The following world events are current and related to the headlines. They are intended to provide additional insight into current events and are grouped together in a magazine style for your convenience.

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Israel says it is speeding up the construction of a controversial 350 kilometer long fence designed to create a buffer zone between the Jewish state and the West Bank.
 
 

Benjamin Ben Eliezer (file photo)

 In a meeting with Israeli mayors, Israeli news reports say Mr. Ben Eliezer set a six month deadline for the completion of the fence, which Israeli radio said will cost $200 million.

 The project has been criticized by some Israeli leftists, who are pushing for a political settlement with the Palestinians. It has also come under sharp attack by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, who say they fear becoming isolated on the wrong side of the fence.

 Earlier today, a Palestinian man blew himself up at a busy intersection in the northern Israeli town of Afula.
 
 

Bloody victim wounded in Netanya bombing

 The Palestinian Authority strongly condemned Sunday's bombing as a terror attack against Israeli civilians.

 The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing. The leader of the group, Ahmed Saadat, is in a Palestinian jail under international supervision.

 Palestinian suicide attackers have targeted Netanya repeatedly. A bombing that killed 29 people at a restaurant in the town in late March triggered Israel's military offensive in the West Bank.
 
 

Some information for this report provided by AFP.

Bloody victim wounded in Netanya bombing

 The suicide bomber arrived at the fruit and vegetable market in Netanya dressed in an Israeli army uniform. He set off a powerful explosion, which ripped through the market.
 
 

 Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, which has been behind many such attacks claimed responsibility for the blast.

 Netanya is situated close to the West Bank and has been the target of frequent terror attacks this year. The explosion ended a period of relative quiet following Israel's recent military offensive in the West Bank to root out Palestinian terrorism. 

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says that the attack shows that the Palestinian terrorism campaign against the Jewish State is far from over.

 Two weeks ago, Israel planned a new offensive against the Gaza Strip after 15 Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing in Rishon Lezion, near Tel Aviv. The operation was called off in the face of international pressure.

A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated explosives in northern Israel Monday, killing himself but causing no other injuries. The attempted attack follows Sunday's suicide bombing that killed three Israelis and the bomber in the coastal city of Netanya. 

Monday's explosion came at a busy intersection close to the northern Israeli town of Afula, which has been the target of several Palestinian suicide and shooting attacks. 

Police say civilians notified authorities when a man waiting at a local bus stop raised suspicions. When police approached the man and asked for his identity papers, he set off explosives. 

The incident came one day after another bombing in the city of Netanya along the Mediterranean coast, raising fears within Israel of a new wave of suicide attacks. 

In Sunday's incident a Palestinian, dressed in an Israeli army uniform, blew himself up at a fruit and vegetable market. 

Men with loudspeakers paraded through the West Bank town of Nablus claiming responsibility for the bombing in the name of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The French news agency AFP is reporting the militant group Hamas also claimed responsibility. 

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement condemning what it called the "terrorist attack" on Israeli civilians. 

Netanya has been targeted repeatedly by suicide bombers during nearly 20 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence. A bombing that killed 29 people at a restaurant last March in Netanya prompted Israel's massive military operation in the West Bank. 

The Israeli raids into Palestinian-controlled areas were designed to dismantle what officials called the "terrorist infrastructure" and arrest militants. 

Sunday's bombing was the first since 15 Israelis died earlier this month in a suicide attack on a pool hall in a suburb of Tel Aviv. Israel had threatened to retaliate with an attack on the Gaza Strip, but called off the operation, apparently after pressure from the United States and other countries. 

The son of a Palestinian guerrilla leader has been killed in a car bombing in Beirut. 

Reports from the Lebanese capital say the son of Ahmed Jibril, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, died Monday when a bomb under the seat of his car exploded. 

Thirty-eight year-old Jihad Jibril was a top officer in his father's radical Palestinian organization. Police say no one was wounded in the mid-day blast, which slightly damaged nearby buildings. Police have sealed off the area and launched an investigation. 

A spokesman for the Palestinian group called the attack an assassination and immediately blamed Israel. But an advisor to Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel had nothing to do with the attack. 

The Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command opposes the Mideast peace process. Its leader, Ahmed Jibril, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have been enemies for years. 

The General Command group is on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations because of its opposition to Mideast peace and its attacks on Israeli civilians. 

Car bombings were frequent during Lebanon's civil war between 1975 and 1990. In January, an ex-militia leader was also killed in a car bombing. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

Tensions remain high in Kashmir, with India reporting new separatist attacks and cross-border shelling continuing between Indian and Pakistani troops for a fourth straight day. 

Indian authorities said at least two soldiers were killed and nine others injured on Monday in what was described as a series of attacks by suspected separatist militants in the disputed Himalayan region. 

Meanwhile, Indian officials announced that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would make a rare, three-day visit to Kashmir this week to assess the simmering border tensions. 

India has maintained that it will withdraw troops from the Kashmir border only after Pakistan puts an end to "cross-border terrorism." 

Also Monday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Aziz Ahmed Khan announced that Islamabad is ready to deploy independent international observers to the Line of Control to confirm that militants are not illegally crossing the border. He said Pakistan is ready to re-start negotiations and dialogue with India. 

About one million troops have massed along the border in Kashmir since a deadly attack on India's parliament in December. New Delhi blames the attack on Pakistani based militants. 

Since Friday, at least ten people have been killed, 70 have been injured and thousands of others have been forced to flee their homes in the rising violence. 

Last Tuesday, more than 30 Indians, mostly women and children, were massacred, when militants attacked an army base at Kaluchak near Jammu, the winter capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. 

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.

At least two Indian soldiers were killed Monday in separate attacks by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir. The killings came as Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy fire across their frontier for a fourth day. 

Suspected separatist militants carried out a series of attacks against Indian security forces north of Jammu, the winter capital of Indias state of Jammu and Kashmir. 

The attacks took place as Indian and Pakistani troops traded artillery, mortar and small arms fire along the line of control, the cease-fire line that divides Kashmir, and along the international border near Kashmir. Thousands of people who live along the border have fled their homes in recent days. 

In New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee met with opposition lawmakers, something he has been doing for several days, in a move to gain support for diplomatic, and possibly military action against Pakistan. Mr. Vajpayee will make a rare trip to Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, on a fact-finding mission. 

India says Pakistan helps separatist militants cross into Indian Kashmir, a charge Pakistani officials deny. Last week suspected separatist militants killed more than 30 people, mostly women and children when they attacked an army camp, triggering the current crisis. 

Touring front line positions on Monday, Farooq Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and a member of Prime Minister Vajpayees coalition government, said war with Pakistan will only come if diplomatic efforts fail to end what he calls cross border infiltration. "We do not want to have a war. That is something we have said is the last option. Every option before that will be exhausted and after exhausting all of the other options then the last thing that will be left is war," Mr. Abdullah said. 

Other senior Indian government officials seem less inclined to pursue diplomacy. The country's influential Home Minister L.K. Advani said on Monday that it is time for his government to change the way it responds to what he called a proxy war in Kashmir. 

Even as senior Indian officials pursue diplomacy, India's military is preparing for possible military conflict. On Sunday, the Ministry of Defense ordered all paramilitary troops along the border to be brought under direct army control. India's coast guard was also placed under navy authority. 

Indian authorities say four soldiers have been killed, and seven others injured in an attack by suspected Islamic militants on a security post in the Indian Kashmir. The attack took place as India and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire across the disputed Kashmir border for the third straight day. 

A defense ministry spokesman says Islamic militants attacked a joint army and paramilitary camp before dawn in Udhampur district, about 150 kilometers northeast of Kashmir's winter capital Jammu. 

The militants fired rocket-propelled grenades, killing and injuring several soldiers. 

"We know that it was a terrorist attack," said Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, adding "we know that some casualties have been caused." 

It is the second attack on a security post in less than a week in the troubled Kashmir region. An assault Tuesday killed 34 people and led to a sharp escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan. 

New Delhi blamed the assault on Pakistan-backed militants, a charge Islamabad denies. 

Opposition parties are backing the government's decision Saturday to expel the Pakistani ambassador in New Delhi. India says it acted because Pakistan has failed in its pledge to crack down on Islamic militant groups fighting in Kashmir. 

Pakistan says it has banned extremist Kashmiri groups and will try to resolve issues with New Delhi through peaceful means. 

As tensions between the two countries remain high, there was more artillery firing across the volatile Kashmir border between Indian and Pakistani troops. Both sides accuse the other of starting the firing that is reported to have killed six people in the past two days. 

Both India and Pakistan have deployed tens-of-thousands of troops along their border since Islamic militants attacked the Indian parliament in December. 

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is expected to meet army commanders when he visits Kashmir on Wednesday. 

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