World Highlights

¤ Al Qaeda warned in a video aired on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks that US allies Israel and the Gulf Arab states would be the next targets in a campaign that would seal the West's economic doom.

¤ Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reached a deal with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas to form a unity government the Palestinians hope will end their international isolation and revive aid. But Hamas said it would never recognise Israel and that it had a right to pursue armed struggle against the Jewish state, raising immediate questions over whether a unity coalition would satisfy Western demands for lifting sanctions.

¤ US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran must suspend its nuclear activities before the West would open negotiations on an incentive programme, but she left open the possibility of talking if there is a temporary suspension by Tehran.

¤ A suicide bomber killed 12 people in a minibus transporting Iraqi army recruits. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will make his first official visit to neighbouring, Shi'ite Iran today, a day later than originally planned, an aide said.

¤ British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on a visit to Beirut marked by protests and snubs, pledged to help strengthen Lebanon's security forces as they deploy in the south after Israel's war with Hizbollah.