ISRAEL

When Pope Benedict stops to pray at a pool of still green water here on Sunday, his visit will bolster the case that Jesus was baptized at this spot on the east bank of the Jordan River.

Renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians must tackle core issues including Jerusalem, Middle East envoy Tony Blair said, raising the specter of a clash with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Obama administration stepped up pressure on Israel's new government on Tuesday to accept the goal of a Palestinian state and halt expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied land.

Israel's prime minister said on Monday he was ready to begin Israeli-Palestinian peace talks immediately but he made no reference to a Palestinian state, an omission that has dismayed Arab, European and U.S. officials.

The World Health Organization reported on Monday that 985 cases of influenza A (H1N1) have been reported across twenty countries.

As of the World Health Organization reports Friday, there are 11 countries and 331 cases were confirmed to have been infected with the influenza A (H1N1).

Israeli aircraft destroyed four smuggling tunnels under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Friday in the first air strike in almost two months, local residents and the Israeli military said.

Egypt started seizing and slaughtering herds of pigs on Thursday as a precaution against swine flu, officials and farmers said, despite resistance by farmers and criticism from the United Nations.

A Mexican toddler in Texas has died of the new swine flu virus, the first confirmed death outside Mexico, as the World Health Organization said the outbreak showed clear signs of spreading around the world.

A baby in Texas has died of the H1N1 flu strain, the first confirmed death outside Mexico from the virus, which health officials fear could cause a pandemic as it spread to two more countries.

New swine flu infections were found around the world on Tuesday and the specter of a pandemic began to hit the travel industry as governments warned people to stay away from Mexico where 149 people have died.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as fresh worries that major banks may need to raise more money offset more reassuring economic data that suggested the worst may be over and a big dividend boost from IBM.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday on concerns the swine flu outbreak could further depress fuel demand, already hard hit by the global financial crisis.

Stocks rose on Tuesday as IBM's dividend boost and reassuring data that could point to a bottom in the slow economic cycle offset worries that major banks may need to raise more money.

U.S. stocks rose modestly on Tuesday as a dividend hike at IBM and reassuring data that could signal a bottom in the economic cycle offset concerns that major banks may need to raise more money.

Anxiety over a global flu crisis and the health of some U.S. banks rattled hopes on Tuesday that the financial system was stabilizing, but U.S. and other data suggested confidence was returning to consumers.

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has damaged the country's relations with the international community, a moderate challenger to the president in the June presidential vote said on Tuesday.

New Zealand and Israel confirmed cases of swine flu on Tuesday, the latest countries hit by a new strain that has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and which threatens to become a pandemic.

Wall Street was set for a drop of about 1 percent at the open on Tuesday as a report that Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc may need more capital revived fears about the stability of the struggling financial sector.

Stock futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as a report that Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc may need more capital revived fears about the stability of the struggling financial sector.

Israel is a country in the Middle East, on the narrow region connecting Africa and Asia. The State of Israel occupies most of the region known as the Land of Israel.