NASA called off yesterday’s launch of the space shuttle Endeavour to the international space station because of danger from an unsecured Russian supply ship.

An unofficial wing from the Palestinian Fatah movement has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing which killed four people on a bus in Israel yesterday.

United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has supported calls for a Palestinian state.

The man accused of starting a fatal fire at an Australian youth hostel will face trial in January, a court has ruled.

Aretha Franklin is suing American magazine Star for $50m.

At least three people are dead and six injured - two critically - following an explosion of a vehicle on a main highway in northern Israel this evening.

The European Parliament has voted down a resolution calling for a ban on human cloning in the European Union.

Penelope Cruz could soon be on display next to Tom Cruise in Madame Tussaud's.

Around one hundred ferry passengers are feared drowned in Bangladesh.

The launch of the space shuttle Endeavour has been put off for at least 24 hours.

Almost 50 people are feared drowned after a boat capsized in a river in southern Bangladesh.

Paul Burrell has been committed to stand trial at the Old Bailey accused of stealing from the Royal Family.

A woman who stole letters from the luxury penthouse flat of England captain David Beckham and his wife Victoria was today sent to crown court to be sentenced.

Four white South African policemen were jailed for 17 years each today after admitting setting their dogs on three illegal immigrants from Mozambique.

The rift between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his much-respected Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, has apparently widened, with Mr Peres criticising Mr Sharon’s tactics in dealing with the Palestinian intefadeh.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is arguing with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over his security demands.

Maoist rebels have bombed a Coca Cola factory in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu the first attack in the country’s hub since a state of emergency was imposed in the Himalayan kingdom.

A strong earthquake has rattled southern Mexico shattering windows and sending scared residents running from their homes. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales will find out if he will stand trial for the alleged theft of hundreds of her possessions.

Terminally ill Diane Pretty will hear the final verdict on her battle for the right to commit suicide with the help of her husband.

Islamic guerrillas ambushed a paramilitary patrol truck and killed seven soldiers in strife-torn Jammu-Kashmir, and lost one of their own when the troops fired back, officials said today.

Anthrax found in a letter mailed to Chile is not the same as the strain discovered in letters received in the US, investigators said.

A three foot two inch radio personality in the US has launched a legal battle to overturn a ban on ‘‘dwarf tossing’’ so he can earn money as a bar room attraction.

A 17-year-old American girl who allegedly agreed to smuggle guns into her school for a rampage, but later leaked the plan to a teacher, has become the fourth teen charged in the case.

Racists all over Europe could face prison sentences of at least two years under a plan unveiled in Brussels today.

A new UN report has shown that 40 million people worldwide are now suffering from AIDS and HIV.

The UN chief war crimes prosecutor has accused the Yugoslav government of harbouring the Bosnian Serbs’ wartime commander who has been indicted for genocide.

Seven people have been arrested in the UK as part of the world's largest police crackdown on paedophiles.

Five British crew members were injured when a Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed in southeastern Nigeria, local radio said today.

Scots divers who helped recover the bodies of dead crewmen from the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk will today be honoured by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Pope today prayed for seven people, who died when a gas leak triggered an explosion at a Rome apartment building.

Seven people have been arrested in the UK as part of the world's largest police crackdown on paedophiles.

The chief prosecutor at the UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague has accused the Yugoslav government of harbouring Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic, who is wanted by the UN.

A hippopotamus capsized a boat on Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe, drowning five woman and a man, police said today.

A 16-year-old boy is expected to be charged today in connection with what US officials claim was a plan to kill teachers and students at a high school in Massachusetts.

Panamanian authorities have announced the discovery of a second ship believed to possibly belong to the fleet Christopher Columbus used on his last voyage to America in the 16th century.

The Australian government has criticised a planned investigation by the country’s human rights watchdog into the plight of hundreds of children held in the nation’s refugee detention camps.

Heavily armed Muslim rebels released 89 hostages today in exchange for safe passage through Philippine military forces that have besieged them for more than 24 hours.

New Zealand is forging a coalition of South Pacific nations committed to banning whaling in their waters after repeatedly being frustrated in its attempts to set up an internationally recognized whale sanctuary in the area.

Three firefighters and one civilian have died in a suspected gas leak explosion in an apartment building in Rome.

A British oil worker was shot dead while driving in Nigeria, the Foreign Office said tonight.

A Boeing 747 cargo plane with 13 crew members on board crashed in southeastern Nigeria today, killing a British engineer and injuring five other people, state-run radio reported.

Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines are seeking guarantees of a safe passage in exchange for 81 hostages.

Yasser Arafat has been accused in a Brussels court of crimes against humanity.