TEHRAN – Iran will not negotiate its nuclear “rights”,  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday, after the United  States said it would focus on the Islamic state’s atomic  activities in forthcoming talks with Tehran.
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JERUSALEM – U.S. envoy George Mitchell said yesterday he  hoped to wrap up an agreement over the next few days in talks  with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on a settlement freeze and  a revival of peace negotiations.
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WASHINGTON – Even before President Barack Obama decides  whether to send more combat troops to Afghanistan, many members  of his own party are resisting it, with experts saying the  president must do a better job to sell his plans.
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KABUL – Nearly 100 people, including 30 civilians, were  killed in a NATO air strike called in by German troops on two  hijacked fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan this month, a  government-appointed official said yesterday.
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WASHINGTON – A key group of U.S. senators was “very close”  to agreement on healthcare reform, one of its members said yesterday, suggesting Congress was nearer to meeting President  Barack Obama’s goal of passing a reform bill this year.

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TURKMENBASHI – Russian and Turkmen leaders failed yesterday  to set a timeframe for the return of Turkmen gas flows to  Russia, halted since April after a pipeline blast which left the  central Asian nation short of revenues.