The EU is preparing to go it alone and channel emergency funds to the Palestinians if talks with the US, Russia and United Nations on setting up an international mechanism for easing their financial plight fail this week, senior officials indicated at the weekend

The FBI has placed polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs on its 10 most-wanted list, with a reward of $100,000 (£54,000), hoping for an arrest in a long-running investigation. Mr Jeffs, 50, is the leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, and has not been seen by anyone outside the community for two years

Italy was bracing itself for another bruising election today with the incoming government and the centre-right opposition at loggerheads over who should be the country's next president. Voting is due to commence this afternoon but the outgoing prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has dashed hopes of consensus between the two political coalitions over the top job, sparking fears that the election could be a drawn-out and embarrassing affair

Iran stepped up its war of words with the west yesterday over its nuclear programme by threatening to abrogate the international treaty on nuclear weapons if a binding UN security council resolution is set against Tehran

Tourists and young couples ambling through the historic centre of Krakow on a warm spring afternoon were stopped in their tracks by a sight reminiscent of the era of martial law. As drinks flowed in the open-air cafes of Poland's ancient royal capital, a phalanx of armed police in full riot gear inched its way slowly through the medieval city

The Bush administration, which emerged from the September 11 2001 attacks vowing to make the United States safe from terrorists, was yesterday warned that it risked provoking a new crisis over intelligence if the president appointed a controversial general to head the CIA. Mr Bush is widely expected to nominate General Michael Hayden as head of the intelligence agency today, three days after the abrupt departure of the agency's director, Porter Goss

IRAQ Roadside bomb kills three U.S. soldiers BAGHDAD — A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers in Iraq yesterday, the military said. The explosion hit their vehicle in a U.S. convoy at about 11:45 a.m. in Babil province south of Baghdad. Iraqi police said the blast targeted a military convoy near Mahaweel, 35 miles south of Baghdad

An Israeli aircraft struck a training camp used by Palestinian militants yesterday, killing five members of a group that has close ties to the ruling Hamas movement. The air strike raised already heightened tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians and sparked a new crisis for Islamic militant group Hamas, which is under heavy international pressure to renounce violence since taking the helm of the government

The ruling British Labour Party of Prime Minister Tony Blair suffered significant losses in local council elections in England, results showed early Friday. Blair, whose government has been battered by a series of scandals over the past week, was expected to reshuffle his cabinet as a result. In the elections Thursday, Labour lost more than 200 seats on town and city councils, chiefly in London. The Conservatives, under new leader David Cameron, made big gains

President Bush said Friday "it makes sense" to reduce at least temporarily the import tax on ethanol and that he would work with Congress to suspend some or all the 54-cent tariff. Any such move would prompt a fight with both Republican and Democratic farm-state lawmakers who say a change would undermine the domestic ethanol industry. But Bush, in an interview with CNBC, made clear he views the tax as a barrier to imports. "I think it makes sense ..