Iraqi politicians said on Thursday they were hoping for a breakthrough to restore a unity government after a Sunni Arab bloc quit, but the magnitude of the sectarian conflict was underlined by the slaying of five brothers.

Six months pregnant and exhausted, British mother Jessica Barhoum is still shocked that Israeli authorities ordered her, her husband and their baby out of bed at daybreak and pulverised their home.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy came under renewed pressure on Thursday over claims he concluded a major arms deal with Libya in exchange for the release of six foreign medics last week.