After international pressure, the authorities in Afghanistan have postponed parliamentary elections due in May. The Electoral Commission said the polls would now be held in September mainly because of a lack of funding. President Karzai had faced demands for a delay to allow time to improve security and guard against fraud.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has attended symbolic tree planting ceremonies in Jewish settlement blocks in the occupied west bank and declared that Israel will never leave those areas. He was speaking hours after talks with the US envoy George Mitchell who has been pressing Israel to stop settlement activity. Bob Trevelyan reports.

"Mr. Netanyahu's visit seems to have been aimed at mollifying Jewish settlers who have been angered by his agreement under US pressure to freeze some building work in the settlements for ten months. Palestinians, however, will view his declaration that Israel will never leave the settlement blocks as provocative. A spokesman for the Palestinian President said Mr. Netanyahu's act was unacceptable and undermined efforts to restart peace talks."

The White House says it's confident that the chairman of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke will be reappointed for a second term. President Obama's senior adviser David Axelord told CNN that Mr. Obama believed the Senate would confirm Mr.Bernanke in office this week. Senate opposition to his reappointment has grown in recent days. Critics blame him for not doing enough to prevent the world financial crisis.