Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday dismissed talk of immediate suspension of uranium enrichment ahead of this week’s UN Security Council deadline despite a recent flurry of Iranian diplomacy that had raised hopes of a compromise.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought explanations on Sunday from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about a unity government that Israel said it had agreed with Washington to shun.

THE shocking toll of six American helicopters shot down in Iraq within three weeks has sparked a Pentagon inquiry into the use of surface-to-air (Sam) missiles against the aircraft.