softer tone of Wednesday night’s debate could not mask a fundamental difference between US President George W Bush and Senator John Kerry that goes to the heart of their governing style.

US President George Bush was tonight ready to call on the American people to send him back to the White House for another term.

The September 11 terror strikes on the United States could have been prevented, an independent commission probing the outrage is expected to conclude.

An ambassador is to fly to Islamabad to lead a joint British-American mission to counter "lies" put out by the Taliban.

The Pope opened the doors of his hilltop summer residence to President Bush today for their first meeting, a closed-door session underpinned by touchy issues of capital punishment and embryonic stem cell research.

Pope John Paul II was today opening the doors of his hilltop summer residence to US president George W Bush during their first meeting - but neither intended to raise touchy issues of capital punishment or embryonic stem cell research.

Man of few words George W Bush is planning to keep his US presidential address brief - but advisers say he will pack a lot in.