• Fighting between Palestinian factions escalated across Gaza, killing at least 15 people as Hamas overran compounds used by President Mahmoud Abbas's forces and two major universities were set ablaze. Residents of the narrow coastal strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, hid in their homes instead of attending Friday prayers as the rivals fought running gun battles with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades from streets and rooftops.

• United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari unveiled a plan to set the breakaway province of Kosovo on a path to independence, an outcome immediately welcomed by Kosovo Albanians and rejected by Serbia.

• US intelligence experts painted a gloomy picture of Iraq, saying in a report seen yesterday that sectarian bloodshed had surpassed the threat from al Qaeda and warning of the consequences of a rapid US withdrawal.

• The United States is not planning for a war with Iran but is determined to stop Iranians supplying bombs for deadly attacks on US troops in Iraq, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said.

• Greece's main opposition socialists submitted a censure motion in parliament, demanding snap elections over what they said was the conservative government's failure.

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