The Iraqi Cabinet signed off on a revised bill to share the country’s oil wealth today and sent it to parliament – a major step in reaching a long-delayed benchmark sought by the US to promote reconciliation between Iraq’s Sunnis and Shiites.

The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba and move terror suspects from there to military prisons on US soil, it emerged last night..

Nasa’s top official said today the future of US participation in Russian space flights was in doubt.

Turkey has promised to support U.S military action.