Closing schools at the first sign of a new pandemic might delay the worst so health officials can prepare, but cannot prevent the spread of the disease, British researchers said on Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would not take orders over Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, rejected on Sunday a U.S. demand to halt plans to build more homes for Jews in the disputed area.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to visit Israel on July 27 for talks likely to focus on Iran's nuclear ambitions and U.S.-Israeli strategic ties, officials involved in planning the trip said on Sunday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under fire from leading hardliners for naming as his top deputy a man who said Iran was friends with everyone, including arch-foe Israel, local media said on Sunday.
Israel was accused of using the Iranian opposition group, People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI) to assassinate president Ahmadinejad during last month's presidential election.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday rejected suggestions she had been sidelined by President Barack Obama, her rival for last year's Democratic presidential nomination.
Hedge fund swindler Samuel Israel was ordered to serve two more years behind bars on Wednesday for a wild escapade in which he faked his own death in an attempt to avoid a 20-year prison sentence.
Improving conditions for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank prove that a Palestinian state can be built from the bottom up while it's being negotiated from the top down, Tony Blair said Tuesday.
Israel on Monday dismissed and the Palestinians welcomed a call by the European Union's foreign policy chief for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state if negotiators fail to achieve a peace agreement.
A television advert for an Israeli cellphone firm showing soldiers playing soccer over the West Bank barrier has sparked cries of bad taste and prompted Arab lawmakers on Sunday to demand it be taken off air.
U.S. President Barack Obama now is facing serious challenges over dealing with the settlement issues between Israel and Palestine.
Israel is ready to withdraw from areas of the Golan Heights, but it will not give up large parts of the occupied territory in any peace deal with Syria, a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world but has higher rates of infant mortality, diabetes and other ills than many other developed countries.
Israel said on Wednesday it would allow a crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan to remain open 24 hours a day to help the Palestinian economy.
A U.S. official denied an Israeli newspaper report on Wednesday that Washington had agreed to the continued construction of 2,500 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, despite its calls for a freeze.
Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa has asked potential buyers to submit bids for its majority stake in Israel's Partner Communications by Wednesday, the Maariv newspaper said on Monday.
Amnesty International said on Thursday Israel inflicted wanton destruction in the Gaza Strip in attacks that often targeted Palestinian civilians during an offensive in December and January in the Hamas-run enclave.
Israel's Defense Ministry said Monday it had approved construction of 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement as part of a plan for 1,450 housing units, an expansion that defies a U.S. call for a settlement freeze.
Iran accused the United States of trying to destabilize it and sparked a new row with Britain on Sunday, underscoring the hardline leadership's efforts to blame post-election unrest on foreign powers rather than popular anger.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he hoped to reach an understanding with Washington over Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but an Israeli official predicted the dispute would be hard to resolve.
Iran's interior minister Sadeq Mahsouli accused the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of helping to fund rioters, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Wednesday that a disputed election result would stand, despite street protests that Iranian officials say Britain and the United States have incited.
