Foreign Minister Micheal Martin will meet with Irish business leaders in China today as part of a five-day visit to the country.

China declared a new food safety campaign today after contaminated milk products from an earlier scandal turned up repackaged in several places around the country, exposing weaknesses in the country’s promise to stop such problems from happening again.

Hundreds of workers in northern China are battling to contain an oil spill that has left a 20-mile (33-kilometre) stretch of river polluted with diesel.

Grieving miners’ families demanded answers today from mining officials about the underground gas explosion that left at least 104 men dead in northeastern China.

US President Barack Obama, opening two days of high-level talks with China, said the discussions could lay the groundwork for a new era of “sustained co-operation, not confrontation” in a relationship likely to shape the 21st century.

The United States and China pledged $20bn (€15.6bn) to help finance trade amid a global credit crisis today as they wrapped up high-level talks marked by a Chinese appeal to Washington to stabilise its economy.

More than 600 people have surrendered in China admitting their part in the Tibet anti-government riots, police said today.

Gaza City awoke today to shuttered bread shops and petrol stations today as Israel pressed ahead with efforts to stop Palestinian rocket fire, refusing to reopen crossings or allow in crucial fuel supplies.

The Palestinians are ready to yield parts of the West Bank to Israel if compensated with an equal amount of Israeli territory, according to the lead Palestinian negotiator.

a meeting with the Palestinian leader today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed releasing some prisoners, lifting some West Bank roadblocks and establishing a team to work on a broad agreement in advance of a US-sponsored peace conference in November.

Prime minister Ehud Olmert convened his top ministers today to discuss Israel’s response to the latest wave of Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Supreme Court today ordered the government to reroute the best known section of its West Bank separation barrier, dealing a symbolic defeat to the state after a 2 1/2-year legal battle that has turned Bilin into a flashpoint of opposition to the contentious structure.

Israel celebrated its 59th independence day today with millions enjoying barbecues in gardens and parks while lamenting rising corruption and the depressing after-effects of the summer’s inconclusive war in Lebanon.

Leonardo DiCaprio's aides have confirmed the movie star held secret talks with Israel's Vice Premier Shimon Peres during his chaotic trip to his girlfriend Bar Rafaeli's homeland last week.

ISRAELI Vice Premier Shimon Peres yesterday said the national unity government Palestinians are trying to establish would be nothing more than a “facade” because Hamas militants aren’t interested in peace.

The time is not right to resume negotiations with Syria, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said today, adding that Israel is too busy trying to deal with Lebanon and the Palestinians.

ISRAELI troops clashed with Hezbollah guerrillas on the Lebanese side of the border yesterday, while warplanes flattened buildings and at least 50 people were killed as fighting entered its second week.

Israeli troops fought Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon today, and there were Israeli casualties, the Israeli military said in Jerusalem.

Japan today pushed ahead with its proposal for UN sanctions against North Korea for its missile tests, and China dispatched diplomats to Pyongyang amid a campaign to lure the reclusive regime back to nuclear disarmament talks.

ISRAEL will invite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume stalled peace talks after Palestinian militants release a captured Israeli soldier, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said yesterday.

U2 front man and activist Bono was today poised to unveil his latest effort to combat the spread of Aids in Africa while Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was to give a speech about the war on terror.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke makes it unlikely that he will return to power.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke makes it unlikely that he will return to power.

THE future of the Middle East hung in the balance last night as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fought for life after emergency brain surgery for his massive stroke.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent additional tests and evaluations in a Jerusalem hospital today after suffering a mild stroke.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a mild stroke tonight and was taken to a Jerusalem’s hospital for treatment, medics there said.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the millionaire movie star and governor of California, made a big splash at his first event in China today – perhaps too big a splash for his security detail after dozens of photographers and fans mobbed him in the Chinese capital.

Tens of thousands of Israelis packed the Tel Aviv square where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated 10 years ago to mourn the former prime minister and to express hopes that his memory would spur new efforts to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Iran should be expelled from the United Nations after its president said Israel should be “wiped off the map", Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said today.

Israeli leaders today called for changes in the Syrian leadership, after a UN probe implicated top Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reviewed a massive military parade in central Pyongyang today as the communist state marked the 60th anniversary of its ruling party with vows to “mercilessly crush” American imperialists if they attack.

Israeli aircraft unleashed a barrage of missiles at targets in the Gaza Strip early today and troops fired live artillery shells into the area for the first time, pushing forward with an offensive despite a pledge by Islamic militants to halt their recent rocket attacks against Israel.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who is trying to beat back a hard-line revolt in his Likud Party, faced a new challenge today, after an Israeli TV station reported that he violated campaign financing laws.

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.

Benjamin Netanyahu has assumed the mantle of leadership of opposition to Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip by resigning as finance minister as the Cabinet was about to vote on it – but he admitted he can’t stop the withdrawal, set to begin next week.

Less than a month before Israel begins pulling out of Gaza, almost every major issue about the territory’s future remains undecided.

Israeli police today pledged to stop more than 20,000 marchers, including teenagers with backpacks and parents with pushchairs, who were en route to the Gaza Strip to protest the summer's planned withdrawal – in the tensest showdown yet between protesters and the security forces.

ISRAEL deployed 20,000 police and soldiers yesterday to block what was billed as the biggest march yet of Gaza withdrawal opponents — a crucial test run for security forces and protesters ahead of the pullout planned for August.

Israeli security forces clashed early today with Jewish settlers trying to break a blockade placed on Gaza Strip settlements, a preview to confrontations expected later in the day when opponents to a planned withdrawal from Gaza try to march to the coastal area despite a police ban.

Israel’s cabinet today approved final details of a plan to surround Jerusalem with a barrier – despite angry protests by Palestinians who say Israel is redrawing the disputed city’s boundaries and shifting its demographic balance in favour of Jews.

Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets at southern Israel today, hitting one home, while Israeli soldiers traded fire with a Palestinian fugitive hiding in a house in the northern West Bank, the Israeli army said.

China’s vice-premier called off a meeting with the Japanese prime minister and suddenly left Tokyo today – a day earlier than expected – but Beijing’s reasons for ending a visit aimed at repairing strained relations remained a mystery.

An Israeli aircraft today fired at a group of Hamas militants who were launching mortar shells at a Jewish settlement in the first such airstrike since a ceasefire was declared in February.

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo received a warm welcome in the Palestinian city of Ramallah today, with hundreds of residents jostling to get a glimpse of their hero during a goodwill visit that left even the normally serious Palestinian prime minister grinning like an excited schoolboy.