* PM warns Iran over Navy captives Efforts to secure the release of 15 Royal Navy personnel held by Iran will enter a “different phase” if diplomatic moves fail, Tony Blair has said.

* US in Gulf show of force The US navy has begun its largest demonstration of force in the Gulf since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

* Serbia convinced Russia will veto Kosovo plan Serbia is convinced Russia will knock down a plan giving supervised independence to the breakaway Kosovo province with a “historic veto” at the U.N. Security Council.

* Police prepare for Homesh evacuation Officials say should settlers fail to evacuate willingly, government would be inclined to give green light for forceful evacuation of several dozen teenage activists who vowed to put up tough resistance.

* EU envoy says up to 500 dead in DRC violence Clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital last week left between 200 and 500 dead.

* Hamas prepares ‘rocket war’ in ex-settlement Palestinian terrorist groups on Monday used the former Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, which was evacuated by Israel in 2005, to test new explosives and rockets for use against the Jewish state.

* US and EU back Kosovo independence by May The US and EU have backed a UN plan for “supervised independence” in Kosovo despite Russian and Serb opposition.

* I’ll consider summit with Arab leaders, PM tells UN chief UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will leave Israel on Tuesday for the Arab leaders’ summit in Riyadh.

* Thousands Return to Destroyed Homesh Thousands who yearn for the rebuilding of Homesh, destroyed by Ariel Sharon in Israel’s Disengagement Plan, voted with their feet Monday.

* Olmert and Abbas to meet biweekly, Rice says The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to meet every two weeks to discuss day-to-day issues, but also a “political horizon.”