Al Qaeda’s number two urged all Muslims in a tape posted on Monday to support the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in its battles with President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel, which he said was planning to invade Gaza.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are to go to Iran “as early as practicable” to resolve issues over Tehran’s nuclear programme, the UN nuclear watchdog said Monday.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Sudan’s “history” of backsliding on commitments means that sanction pressure must be maintained, despite its acceptance of a planned larger peacekeeping force for Darfur.