TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran announced Tuesday it had successfully tested a new solid fuel missile motor for its arsenal of medium-range ballistic missiles, a technological breakthrough that sparked fresh alarm in Israel. “It was a test of a motor and not a test of a missile,” a defence ministry official …

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari vowed Tuesday to beef up security in the war-weary country, as US President George W. Bush said Washington and its Iraqi allies were making progress against the insurgency. Meanwhile, four US troops, four Italians and one Iraqi soldier were killed in air …

PARIS (Reuters) — French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin became the first victim of a crisis over the European Union’s constitution on Tuesday as EU leaders braced for Dutch voters to follow France by rejecting the new charter. President Jacques Chirac accepted Raffarin’s resignation and appointed loyal ally Dominique de Villepin …