US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton yesterday urged Israel to make “difficult but necessary choices” for Middle East peace as she warned that Jewish settlements undermine fresh negotiations.

Osama bin Laden released a new message yesterday that accused Arab leaders of sacrificing the Palestinians and called on Muslim militants in Egypt to help break the blockade of Gaza.

Mideast talks between US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and the Israeli and Palestinian leaders ended today with little progress other than a commitment to meet again.

Anti-riot police scuffled with demonstrators in Cairo as Muslims marched in Jordan and Lebanon to express outrage over Israeli renovation work near Islam’s third-holiest shine.

Pope Benedict XVI reflected on “diabolical” threats to families and the gap between the world’s rich and poor as he led a torch-lit, Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday, resuming a papal tradition that dying John Paul II was forced to renounce a year ago.

THOUSANDS of Israeli police encircled Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday to keep Jewish ultranationalists out of a disputed holy site and prevent protests by Muslim worshippers.

An Israeli border police officer today shot and killed a Palestinian attacker who stabbed him in the neck in Jerusalem’s Old City, police said.

Tens of thousands of Israelis linked hands today in a human chain in a protest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to dismantle the Jewish settlements and withdraw the army from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met key advisers today as he geared up for crucial talks tomorrow evening with his Palestinian counterpart, the first meeting at that level between the two sides in 31 months.

A suicide bombing on a bus began a day of bloodshed that left 18 people dead and dozens injured in shootings, bombings and ambushes from northern Israel to Jerusalem and the Mediterranean coast.

ISRAEL was reeling yesterday after separate attacks by a suicide bomber and Palestinian gunman left at least 12 people dead.

A Palestinian suicide bomber devastated a bus during the morning rush today - killing himself and eight passengers on a day punctuated by violence from Galilee to Jerusalem’s Old City and the Mediterranean beachfront.

At least nine people died and dozens were wounded when an apparent suicide bomber blew up a bus in northern Israel during the rush hour today.

A fledgling truce between Israel and the Palestinians was facing a fresh challenge today, the first anniversary of the outbreak of violence.