Sharm el-Sheikh - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday to take part in Sunday's Quartet meeting in the Egyptian Red Sea resort.

Rice is expected to meet her Egyptian counterpart Ahmad Abul Gheit later in the evening.

Rice comes to Egypt after her two-day visit to Israel and Jordan where she discussed peace talks with leaders of both countries.

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - With an admitted US failure to make Middle East peace a reality before the end of this year as promised by the now outgoing US President George W Bush, the international Quartet on the Middle East is meeting on Sunday with Palestinian and Israeli delegations in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The ministerial-level Quartet will hear from both the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on what blocked the anticipated peace deal.

Tel Aviv/Gaza - Israeli soldiers and militant Palestinians clashed briefly in the Gaza Strip border area on Saturday, amid conflicting accounts of where the clash took place.

Both the military and local Gaza eyewitness accounts agreed there was an exchange of fire when Israeli soldiers arrived at the border fence to carry out controlled detonations of explosive devices.

But an Israeli army spokeswoman, while confirming the exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants, denied that the incident took place on Gaza territory.

Baghdad, Nov 8: The US military unit in Iraq has claimed that a senior Al Qaeda leader in the country was killed in a weapons cache-clearing operation carried out in north of Baghdad.

A statement issued by the US military on Friday said that Abu Ghazwan was killed late on Thursday in the Tarmiyah area.

Ghazwan led many terrorist cells in the Tarmiyah and Taji areas, and he advised and financed other terrorist cells in northern Iraq, The News quoted the statement as saying.

It said that the operation was carried out by coalition-supported Iraqi security forces and “Sons of Iraq”, also known as “Awakening Councils”. The paramilitary groups composed mainly of former insurgents who now work with US forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), a leading state run telecom operator, has announced that it is considering acquiring companies in Africa and Middle East.

While commenting on the proposals, Mr. Kuldeep Goyal, BSNL chairman and managing director stated, “We are looking at developing economies such as Africa and Middle East countries.”

The company is proposing expansion in mobile and broadband sectors in the countries where telecom density is low.

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the Red Sea port of Aqaba on Friday, stressing the need for continuing peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians despite US and Israeli elections.

"The monarch underlined the need for continuing negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians to reach a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution despite the new developments relating to the US and Israeli elections," a royal court statement said.