Rice to return to Washington

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is abruptly breaking off her diplomatic mission in the Mideast and returning to Washington after Israel’s deadly attack on a Lebanese village, a US official said today.

Rice had planned to head back to the US tomorrow after discussions on ending the fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon. But her work was hampered severely by an Israeli missile strike early today that killed more than 50 people, including many children.