CAIRO (Reuters) — The Sudanese government is willing to start unconditional talks with the National Redemption Front rebel group to stop the violence in Darfur but sees no need for a new peace deal, a senior presidential adviser said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — An expected phased reduction in US troops in Iraq after the resignation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left Iraqis split on Thursday whether a withdrawal would be in their best interest.

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran’s university campuses are falling silent. Student activists, once at the vanguard of a movement seeking political and social change in the Islamic Republic, say they are increasingly afraid to speak out.