Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today that the UK Government was in “full support of the territorial integrity” of Georgia.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she’s excited about a landmark trip she will make to Libya today, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the North African country in more than a half-century.

IRAN tested more missiles in the Gulf yesterday as the United States reminded Tehran that it was ready to defend its allies.

GEORGIA has called on the United Nations to send more observers to the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia to check on the increase in Russian troops there, a parliamentary spokesman said on Saturday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad questioned how long Arab nations can keep offering Israel a land-for-peace proposal, as the Arab League chief today called for Arabs to meet later this year to evaluate negotiations with Israel.

Israel launched yet another airstrike on Gaza today even as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the region to try to rescue peace talks from the latest outbreak of violence.

Israel today rejected growing international criticism of its crackdown on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, pushing forward with an offensive that has killed more than 100 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, in recent days.

KENYA’S political rivals have agreed that an independent review of the disputed election is necessary, while momentum for a power-sharing deal is growing, former UN chief Kofi Annan said yesterday.

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

International pressure mounted on Kenya today to end the election-fuelled violence that has claimed more than 300 victims.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday announced he has prostate cancer and would soon have surgery, but said the disease is not life-threatening.

The US imposed new sanctions against Iran’s defence ministry, its Revolutionary Guard Corps and a number of banks today.

Palestinians hope US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Jesus’ traditional birthplace today will not just be a religious experience, but will also bring their daily difficulties of life under Israeli occupation into sharper focus.

George W Bush has made the end of Israeli-Palestinian violence one of his highest priorities, the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claimed today.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern will hold talks with Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband in London tomorrow.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is to seek assurances at the UN HQ in New York tomorrow that 350 Irish peacekeeping troops being deployed to Chad will be safe.

IRISH Government diplomats were yesterday making behind-the-scenes efforts with Asian countries in an urgent bid to calm the worsening political situation in Burma.

Japan’s new foreign minister said today that his country holds Burma accountable for the death of a Japanese journalist found after the military opened fire on a crowd of pro-democracy protesters.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today said an upcoming US-sponsored Mideast conference must be “substantive,” and that the two sides must draft a document before the meeting that lays “foundations for serious negotiations.”

Israel has designated the Gaza Strip a “hostile territory” and threatened to cut back vital supplies of fuel and electricity, drawing Palestinian wrath and putting visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice squarely in the middle of the two sides’ latest face-off.

GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel tops Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most powerful women for the second year in a row, as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slipped to fourth from second last year.

Bush’s plans are a last-ditch bid to salvage America’s position in the Mideast, writes Shlomo Ben-Ami.

The British government today requested the release of five former UK residents being held in Guantanamo Bay.

The Palestinian president and the Israeli prime minister are to meet in the West Bank tomorrow ahead of a peace conference in the United States, a Palestinian official said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will begin laying the ground for a Mideast peace conference in a visit to Israel today, hoping to push Israelis and Palestinians closer to renewing talks.

Iran remains the biggest threat to Middle East interests, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned today.

The struggles of the 21st century are “battles that engage military might” as well as ideas, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today said he hopes to reach a peace deal with Israel within a year.

The United States and Iran are to hold ambassador-level talks in Baghdad regarding the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to head to the Middle East in a fresh push for peace, hoping to build on momentum created by the appointment of Tony Blair as a special envoy for the region.

A car bomb explosion killed six UN peacekeepers patrolling a southern Lebanon road today in an attack that could have serious repercussions beyond Lebanon’s borders.

A top US nuclear envoy headed today to North Korea in a surprise trip ahead of the expected resumption of international talks on halting the communist nation’s nuclear weapons programme, US and Japanese officials said.

The Israeli and Palestinian leaders today called off a planned summit this week, dealing a new setback to efforts to halt nearly a month of fighting between the Israeli army and militants in the Gaza Strip and restart peacemaking.

Spain’s decision to pull its troops out of Iraq in 2004 was made hastily and without giving its allies time to prepare for it, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said tonight.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s one-day visit to Spain today is meant to smooth over a three-year downturn in relations between Washington and Madrid.

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

Germany’s foreign minister will host his Russian and US counterparts and the UN secretary general next week, convening the so-called Mideast “Quartet” to discuss developments in the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Moscow today for high-level meetings amid growing Russia-US tensions underlined by President Vladimir Putin’s increasing criticism of the American administration.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quietly has come to the aid of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, whose job is in jeopardy for his handling of a promotion and pay package for his girlfriend.

Efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking will shift into higher gear in the coming week, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert travelling to Jordan and his foreign minister heading to Cairo to discuss a sweeping Arab peace proposal, an Israeli official said today.

Efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking will shift into higher gear in the coming week, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert travelling to Jordan and his foreign minister heading to Cairo to discuss a sweeping Arab peace proposal, an Israeli official said today.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claimed "considerable progress" in the global fight against terrorism as she prepared to ask sceptical Arab governments to do more and underwrite democracy in Iraq.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet on Sunday, an aide to the Israeli leader confirmed today - keeping their promise to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to hold regular talks.

ISRAELI and Palestinian leaders have agreed to meet every two weeks to discuss day-to-day issues, in a move that eventually could spur talks on a final peace settlement, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced yesterday.