ranchers
and farmers.
Militants from Hamas in Gaza say they are ready to stop the latest round of cross-border attacks if Israel agrees to
follow suit
. The Hamas statement said they were responding to efforts by Egypt to broker a ceasefire. Eight Palestinians have been killed in the last three days in Israeli air strikes in Gaza while militants inside the Palestinian territory have fired rockets into Israel.
A gunman claiming to be inspired by al-Qaeda has given himself up after a siege at a bank in the southern French city of Toulouse. All his four
hostages
have been freed unharmed. The incident follows a siege in March by an Islamist militant Mohamed Merah, who shot seven people dead. From Paris, Hugh Schofield.
Six hours of siege ended successfully with the controlled use of force by the police. The man was shot as he came out of the bank holding one of his hostages.
Overpowered
by police, he was treated for gunshot wounds on the spot, but his life is not in danger. Earlier the man had released two of his four hostages. He told police his motives were religious, but they suspect that the main factor is his known history of mental trouble.
The English woman who gave birth to the world's first test tube baby has died at the age of 64. Lesley Brown made history in July 1978 when her daughter Louise was born following IVF treatment. Mrs Brown had been trying for a baby with her husband for nine years before she successfully