Israeli security forces closed two popular beaches yesterday to scour them for explosives after two barrels filled with munitions were found washed up on the shores of southern Israel.

British ministers ignored the military's warning that more time was needed before the invasion of Iraq, an inquiry hears.

Medic says 20 years of injury and death in NZ no preparation for life on patrol.

The blanket secrecy over SAS operations has been ditched, with the Defence Force revealing that elite troopers recently helped capture bomb-makers in Kabul.

Gun sights with biblical inscriptions will not be withdrawn from New Zealand soldiers in Afghanistan but New Zealand defence bosses want them cleaned up.

The Defence Force says it was caught unaware by biblical citations stamped on its weapons, and they will be removed.