UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Baghdad today for a meeting with Iraqi leaders, the prime minister’s spokesman said.

EU leaders have urged British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to reconsider his threat to use the veto to protect Britain’s multi-billion pound rebate or risk crippling negotiations.

US president George Bush will defend his decision to invade Iraq when he addresses the United Nations today, a day after his election challenger John Kerry accused him of lying about the reasons for war.

A planned conference on the future of the Palestinian Authority is to go ahead in London next week, despite the refusal of Israel to allow senior Palestinian representatives to travel, Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.