U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Thursday a Mideast peace agreement is unlikely before President Bush leaves office.

JERUSALEM _ Embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Wednesday that he will resign in September, bringing a premature end to his hopes of leading Israel into a stable era of peace with its Arab neighbors.

Text of report by Israel radio on 28 July Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he does not believe that it will be possible to reach an understanding with the Palestinians over Jerusalem before the end of this year. At the same time, he said that the gaps on the other core issues are not wide.

Excerpt from report by Palestinian news agency Wafa website ["His Excellency in Joint Press Conference with British Prime Minister: Deeply Concerned Over the Fact That Israel Does Not Abide by Principles, Spirit of the Annapolis Conference" - WAFA headline] Bethlehem, 20 Jul (WAFA) - [Passage omitted] For his part, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to present additional $60 million to the PNA: $30 million for the PNA budget, thus raising the overall sum his country transferred to the PNA budge to $175 million, and $30 million for building housing units and creating approximately 50,000 jobs in the Palestinian territories.

By The Associated Press PARIS (AP) - Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared Sunday that Israel and the Palestinians have never been closer to making peace - even as a widening corruption probe brings him closer than ever to being ousted from office.