WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a House panel yesterday that the United States should know in a few months if the Iraqi government is making progress toward peace and whether the United States “is going to have to look at other alternatives and consequences.”

MECCA — In a palace overlooking Islam’s holiest site, rival Palestinian leaders vowed yesterday to work out a power-sharing agreement to avert a civil war, asking their followers to abide by a truce during the marathon talks crucial to the peace process with Israel.

BAGHDAD — A U S Marine transport helicopter crashed in flames yesterday in a field northwest of Baghdad, killing all seven people aboard, the U S military said. It was the fifth U S aircraft lost in less than three weeks and the latest sign of growing problems with aviation …