• Russian security services increased patrols and surveillance at military bases, oil pipelines and the Moscow metro yesterday after the country's spy chief warned of a potential attack. The warning came from foreign intelligence services, security officials said. They said they had found no evidence of an imminent attack but would keep the heightened alert in force for now.

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that failure to revive the European Union's constitution would be a historic mistake that would leave the bloc divided and mired in bureaucracy. Ms Merkel said Germany would aim by the end of its six-month presidency of the EU in June to offer a plan for resolving the deadlock before European Parliament elections in mid-2009.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency has suspended some technical aid projects in Iran to comply with new UN sanctions imposed on Tehran over suspicions it may be trying to make nuclear weapons, diplomats say. The West wants an IAEA review of aid for Iran's civilian nuclear energy programme to cut many of the 65 projects but face resistance from a developing nation bloc to which Iran belongs.

• Bombs hit Kirkuk and Baghdad yesterday as the Iraqi government prepared to launch a security plan to stem violence as part of what has been billed as a last chance to head off civil war. Officials also announced progress on a new oil law and on reforming a ban on former Baath party members - key demands of Washington and disgruntled Sunni Arabs.