Hamas militants vowed to boycott the Jan. 9 vote to choose Yasser Arafat's successor while Marwan Barghouti, the fiery Palestinian leader imprisoned in Israel, reversed his earlier decision and entered the race for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sacked his main coalition partner on Wednesday after a humiliating parliamentary defeat that left him scrambling to avoid early elections and save his Gaza withdrawal plan.

Sharon dismissed the Shinui party shortly after it defied him by voting against the 2005 state budget in a first reading in parliament, and aides said he would immediately approach the center-left Labour Party to prevent his government's collapse.