The top United Nations human rights official on Tuesday called on Israel to immediately lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip, as invading tanks from the Jewish state sparked retaliatory rocket fire from the coastal territory. "By function of this blockade, 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and children.

MOGADISHU: A hijacked Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million worth of oil anchored off a notorious Somali pirate port on Tuesday as sea gangs struck again and seized a Hong Kong cargo ship. The biggest act of piracy yet by the Somali bandits has stunned the international community.

LONDON: Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday he felt confident about the prospects for a Middle East peace deal next year following the election of Barack Obama as leader of the United States. On the first full day of a three-day visit to Britain, Peres said there was a "fair chance" Israel would reach an agreement with the Palestinians in the next 12 months.

BAGHDAD: Senior US and Iraqi officials differed on Tehran's role in nailing down a military accord that will allow US troops to remain in Iraq until 2011 as Iran Tuesday sent mixed signals on the deal. The Iraqi Cabinet approved the agreement on Sunday and Parliament was expected on November 24 to take a vote on the wide-ranging pact.

At least 20 people were killed in clashes between insurgents and pro-government forces allied with Pakistani soldiers in the country's volatile northwest, officials said on Tuesday. At least nine militants and a soldier were killed in exchanges of fire in the Swat Valley, the army said.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer appealed Tuesday for more troops from outside the US to be sent to Afghanistan to prevent it from becoming a "safe haven" for terrorists. "No strategy will work if it is not matched by the right resources. I welcome [US President-elect Barack] Obama's commitment to boost troop levels.

The US administration found itself in an awkward position after Afghanistan's offer of peace talks with Mullah Mohammad Omar, the fugitive Taliban leader long seen by Washington as an arch-enemy. US officials spoke cautiously when asked about a possible negotiation with one of the world's most wanted men.

Police deployed in strength on Tuesday for the funeral of underworld kingpin Yaakov Alperon who was assassinated in a Tel Aviv car bombing that has prompted fears of a gangland war in Israel. Alperon's son Dror, who is on trial on charges of blackmail and extortion, was granted temporary release from custody to attend the funeral in Ranana, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

The Iranian Parliament on Tuesday approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominee as interior minister by a thin margin, two weeks after it sacked his predecessor for lying about his credentials. Sadeq Mahsouli, the new minister, is one of Ahmadinejad's closest aides.

Prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's camp on Monday failed to halt the first reading in Parliament of a controversial Iraq-US military pact which has been passed by the Iraqi Cabinet. The Sadrist movement has vigorously opposed the wide-ranging agreement, which would replace a UN mandate that expires at the end of this year.

Caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday that 250 Palestinian prisoners would be freed in a goodwill gesture, as Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas urged Israel to maintain the Gaza truce. The pair met in Occupied Jerusalem for the first time in two months, amid rising tension in and around the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government has begun to actively promote voluntary army service for Palestinian-Israelis. The Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, is meanwhile considering plans to make civil service compulsory for all Israeli citizens, including Palestinian-Israelis.

Sudanese police detained more than 60 journalists for around three hours on Monday and instructed them to go to court for protesting against strict censorship, reporters and a lawyer said. Scores of journalists rallied outside Parliament condemning the censorship which flouts the freedom of expression.

Sudan's Parliament on Monday approved an independent electoral commission, in a crucial but delayed step toward national polls laid out in the peace accord that ended 21 years of civil war. The line-up of the nine-member commission, which was appointed by the presidency and submitted to Parliament for approval.

Algeria and Argentina signed an agreement Monday to boost cooperation over civil nuclear energy Monday as Argentine President Cristina Kirchner continued her tour of northern Africa. The energy deal was signed by Algerian Energy and Mining Minister Chakib Khelil and Argentina's Minister for Federal Planning Julio de Vido.

A group dubbing itself "Friends of Pakistan" pledged support to the violence-hit country at a meeting in Abu Dhabi Monday during which a "framework" for cooperation was discussed, a top official said. "It was a very successful meeting, we had [pledges of] unanimous support and solidarity," Pakistan's additional foreign secretary for South Asia.

US President-elect Barack Obama vowed to pull troops out of Iraq, crush Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and shut down the Guantanamo Bay camp as part of a dramatic foreign policy break with President George W. Bush. Repairing the stricken US economy will be priority number one, even at the cost of still-bigger budget deficits, Obama said.

Speaking to a session of the World Economic Forum's 24th India Economic Summit, held in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger endorsed US Senator Hillary Clinton, rumored to be the favorite for the post in President-elect Barack Obama's administration.

Iraq's Cabinet approved a military pact Sunday that requires the withdrawal of all US troops by the end of 2011, as a deadly suicide car bomb underscored the country's lingering insecurity. The attack took place within hours of the Cabinet decision at a police checkpoint in Iraq's volatile Diyala Province, killing at least 15 people.

Interim Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert accused Hamas on Sunday of "shattering" the Gaza truce after two rockets hit Israel, which the Jewish state followed with an air strike that killed four Palestinian resistance fighters. However, Olmert, who made the comments at a weekly Israeli Cabinet meeting.