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.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s chief surgeon said last night 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.

Despite suffering a mild stroke, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon does not have any major health problems and will be released from hospital tomorrow, his doctors said.

Israeli security forces have arrested several Palestinians suspected of involvement in last month’s bomb blast at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University which killed nine people, including five Americans.

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.

An explosion rocked a cafeteria at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University during lunchtime today, causing at least 30 casualties, police say.

Israel’s tourism minister was shot dead today in an ambush at a Jerusalem hotel in what a militant Palestinian group said was its revenge for the killing of their leader by Israel.