World highlights

• Sunni tribal leaders who have vowed to drive al Qaeda out of Iraq's most restive province met the Shi'ite premier, marking what Washington hopes will be a breakthrough alliance against Islamist militants.

• Afghan security forces killed 25 insurgents in a clash in the southern province of Helmand while Nato troops again came under attack from bombers.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sought to alleviate Western concerns over Russian energy deals, saying talk of revising production sharing deals or pushing foreigners out of the sector was unfounded.

• Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany apologised for the tone of a leaked speech in which he admitted lying about the parlous state of the economy to win April's election.

• Poland's political crisis deepened after a television broadcast of secretly filmed meetings sparked calls for the prime minister to step down. The ruling conservatives of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski are trying to build a new majority coalition after ditching their leftist partners Self-Defence last week in a row over the budget and a decision to send troops to Afghanistan.