The United Nations General Assembly is to hold an informal meeting to hear briefings by senior officials on the war in Gaza.

Israeli shelling killed at least 15 Palestinians sheltering in a UN-run school and another 17 near a street market yesterday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said, with no ceasefire in sight after more than three weeks of fighting.

SRI LANKAN troops advanced on the Tamil Tigers yesterday and 5,000 civilians fled the shrinking war zone, signalling an end to Asia’s longest modern war.