The Palestinian Authority has rebuffed calls to promise not prosecute Israel in the International Criminal Court if the UN General Assembly votes to upgrade the body to non-member observer status on Thursday.

American diplomatic efforts to soften the wording of the Palestinian resolution and introduce a clause in which the PA promises not to sue for war crimes has not been successful.

The remains of former president of the Palestinian Authority, Yasir Arafat, have been exhumed in Ramallah as part of an ongoing investigation into how he died.

Samples were removed from the body by a Palestinian doctor on Tuesday, with the team of Swiss, French and Russian scientists who will examine the samples were standing by to supervise.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is to lobby Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague to back the Palestinian UN bid, the Guardian has reported.

Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office minister for the Middle East has emphasised “the urgent need to make progress towards a two state solution,” after a meeting with the Palestinians' chief negotiator, Dr Saeb Erekat, in London today.

If he is elected, US presidential candidate Mitt Romney will ensure that the Egyptian government and the Palestinian Authority will work harder to keep the millions of dollars in aid handed to them every year by the US, according to his senior adviser on foreign policy and national security, Walid Phares.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas suffered a blow after Fatah party candidates fared poorly in local elections in the West Bank on Saturday.

A report by the watchdog, Palestinian Media Watch, has revealed that every month almost £3 million from the Palestinian Authority goes towards paying salaries to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. These salaries are drawn from the PA general budget, funded by international donors, among them the UK.

The US has warned EU governments not to back the Palestinian Authority bid for upgraded status at the United Nations, according to a memo obtained by the Guardian.