ST. PETERSBURG  (AP) —  Group of Eight (G-8) leaders were told Iran was seriously considering a package of incentives aimed at getting it to halt its nuclear programme, South African President Thabo Mbeki said Monday.

TEHRAN — Western analysts see Iran as relishing an Israeli offensive that will divert mounting pressure away from its nuclear programme and say Hizbollah could not have acted without a nod from its old ally Tehran.

DAMASCUS (AP) — The United Nations and Britain urged the deployment of peacekeepers in Lebanon and Russia offered troops for any such force, as the UN dispatched an envoy to Israel on Monday in the first big swirl of diplomatic efforts to stem the Mideast violence.