BAGHDAD — US soldiers strolled through neighbourhoods in troubled north Baghdad on Thursday, poking their heads into storefronts and delivering the same message all day: Donald Rumsfeld’s departure does not mean American forces will abandon efforts to stabilise the capital.

BEIRUT (Reuters) — Rival Lebanese leaders made some progress in talks on Thursday on a Hizbollah demand for more say in the Western-backed Cabinet that would give the pro-Syrian party effective veto power over the government.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed that an overwhelming majority of the world people are opposed to the efforts of a few western countries, which seek to trespass Iran’s nuclear rights.