BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Hizbollah-led opposition joined labour unions on Tuesday in a protest against tax increases proposed by embattled Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, stepping up pressure to force the government into resigning.

BEIJING (Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Beijing on Tuesday aiming to lobby China to close ranks with Western powers against Iran’s nuclear programme.

KHARTOUM (AP) — US governor and potential presidential candidate Bill Richardson pressed Sudan President Omar Bashir to open the wartorn Darfur region to UN troops, part of a global push for an elusive peace in the African nation.