Michael Phelps issued a statement of intent after his fifth individual victory in the US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska last night.

Rockers Weezer have rounded up YouTube.com's top viral video stars for their new 'Pork & Beans' promo.

The American general commanding the Iraq war today called for an end to troop withdrawals claiming they would jeopardise recent security gains.

Iraq’s prime minister pledged to expand his crackdown on Shiite militias to Baghdad, despite a mixed performance so far against militants in the southern city of Basra.

US vice president Dick Cheney opened a new push for political unity in Iraq on an unannounced visit today, just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion.

The top US commander in Iraq will ask President George Bush to wait until as late as September to decide when to bring home more troops than already scheduled.

Iraq’s political leaders are showing promising new signs of progress towards reconciliation, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said today.

Iran wants to renew top-level talks with the US on security in Iraq, insisting that discussions take place between ambassadors and not lower-level functionaries, Iraqi officials say.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and America’s envoy to Baghdad told diplomats it was their duty to serve their country amid a revolt over forced assignments to Iraq.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has stated the need for a “more stable and confident” political process in Iraq after a meeting with two of the most senior US officials in Iraq.

US President George Bush will tomorrow announce plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by the middle of next year, subject to continued progress.

Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress have tough questions for a top military commander in Iraq who is warning against major changes to US president George Bush’s war strategy.

President Bush today defended his build-up of forces in Iraq and pledged to “hang in there” with Iraqis despite calls from Congress to get troops home.

Iraq’s prime minister today said he expects the US ambassador and military commander to give his government favourable marks when they report to Congress next week and predicted passage of a law soon that could return more Sunnis to government jobs.

Rescuers dug through the muddy wreckage of collapsed clay houses in north-west Iraq today, uncovering at least 200 bodies from suicide truck bombings the US military blamed on al-Qaida.

Iraq’s political crisis worsened today as five more ministers announced a boycott of Cabinet meetings – leaving the embattled prime minister’s unity government with no members affiliated with Sunni political factions.

Iran and the United States resumed public diplomacy today for the first time in more than a quarter century.

America’s top diplomat in Iraq has urged Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s government to speed up reforms geared toward achieving national reconciliation, saying it was its duty to do so soon.

Iraqi officials have received reports that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq has been killed north of Baghdad but the information has not been confirmed, the chief government spokesman said today.

US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker today said the American military would "respect the wishes" of the Iraqi government regarding a barrier being built around a Sunni enclave in Baghdad.

New Zealand’s management reacted with disbelief today over an “inaccurate rumour” that a player may have used racist language in the presence of groundstaff at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker was sworn in as the new top US envoy to Iraq today.

Osama bin Laden may no longer have operational control of his terror network, the US ambassador to Pakistan told a gathering of local journalists today, according to two Pakistani television channels.

UP to 40,000 people are now feared dead and 2.5 million are homeless after Pakistan’s worst earthquake razed entire villages and buried roads in rubble.

Aircraft rushed in supplies from abroad and the US pledged $50m (€41.5m) in aid today as hungry families displaced in Pakistan’s worst earthquake huddled in tents and shopkeepers clashed with looters. Death toll estimates ranged from 20,000 to above 30,000.

Michael Phelps created a bit of history tonight without even getting into the pool as the United States set a world record to win the men's 4x100m relay in Athens this evening.

American sensation Michael Phelps has claimed his fifth gold medal of the Olympics with a storming finish in the 100m butterfly.