Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for three months, has undergone a CT scan to determine the outcome of surgery on his skull last week, Israel Radio reported today.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for three months, will be declared permanently incapacitated tomorrow, a decision that will signal the official end of his premiership.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for three months, will be declared permanently incapacitated on Tuesday, a decision that will signal the official end of his reign, the Justice Ministry said today.

Pope Benedict XVI is considering visiting Israel in the first part of 2007, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said today after meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent a successful operation yesterday to reattach a piece of his skull, a day after the procedure was delayed because of a respiratory infection, hospital officials said.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today underwent surgery to reattach a piece of his skull, a day after the procedure was delayed because of a respiratory infection, hospital officials said.

Comatose Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo surgery tomorrow to restore part of his skull removed in previous operations after he suffered a debilitating stroke, his hospital said today in a statement.

Israelis voted today in a historic election seen as a referendum on the future of the West Bank, with the leading candidate, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, promising to pull back from most of the territory and draw Israel’s final borders by 2010.

Israeli forces driving bulldozers and firing tank shells burst into a Palestinian prison in the West Bank town of Jericho today and pulled out dozens of inmates in their underwear in a raid targeting a group of prisoners linked to the killing an Israeli Cabinet minister.

Israeli forces burst into a jail today in the West Bank town of Jericho, demanding the surrender of prisoners, including the mastermind of the killing of an Israeli cabinet minister.

Israeli forces burst into a jail in the West Bank town of Jericho today, demanding the surrender of prisoners, including the mastermind of the killing of an Israeli cabinet minister.

Experts on rehabilitation care discussed the case of comatose Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with doctors at the hospital where he is being treated, the hospital said in a statement today.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, in a coma since suffering a massive stroke last month, was 78 yesterday.

An Israeli court today sentenced the eldest son of Israel’s ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to nine months in jail after he pleaded guilty to illegally raising funds for one of his father’s political campaigns.

Israel’s next parliament must determine the country’s permanent borders, said acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, setting a four-year time frame for drawing the line between Israel and the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent emergency surgery today, his seventh operation in five weeks, after an abdominal scan disclosed severe damage to his digestive tract.

The condition of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has worsened and he is undergoing an operation today, the hospital where he is being treated, said.

ISRAEL is mobilising 4,000 police and soldiers to forcibly remove Jewish settlers from two unauthorised West Bank outposts, military officials said yesterday.

IN his first policy statement since becoming Israel’s acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert said that he wants to resume final peace talks with the Palestinians and take harsh action against Israeli squatters in the West Bank - a sign the front-runner in Israel’s March 28 election is ready for bold steps to end the conflict.

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in his first policy statement today that he hopes to start working on a final peace deal with Palestinians after Israel’s March 28 elections, and hinted that Palestinians in Jerusalem might not always be under Israeli rule.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened his eyes twice yesterday after family members played a tape of his grandson’s voice, aides said, raising hopes the 77-year-old stroke victim may be emerging from a coma.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today briefly opened his eyes in response to a recording of his grandson’s voice, family members told doctors, though hospital officials warned there were no signs that the comatose Israeli leader was any closer to regaining consciousness.

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened his eyes today for the first time since suffering a massive stroke on January 4.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon underwent a successful tracheotomy to help wean him off a respirator that has been helping him breathe since he suffered a massive stroke on January 4, hospital officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo a tracheotomy on tonight to help wean him off a respirator that has been helping him breathe since he suffered a massive stroke on January 4, hospital officials said.

The Israeli Cabinet today unanimously approved voting in east Jerusalem, defusing a crisis that threatened to derail Palestinian elections.

A test has shown activity in both lobes of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s brain, but he remains comatose and in critical but stable condition, Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem said today.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon remained comatose and in a critical condition today, nine days after his massive stroke.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s doctors came under criticism today for failing to divulge a brain disease discovered after an initial, mild stroke suffered by the prime minister and for prescribing drugs that may have been inappropriate for a patient suffering from it, possibly causing his second, massive stroke.

Israel returned to politics today while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was improving, but still comatose in a hospital a week after a massive stroke.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s condition showed “improvement” today and he moved his left hand, doctors said, adding that there was no immediate threat to his life.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who suffered a massive stroke last week, has shown movement on his left side, Israeli media reported today.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s medical team pushed forward with efforts to bring him out of an induced coma today, a day after reporting slight progress in the Israeli leader’s recovery from a debilitating stroke.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon moved his right hand and right leg slightly after doctors stimulated him with pain, “a very important” sign about his recovery from a major stroke, doctors said today.

The hospital caring for Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon said early today that there was no change in his condition overnight, and doctors planned to bring him out of a medically induced coma.

The hospital caring for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said early today that there was no change in his condition overnight, and doctors planned to bring him out of a medically-induced coma to begin assessing the damage caused by his massive stroke five days earlier.

Doctors will start bringing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon out of his medically induced coma tomorrow – provided there are no changes in his condition, hospital officials said today.

Doctors are to decide today when to begin bringing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon out of a medically-induced coma more than three days after he suffered a massive stroke – a key to assessing how much brain damage he has suffered.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s brain scan showed a slight easing in swelling and his vital signs are stable, but he remains in critical condition and his life remains in danger, a hospital official said today.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent an additional brain scan today as doctors prepared to assess how much damage the Israeli leader has suffered from his severe stroke.

With Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recovering from emergency brain surgery today, his doctors said it was still too early to assess how much damage the Israeli leader has suffered from a massive stroke. Independent experts said the prognosis remained grim.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s chief surgeon said tonight that it was too early to assess the extent of brain damage the prime minister may have suffered after a massive stroke and two separate operations.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s surgery to drain blood from his brain and relieve intracranial pressure ended after more than four hours, Hadassah Hospital spokeswoman Yael Bossem-Levy said.

Doctors performed a brain scan on Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon today to check for bleeding, and said they could keep him sedated and on a respirator for several more days to give him a chance to recover.