THE yacht co-owned by Tony Hayward, the embattled chief executive of BP, is due to take part in the Cork Week regatta.

UP to 35 Irish companies looking to build a presence in the US are to be given the ideal start in a new Irish Innovation Centre which is to open there in January.

THE Quartet of Middle East peace mediators sought yesterday to keep alive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks although political uncertainty in Israel has scotched hopes for a deal this year.

Israel threatened Gaza with new ground attacks today as a US-led initiative failed to get Palestinian peace talks restarted.

The European Union has condemned what it calls the “disproportionate use of force” by Israeli forces in Gaza after 54 Palestinians were killed in the highest single day toll since fighting erupted in 2000.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last night “there will be no peace” unless attacks are halted from all parts of the Palestinian territories, including those not controlled by his negotiating partners in the Palestinian leadership.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to begin tackling the core issues of a final peace agreement in a last-minute push to breathe life into stalled negotiations before US president George Bush's arrival in the Middle East today.

US President George Bush will visit Israel and the West Bank next month as part of a nine-day trip intended to help peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Al-Qaida’s deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri denounced last month’s Middle East peace conference in the United States as a “betrayal” of Palestinians in a new audio tape posted on an Islamic militant Web site today.

The first formal peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years got off to a rocky start today.

US President George Bush has announced he will visit the Middle East in early January.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday played down expectations for a peace deal with the Palestinians before the end of 2008 as laid out at a US-sponsored peace conference last week.

US President George Bush told the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian territories he is personally committed to their mission of peace, urging them to stick with it and not lose sight of their goal.

FOLLOWING the revival of a Middle East peace process between Israel and the Palestinians at Annapolis on Tuesday, France said it will host a donor conference in Paris on December 17.

President George Bush invited the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the White House today to officially inaugurate the first formal, direct negotiations in seven years.

TENS of thousands of Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip demonstrated yesterday against the Middle East peace conference in the US, while the Islamic militant group’s leader insisted it was “doomed to failure”.

A protester against the Annapolis peace conference was shot dead by Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas today.

Palestinians and Israelis understand that helping the other to realise their aspirations is the key to realising their own, US President George Bush will say today.

Arab leaders and international envoys are preparing for a conference on peace in the Middle East today.

US President George Bush will try today to help broker an elusive agreement between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of peace talks planned for this week.

Syria will send its deputy foreign minister to the US-sponsored Mideast peace conference this week after the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was added to the agenda, the state-run news agency said today.

The US will try to get a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before President Bush’s term ends, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today.

ISRAEL yesterday approved the release of 441 Palestinian prisoners and pledged not to build any new settlements in the West Bank, but it stopped short of US demands to halt construction in existing settlements before a crucial US-hosted Mideast conference.

Israel today approved the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and promised not to build new settlements in the West Bank as a prelude to vital peace talks.

A US Navy doctor accused of secretly videotaping naval academy students engaged in sexual acts committed a “flagrant violation of trust”, military prosecutors said as the doctor’s court martial began.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday announced he has prostate cancer and would soon have surgery, but said the disease is not life-threatening.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought support from Egypt today in her quest to nudge Israelis and Palestinians closer together before a Middle East peace conference tentatively set for late November.

George W Bush has made the end of Israeli-Palestinian violence one of his highest priorities, the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claimed today.

PROPERTY developer Noel O’Callaghan is planning a second hotel in the United States.

Residents up and down the US east coast boarded up windows and the military ordered ships and planes out of harm’s way as Hurricane Isabel headed toward land with 120mph winds.

AN IRISH yacht is set to compete for one of sailing's most prestigious prizes later this month in America.