US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lay out US plans for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting today, an administration official said.

President George Bush’s nomination of John Bolton to be UN ambassador has been shaken again by a Republican senator’s surprise opposition to the embattled nominee, and Democrats hope to seize the opportunity and defeat him in the Senate.

Jerry Springer, the controversial talk show host whose programme often spotlighted the seedier side of American culture, has officially filed papers to run for the US Senate.