Last-ditch efforts to form a broad-based Israeli coalition failed on Friday, fuelling concerns about prospects for peace with the Palestinians.

Ehud Olmert has suspended his pointman for the Gaza truce talks in Egypt after he launched a scathing tirade against the outgoing premier last week.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday proclaimed Iran was the ”most powerful nation” in the world as the country’s air force boasted of its prowess at a time of mounting…