Muhammad Ali’s personal doctor has revealed he cannot be sure that boxing contributed to the former heavyweight world champion’s Parkinson’s Disease.

Despite their gladiator-like rivalry Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were close friends off the court. James Kaplan met the tennis legends to discuss the state of the game then and now.

America’s largest gun rights lobby declared unwavering opposition to any new restrictions in the aftermath of the Connecticut primary school massacre, accusing the White House of trying to undermine the constitutional right to bear arms.

Senators bickered over who was to blame for lurching the US towards an end-of-year “fiscal cliff”, bemoaning the lack of a deal days before the deadline but bridging no differences in the debate.

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced he is resigning a day after an indictment for breach of trust was filed against him by the country’s attorney general.

A bomb exploded on a bus carrying Israeli youths in a Bulgarian resort today, killing at least six people and wounding 32, officials said.

The head of the US Secret Service — in his first public appearance since a Colombian prostitution scandal involving his staff surfaced last month — issued an apology for the misconduct, as lawmakers expressed doubt it was an isolated incident.

Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to declare that early elections will be held less than four months from now, a move that would give him a referendum on his leadership that would help him fend off both Israeli and international critics.

BACKERS of a bill calling for a parliamentary investigation of Israeli human rights groups said yesterday they would press forward with the initiative this week, despite growing public criticism and opposition from the prime minister.

ISRAELI foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said participants in an aid flotilla planning to challenge an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip were seeking “confrontation and blood”.

ISRAEL will not negotiate with a new Palestinian unity government that includes the Hamas militant group, according to Israel’s foreign minister.

Peace envoy George Mitchell was on his way to the Middle East today in an urgent bid to salvage stalled peace talks after the US criticised Israel’s refusal to extend its partial ban on settlement building.

Israel’s hard-line foreign minister said his party would try to block any extension of Israel’s settlement slowdown, a move that could derail the Middle East peace negotiations.

The top Republican on the US Senate Armed Services Committee said Nato and Afghan troops would prevail in the war if they could succeed in securing and bolstering governance in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

WHILE the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster continues to dominate world media attention, the response of the offshore oil exploration companies appears to be self-preservation, dodging responsibility and denial.

THE five Irish citizens whose passport numbers were used on forged documents by the killers of a senior Hamas military commander are automatically named on a worldwide terror list, Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said.

FOREIGN Minister Micheál Martin will tackle his Israeli counterpart in Brussels this morning over the fake Irish passports used by the hit squad who killed a senior Hamas commander in Dubai – but is unlikely to get any answers.

THE diplomatic rift between Ireland and Israel worsened yesterday when the Irish ambassador to Israel admitted the use of fake Irish passports in the assassination of a top Palestinian commander, has not helped relations between the two countries.

An explosion apparently caused by a suicide vest stored in a house in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi killed eight suspected militants today.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s special peace envoy yesterday sought an “early relaunch” of Israeli-Palestinian talks, but Israel said Washington’s goal of comprehensive peace was an illusion.

Israel’s foreign minister ran into controversy on the first day of a Latin American trip when an official of Brazil’s ruling party reportedly called him a “fascist”.

Alec Baldwin could be the next US actor to enter politics after saying he was giving “serious thought” to running for Congress.

ISRAEL’S foreign minister, whose anti-Arab statements have frayed diplomatic nerves, committed himself yesterday to Mideast peace, but did not endorse the idea of a Palestinian state as sought by the United States and the European Union.

ISRAEL’S ultra-nationalist foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, pictured, was to leave yesterday on his first official trip abroad, aiming to reassure the Europeans amid rising tensions over the stalled peace process.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said he is willing to negotiate peace with Syria, but only if talks are held without preconditions.

An axe-wielding Palestinian went on the rampage in a West Bank settlement today killing a 13-year-old Israeli boy before fleeing.

Israel’s new leader Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to seek “full peace” with the Arab and Muslim world, but refused to utter the words everyone was waiting to hear: “Palestinian state.”

ISRAEL’S Labor Party voted last night to join the incoming government of Benjamin Netanyahu, lending a moderate voice to a coalition dominated by hard liners and easing concerns of a head-on confrontation with Washington over Middle East peacemaking.

PRIME minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has initiated a coalition agreement with an ultra-nationalist faction that brings its leader significantly closer to becoming foreign minister, a Likud party spokeswoman said yesterday.

The leader of an ultra-nationalist splinter group took a step closer to becoming Israel’s foreign minister today.

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party signed a coalition agreement with the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu faction, naming its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, as the incoming foreign minister, Israeli media reported early today.

Hard-line Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was today chosen to form a new Israeli government.

FAR-RIGHT politician Avigdor Lieberman endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu for Israeli prime minister yesterday, all but guaranteeing that the US-educated hawk will be the country’s next leader.

Far-right Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman has endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister.

Final results in Israel's election tonight give the moderate Kadima Party one more seat in the new parliament than Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.

ISRAEL’S national election is likely to be a cliffhanger, pollsters said yesterday, on the eve of a vote in which right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party had been forecast to emerge victorious.

Pakistan understands it must take quick action against any terrorists connected to the Mumbai attacks that are living in the country, US Senator John McCain said today after meeting its leaders.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is an “independent man who thinks for himself”, President George Bush said today.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign has asked for the personal documents of a potential running mate, it was reported today.

British journalists have allegedly been served tiger meat in China.

Israel must take back control of the Gaza-Egypt border to stop weapons smuggling, Israel’s new deputy prime minister said today.

The Israeli Cabinet today voted overwhelmingly to bring into the government a hawkish party that opposes ceding territory to the Palestinians and wants to redraw Israel’s borders to exclude many Israeli Arabs.

ACTING Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party is seeking swift coalition negotiations to carry out its plan to pull out of much of the West Bank and draw Israel's borders by 2010.

Projections by Israel’s three main TV stations today showed acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s centrist Kadima Party winning Israel’s election.