By Nick Assinder  BBC News Online's political correspondent, travelling with the prime minister

For the second time since 11 September, Tony Blair and George Bush have appeared standing shoulder to shoulder as allies united against global terrorism and aggression. 

Interrupting hours of talks at the president's ranch in Texas - often with only the two of them present - they delivered some of the most powerful demands yet on the Israelis and the Palestinians to halt the bloodshed in the region. 

And they again underlined their determination to "deal with" the problem of Iraq and Saddam Hussein's development of weapons of mass destruction. 

They said their goal was the eventual removal of Saddam Hussein from power. 

It was clear from the strength of their language on the Middle East that they expected the Israelis to start withdrawing from the occupied territories within hours. 

The prime minister delayed finalising the details of a speech he is to make in Texas on Sunday morning in expectation of developments. 

Action against Iraq

The two men also insisted they were still determined to move against Saddam Hussein. 

In words that will spark alarm among many in Britain, they suggested tough action against Iraq was virtually inevitable, if not imminent. 

Both men said they were determined to take action against Saddam Hussein

The prime minister - clearly aware of the deep opposition at home - was more measured, but equally determined not to "duck" the issue of Iraq. 

And that led to the belief that the aim of any future action will be the removal of the Iraqi leader. 

'Enough is enough'

The two men came to Crawford against a backdrop of escalating violence in the Middle East and growing British opposition to military action against Saddam Hussein. 

After President Bush's "enough is enough" message to the Israelis, and his decision to despatch Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region, there were fears that - in the intervening days - Ariel Sharon would escalate his attacks on the Palestinians. 

Tony Blair was expected to use the talks - originally set to concentrate on Iraq - to press the president to keep up the pressure on Israel and be prepared to follow through with further action if it failed to toe the line. 

The overriding aim of this summit has again been to display the strength of the bond between the two leaders

Speaking after a summit in Texas, Mr Blair said all options were open if Iraq continued to defy the United Nations by blocking weapons inspections. 

The world would be better off without him [Saddam Hussein] and so would the future

President Bush

However, both leaders were careful not to mention immediate military action against Iraq and emphasised that further discussions would have to take place. 

'Heed the threat'

The situation in Iraq, which was originally expected to dominate the US-UK summit remained on the agenda, despite the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

President Bush warned of the possibility that Iraq could link up with a terrorist network and spread weapons of mass destruction.

"The world would be better off without him [Saddam Hussein] and so would the future," said Mr Bush.

Mr Blair said: "We must heed the threat [of weapons of mass destruction] and act to prevent it being realised". 

"Now, how we approach this, this is a matter for discussion," said Mr Blair who faces opposition at home to a military offensive in Iraq.

The BBC's Rob Watson, who is covering the talks, says that although Mr Blair has often been portrayed as a moderating influence on the US leader, there was little evidence of that moderation in a performance from Mr Bush likely to do little in the battle for Arab public opinion.

By Adam Easton  BBC correspondent in Caracas

Venezuela's largest union federation has called a 24-hour general strike in a show of support for striking managers from the country's state oil company. 

The Confederation of Venezuelan Workers will hold the nationwide work stoppage on Tuesday. 

Oil workers from the state-owned PDVSA are on the third day of a partial strike which has already disrupted fuel and gas supplies in the world's fourth-largest oil exporter. 

The union's decision marks the biggest challenge to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez since he came to power three years ago. 

A general strike last December virtually paralysed the nation's economy. 

Supplies hit

Union leader Carlos Ortega said the constant persecution of the country's workers by the government was sufficient reason to call the action. 

Chavez: Not seen since strike began

He warned the 24-hour stoppage could be extended, depending on events on Tuesday. 

The one million member union federation had been planning a general strike for later this month to call for higher public sector salaries. But the date was brought forward to coincide with the oil sector dispute. 

Managers from PDVSA, marked the third day of their strike with demonstrations outside the company's buildings. 

The oil strike was called to protest against the company's management board, which workers say President Chavez has filled with his supporters. 

The progressive strike has shut down one of the company's refineries and affected fuel and gas supplies in the country. 

Oil tankers are not being loaded, which may already have begun to affect the country's exports. 

Falling popularity

This is a particular blow for the economy, as oil brings in almost half of the government's revenues. 

The strike has also caused clashes between supporters and opponents of the government, culminating in the deaths of two oil workers last week. 

If successful, the general strike will be a massive personal blow for Mr Chavez. 

The president's popularity has plummeted in recent months following a successful nationwide strike last December. 

Mr Chavez has not been seen in public since the oil strike began, and negotiations have broken down. 

The government has taken a hard line against the oil workers so far. But this latest challenge may force them back to the table.

The Paris protests were some of the largest held in Europe

Anger has erupted into violence in several instances, with at least one death reported. 

In Morocco, an estimated one million people gathered in the capital Rabat in an officially-sanctioned demonstration on Sunday.
 
 

In Cairo, dozens of demonstrators held a protest outside the emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers, many shouting "the liberation of the territories will happen with weapons and not with the peace initiative".

The largest protests in Europe took place in Rome on Saturday where about 20,000 protesters marched through the centre of the city before swelling their ranks to around 50,000 in the Piazza del Popolo, the Associated Press news agency reported.

A protester died in Bahrain on Sunday two days after sustaining a rubber-bullet wound during a mass demonstration outside the US embassy. 

The demonstration turned into a riot with protesters hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails into the embassy grounds.

Jordanian officials have denied reports that the death of 10-year-old boy in a Palestinian refugee camp near Amman on Sunday was linked to earlier anti-Israel demonstrations there. 

Counter-demonstrations

Hundreds of thousands gathered in the centre of the Moroccan capital Rabat chanting slogans and waving Palestinian flags and banners. 

Some American flags were set alight. Riot police line the streets, but there has been no violence so far. 

There have been unofficial protests and strikes by high-school students all over Morocco for the last two weeks, but this one is official. 

In Paris, more than 20,000 people marched to the Place de la Bastille in a protest organised by anti-racism, communist and pro-Palestinians support groups.

It's important for me to show my support - these people (Palestinians) have neither land nor water

Italian protester Andrea Parrella

Thousands more demonstrated in the cities of Nantes, Rennes, Rouen, Lille, Strasbourg, Metz, Grenoble and Marseilles.

Most of the rallies passed off peacefully, but in the south of France petrol bombs were thrown at a Jewish sports club, and Jewish organisations in the country said they were preparing to hold counter-demonstrations in the next few days.

In the Swiss capital of Bern more than 9,000 people attended a pro-Palestinian rally organised by the Swiss Socialist and Green parties.

And rallies across the country in Germany drew more than 5,000 people.

'Liberation' calls

In Rome some marchers wore black face masks and scarves similar to those of Palestinian militants, while others carried banners calling for a "liberated Palestine".

Hundreds walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in support of Palestinians

And in the US, thousands marched demanding that Washington intervene in the Middle East crisis, with protesters walking across the Brooklyn Bridge carrying placards equating Mr Sharon with Hitler.

Bahrain and Jordan saw the most violent demonstrations In the Arab world, but Lebanon has also held seven consecutive days of rallies, the largest being in the mainly-Shia Muslim city of Baalbek, where an estimated 15,000 turned out for rallies.

In the Beirut suburb of Aukar violence erupted with police using tear gas to disperse crowds.

In Indonesia, one of the world's most populous Muslim nation, four days of protests culminated on Friday with more than 1,000 protesters clashing with police in the capital Jakarta, some pelting the heavily fortified US embassy with rotten vegetables.

One of the most important things is the reunification of the nation across the borders

Viktor Orban

Voting was brisk, with more than 65% of the country's eight million voters casting their ballots - well up on the last elections, four years ago. 

If Mr Orban does win a second consecutive term in office he will be the first post-communist prime minister in central Europe to do so.

Far-right failure

The Tarki polling agency put Fidesz on 46%, with the Socialists on 38%, while another polling agency, Median, had a much closer margin, with Fidesz ahead by 44% to 42%.

A third, liberal, party, the Alliance of Free Democrats, is also expected to enter parliament.

 But a small, far-right party, the Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIEP), named as a possible coalition partner for Fidesz may not pass the necessary 5% threshold to take up seats. 

Orban's campaign has focused on family and nationalist values

At the last elections, the Socialists scored more votes in the first round and then went on to lose the second.

 The BBC's correspondent in Budapest, Nick Thorpe, says the liberals' success could leave open a possibility of victory for the Socialists if the two strike a deal to step down to each other's benefit in selected constituencies in the second round of voting. 

Whoever wins will most likely lead Hungary into European Union membership, which is expected in 2004.

Ethnic agenda
 
 

Mr Orban said he was "confident" as he cast his vote in central Budapest. Mr Orban's campaign focused on the country's booming economic growth, as well as his controversial nationalist agenda, which gives perks to ethnic Hungarians living abroad and which has antagonised neighbouring countries.

"One of the most important things is the reunification of the nation across the borders," he said as he voted on Sunday.

"We are going to continue that road with the force of a steam engine," he said.

The Socialists, led by Peter Medgyessy, say Mr Orban's nationalism is harming Hungary's image abroad and accuse him of populism.

They also say they laid the foundations of Hungary's economic success, with an economic austerity programme that cost them the 1997 elections. 

The graves are situated near the airport of the provincial capital of Bamiyan, about 125 kilometres (80 miles) north-west of Kabul. 

We do not yet know the number of bodies or when they were buried

UN spokesman

One report said the graves were thought to contain at least 35 bodies. 

Correspondents say the predominantly Shiite Hazara minority suffered particularly badly during the five years of Taleban rule. 

The Taleban - who are Sunni Muslims - were accused of massacring Hazaras in the Bamiyan area in reprisal for earlier killings by Shiite forces fighting against them.

Team heads for Bamiyan

Spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said said the discovery of the graves had been brought to the attention of the UN on Saturday by local representatives. 

The Bamiyan buddhas were once the area's most well known feature

The area has been cordoned off, awaiting the arrival of officials from the UN and the Afghan interim government to verify information provided by the local authorities. 

The Taleban lost control of Bamiyan in the days before Kabul fell, following numerous battles between opposing forces over the course of a year.

A BBC correspondent who went to the town of Bamiyan in November found it had been totally destroyed by the Taleban before they fled. 

Bazaars had been torched in town after town and there were reports of Bosnian-style ethnic cleansing involving the execution of hundreds of local men. 

The graves in the Bamiyan area are near the site of ancient Buddhist statues destroyed by Taleban tanks and explosives last year, provoking international outrage. 

No damage was caused. Troops are heading out to an area south west of the city, where the rocket is thought to have been fired from and are checking for evidence of other rockets having been fired.

Our initial assessment is that rather than a group wishing to target ISAF in its own right, that perhaps this is in some way linked to the current situation in Kabul

Flight Lt Tony Marshall

Afghan authorities last week arrested at least 160 people allegedly involved in a plot to topple the government. 

Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has since played down suggestions of a coup plot, but investigations were continuing into possible sabotage and terrorist operations.

ISAF, the 18-nation, 4,500-member force, was established by the United Nations Security Council in December to help maintain security in Kabul during the transition to a more stable government in Afghanistan. 

There have been several shooting incidents directed at peacekeepers in recent weeks, but no injuries.

Security review

ISAF spokesman Lt Col Neil Peckham said the force was taking Sunday's incident extremely seriously and was reviewing its security measures.

British troops heard the rocket overhead in the early hours of the morning.

It exploded 200 metres from the brigade support group's headquarters, leaving a crater in the ground.

Peacekeepers are searching the area to see if any other rockets were fired in the attack. 

The rocket, which is said to be of a type mujahideen fighters fired into Kabul in the 1980s during their battle against the Soviet army and the communist government it backed, has a range of eight to 10 kilometres (five to six miles).

It was the second incident at the compound, located outside central Kabul along the main road leading from the capital to the eastern city of Jalalabad, in just over a week.

On 28 March, the compound was partially evacuated after a suspicious package was found outside one of the gates and later blown up but found to contain only bricks.

	Click here for map of Israeli operation

Israel's strongest backer, the United States, has called for an end to the incursions, which have turned about a dozen Palestinian towns and villages into war zones. 

But Prime Minister Ariel Sharon resisted US pressure, saying only that the offensive - launched to combat the threat of Palestinian suicide bomb attacks - would be speeded up, not ended. 

President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said on US television on Sunday that the pullout should begin "now, without delay, not tomorrow".

But she gave the Israelis room for manoeuvre over the manner of any withdrawal, saying it should not be "helter-skelter and chaotic".

The world is watching and Israel needs to end this pitiless assault on civilian refugee camps

UN official Peter Hansen

"We are getting reports of pure horror," said Unrwa chief Peter Hansen." That helicopters are strafing civilian residential areas; that systematic shelling by tanks has created hundreds of wounded; that bulldozers are razing refugee homes and that food and medicine will soon run out." 

Confused picture

Army chief of staff Shaul Mofaz said more than 200 Palestinians have been killed and 1,500 injured since the offensive was launched on 29 March. 

An Israeli field commander said more than 30 Palestinian guerrillas were killed in two days of close combat in Nablus.

Bush was unusually blunt in his words to Israel

The figures cannot be confirmed because neither medics nor the media have been allowed access. The Palestinian Red Crescent says there are 12 confirmed deaths in Jenin, but that does not include anyone killed in the last two days when fighting was heaviest. 

Jenin and Nablus have been under heavy and continuous shelling for several days. Some areas are surrounded by Israeli troops as Palestinian guerrillas defend dense mazes of streets and alleyways. 

Where is Powell? Sharon is using the time between now and his arrival to destroy everything

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat

In the Gaza Strip, which has not been part of the current offensive, thousands of people gathered for the funeral of five people in Rafah - including two young girls and an elderly man killed by Israeli tank fire on Saturday. 

Diplomatic moves

US President George W Bush followed up his demand for Israeli withdrawal with a 20-minute phone call to Mr Sharon, and US officials said he demanded an immediate pullout, not just promises of future action.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell is due to arrive in the region on Monday, but will not reach Israel until later. 

The foreign minister of Spain - which currently holds the European Union presidency - said the EU would discuss imposing sanctions on Israel if it continued its incursions on Palestinian territory. 

"Some countries are in favour of introducing sanctions very, very soon, others are more reluctant," Josep Pique said.

Ambulances 'obstructed'

Statements from Mr Sharon's office said the Israeli offensive was being prolonged by the need to prevent harm to civilians. 

An Israeli army spokesman told Israeli radio the operation in Jenin could end on Sunday.

The curfew was briefly lifted in Bethlehem for residents to buy supplies

UN relief workers said a convoy of food aid had reached Nablus but they could not distribute it because of the security situation. 

Several thousand Israeli peace campaigners gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday night under the slogan "End occupation, start negotiation". 

But opinion polls show that Israelis, rocked by suicide bombings that have deepened fears that no place in Israel is safe, overwhelmingly support the operation.

In another development to heighten the sense of crisis, Israeli security sources said at least two people were wounded in an cross-border attack by Lebanese guerrillas on Sunday evening. 

Israeli civilians living near the border were ordered into bomb shelters amid fears that the Palestinian militant groups and the Shia Muslim Hezbollah were trying to make Israel to fight on two fronts. 

This is indiscriminate terrorism

Police Colonel Jorge Alirio

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says the country's main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is the prime suspect for the attack. 

Violence has been rising in Colombia since February, when the government ended a three-year peace process with the FARC. Just hours before the car bomb a priest was assassinated as he said Mass in the south of the country.

Reward offered

Authorities are reported to have asked local residents to donate blood in hospitals for the wounded and the town's mayor has offered a reward for information about the bombers. 

"This is indiscriminate terrorism," police colonel Jorge Alirio Baron told the Reuters news agency. 

Several buildings were heavily damaged, including the offices of Super Noticias radio station, and several cars were wrecked, the Associated Press reported. 

Villavicencio is host to Colombia's Davis Cup tennis match this weekend against Uruguay. 

It is not yet known if the explosion will affect the match. 

Villavicencio, which is the capital of Meta province, has suffered blackouts and bomb attacks against roads and bridges by rebels in the past. 

In January, thousands of people took to the streets of Villavicencio beating pots and pans to demand an end to the attacks. 

Assassination

Just hours before the Villavicencio blast, a Catholic priest was assassinated as he said mass in his church in Argentina, in the southern province of Huila. 

Gunmen burst into the church service and shot Father Juan Ramon Nunez four times in front of a large congregation, one of whom was also killed in the attack. 

Our correspondent says that since the assassination last month of the Archbishop of Cali, Isaias Duarte Cancino, it has become clear that nobody - not even priests - are safe.

Since the breakdown of the peace process, FARC has been carrying out its threat to bring the country's 38-year civil war to the towns and cities. 

About 3,500 people every year are killed in the conflict.