Tel Aviv - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni remains the favourite candidate to win next week's primary in Israel's ruling Kadima party, maintaining her two-digit lead, according to an opinion poll published Friday.

Over 46 per cent of Kadima members polled said they supported Livni, while under 28 per cent said they favoured her main rival, Shaul Mofaz, said the Ma'ariv daily, which commissioned the poll. That gives her a lead of nearly 19 per cent.

Tel Aviv - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is the odds- on favourite to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the ruling Kadima party, a poll released Thursday has found.

The survey, published in the Ma'ariv daily, showed 48.9 per cent of Kadima members want Livni to head the party, compared to 27.9 per cent for her main challenger, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz.

The other two candidates in the leadership race, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Interior Minister Meir Shitreet, received 8.1 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively.

New York  - Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reiterated Thursday a warning often heard from her government that the current conflict in the Middle East is between extremist and moderate militants and not between Israelis and Palestinians.

Livni was at United Nations headquarters in New York for talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about the situation in the region and the "global threat" of Iran.

Jerusalem  - Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is to travel to Washington Tuesday night for another round of peace negotiations with Palestinians under the auspices of US officials scheduled for Wednesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

Former Palestinian premier Ahmed Qureia would represent the Palestinian side in the three-way talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, US Vice-President Dick Cheney and national security advisor Stephen Hadley.

Perusalem - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has chosen the rector of an academic college to serve as the country's new ambassador to the United Nations, Israeli media said Wednesday.

Tel Aviv - Her cabinet position might require her to