The US military claimed yesterday that 170 soldiers had been killed in Iraq by sophisticated armour-piercing weapons supplied by Iranian agents acting on behalf of the highest levels of the Tehran Government.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel is to press ahead with excavation work near Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, but will open up to public discussion plans to build a pedestrian bridge there, officials said on Monday.

Even before they cast symbolic votes against the Iraq war, newly empowered congressional Democrats are clamoring for a chance to limit and eventually end US involvement in a conflict that has killed more than 3,000 troops.