Patrick Moser

Israel plans to hold its own limited probes into its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that fall short of calls for an international inquiry.

Israel has freed 19 women prisoners in a swap for footage showing soldier Gilad Shalit looking healthy after more than three years in captivity.

Israel on Wednesday launched a campaign to block what it said were the ''perverse and noxious effects'' of a UN report that accused it on war crimes.

Speaking over the din of half a dozen earthmovers, Evo Katz, the mayor of Yizhar, shrugged off the latest US diplomatic push for a settlement freeze.

The United States wants Israel to sign up to a one-year freeze on settlement activity, according to reports on Thursday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday vowed to stand down if indicted on graft charges.

The Israeli president was to hold talks with party officials on Thursday and decide within four days who will be tasked with forming a new government.

Final results confirmed the Kadima party narrowly won the election but suggested Likud is better placed to form a government.

Israel on Thursday threw a huge birthday bash to celebrate 60 tumultuous years during which the Jewish state made great strides forward but failed to achieve peace with its neighbours. Military air shows topped the programme with war planes being put through their paces even as a dark cloud hung over the political future of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel warned on Thursday it will retaliate against Hamas, blaming the Palestinian Islamist group for a deadly explosion of violence in the Gaza Strip that followed a month of relative calm. Israeli authorities said they temporarily shut down the Nahal Oz fuel terminal following Wednesday's attack.

Belly-flopping in the mud, tossing toilet seats and guzzling beer, average Joes celebrated the unrefined life of the American "redneck" at a wacky annual event initially held as a counterpart to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. A toothless man who calls himself "Freight Train" kicked off the event on Saturday.

Talk in Ernest Hemingway's former Havana watering hole often turns to the old man and the daiquiri and, at times, to the 45-year-old embargo that officially prevents Untied States fans from tippling to his memory in the Cuba he loved. ''We're not even supposed to be here,'' says New Yorker Neil Kok (47) raising his glass.