A SENIOR EU envoy says Iran has pledged to open its recently revealed uranium enrichment plant to UN inspectors perhaps in the next few weeks.

Iran has agreed to open its recently revealed uranium enrichment plant to UN inspectors.

Senior diplomats from Britain and other leading world powers will meet Iran’s chief negotiator today in a fresh attempt to persuade the Tehran regime to come clean about it nuclear programme.

IRAN yesterday said it would refuse to discuss a newly declared nuclear plant at forthcoming international talks and cautioned Western powers it could curb co-operation further if they repeated “past mistakes”.

Drunken soldiers were loose on the streets of Guinea’s capital today, 24 hours after the presidential guard shot dead at least 157 pro-democracy demonstrators.

A lack of political will, not troop shortages, is stopping European countries increasing their forces in Afghanistan, the EU's top military officer declared today.

IRAN yesterday tested its most advanced missiles to cap two days of war games, raising more international concern and stronger pressure to come clean on the newly revealed nuclear site Tehran was secretly constructing.

IRAN yesterday agreed to hold talks next month with six world powers on its latest proposals to allay concerns over its nuclear programme, in a move Washington welcomed as an “important first step”.

THE EU is anxious to begin negotiations with Syria and Lebanon as part of a new drive for peace in the Middle East.

THE EU as a world power is a phrase that is cropping up during the Lisbon treaty campaign.

IRANIAN authorities have detained several local employees of the British embassy in Tehran, a move that Britain’s foreign secretary yesterday called “harassment and intimidation” and reflected a hardening of the regime’s stance toward the West. The European Union condemned the arrests.

Iranian authorities have detained several local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran, a move that UK foreign secretary David Miliband today called “harassment and intimidation” and reflected a hardening of the regime’s stance toward the West.

The European Union and Japan condemned North Korea’s nuclear test today as a violation of UN sanctions.

PRIME minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has initiated a coalition agreement with an ultra-nationalist faction that brings its leader significantly closer to becoming foreign minister, a Likud party spokeswoman said yesterday.

EUROPEAN foreign ministers have called on Israel to let more humanitarian aid into Gaza but fell well short of supporting Ireland’s call for a full investigation of the war.

Israeli forces pounded Gaza from air, land and sea today as a stream of diplomats headed for the region hoping to end the violence.

International pressure was mounting on Israel and the Palestinians today, but the violence showed no sign of abating as the death toll from the bombing blitz rose towards the 300 mark.

A flotilla of EU warships will begin anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia next week.

THE Quartet of Middle East peace mediators sought yesterday to keep alive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks although political uncertainty in Israel has scotched hopes for a deal this year.

Soldiers began to flee the eastern Congo provincial capital Goma today in retreat from advancing rebels.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy today pressed Russia to honour its pledge to withdraw troops from Georgia and warned the Kremlin that the European Union is united on this position.

European Union foreign ministers appealed to Moscow today to follow through on commitments to withdraw its forces from Georgia under a ceasefire plan.

Iran’s response to an incentives package aimed at defusing a dispute over its nuclear programme is unacceptable, US officials said, making the prospects of new sanctions against the country more likely.

A landmark European peacekeeping mission had to be funded by a whip-round of staff and a loan from a British ambassador’s entertainment budget, a damning report on Europe’s joint defence efforts revealed today.

The head of human rights watchdog the Council of Europe today hailed the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic as “wonderful news”.

IRAN has said its top nuclear negotiator and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold their next talks on ending the nuclear standoff on July 19, despite Western concern over the test-firing of several missiles by Tehran.

Roaming bands of government supporters heckled, harassed and threatened people into voting in a run-off election in which Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was the only candidate, ensuring he will remain in power despite international condemnation of the balloting as a sham.

The withdrawal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai from the presidential run-off election in Zimbabwe is “understandable” as the poll was unlikely to be free and fair, European Union chiefs said today.

BOTH the UN and Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, have defended the actions of Irish troops in Chad when armed groups tried to attack refugee camps and NGO compounds at the weekend.

THE EU’s top diplomat said he would hand Iran a generous offer today aimed at resolving a deepening dispute over its nuclear ambitions that has helped push up oil prices to record highs.

US president George Bush met German Chancellor Angela Merkel today for talks largely focused on their shared goal of keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

THE European Parliament and the council will be the most affected by the treaty — and this has consequences for the commission also.

NATO ambassadors discussed escalating tensions between alliance hopeful Georgia and Russia yesterday ahead of a meeting with Moscow’s NATO envoy.

Police belatedly stood guard outside the British, US and other Western embassies in Belgrade today after they were attacked overnight by rioters protesting at Kosovo’s independence.

Tony Blair will travel to the Middle East next week to help find a solution to Gaza’s border crisis, a senior EU official said today.

KOSOVO’S declaration of independence is a matter of days away, the Serbian province’s prime minister Hashim Thaci said yesterday.

Kenya’s deadlocked political leaders were today urged to work together to end the tribal violence sweeping the country.

TALKS between Iran and the European Union broke up yesterday without compromise on Tehran’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, and the top EU foreign policy envoy said he was disappointed at Tehran’s refusal to budge.

Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator abruptly cancelled a meeting with his EU counterpart today, saying he was ill.

Iran's new top nuclear negotiator will hold his first meeting with the EU's foreign policy chief over Tehran's contentious nuclear programme today in Rome.

The Iranian government announced today that its top nuclear negotiator had resigned, a move seen as a victory for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that could bring about an even tougher stance in ongoing talks.

The top negotiator of Iran’s controversial nuclear programme has resigned, the country’s government spokesman said today.

TURKEY swiftly condemned a US House panel’s approval of a bill describing the World War I era mass killings of Armenians as genocide, accusing lawmakers of distorting history.

The international community appealed to Burma’s military leaders today not to crack down on the tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators taking to its streets.