Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt), Mar. 2 : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hopes to sideline the Hamas by proposing an aid package of over 900 million dollars for moderate Palestinians.

According to Politico, out of this 900 million dollars, only 300 million dollars will be earmarked to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Washington  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will arrive in Israel and the West Bank next week on her first trip to the region aimed at feeling out ways to revive the peace process.

Clinton's trip is not meant to push forward on any new initiatives, but to "take the pulse of the various leaders" about how to advance the peace process and build a lasting ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militants ruling the Gaza Strip, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

Washington, Feb. 26 : The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has said that Washington is in close strategic consultation with Pakistan before chalking out a new policy for the troubled region along the Pakistan- Afghanistan border.

Clinton met Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the State Department here. The meeting was a part of the ongoing three-way American policy review, which includes Afghanistan also.

Washington  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Wednesday as the United States reviews plans to field a missile-defence system in Eastern Europe.

The two diplomats did not raise the issue during their brief appearance before reporters before meeting behind closed doors.

The Bush administration forged an agreement with Poland for hosting 10 interceptors missiles, while the Czech Republic would be the site for its radar.

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday as part of a strategic review of the situation in Afghanistan.

US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the meeting is "part of the overall strategic review that we're having with regards to Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Clinton will on Thursday meet Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta and hold a three-way meeting with the two diplomats.

Kuala Lumpur  - Zookeepers in Malaysia's southern Johor state have named two new African lion cubs after US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a news report said Tuesday.

Obama and Hillary, along with another female cub yet to be named, were born in captivity at the Johor Zoo on January 16, zookeeper Mohamad Sham Mahdon Said said.

"Obama the president and Obama the lion cub can both trace their ancestry back to Africa, so there is a definite connection there," Mohamad Sham was quoted as saying by the Star daily.