Rice trip cancelled after Israeli air strike

THE United States urged Israel to take more care to avoid civilian casualties in Lebanon after an air strike killed at least 60 people, but still resisted calls for an immediate ceasefire.

More than half the dead were children, killed in an Israeli air strike that crushed a building, the deadliest attack of the campaign against Hezbollah.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice decided to return early to Washington with her diplomatic mission derailed after Lebanese leaders told her not to come.