In Brief

* NUCLEAR – Iran will not return to a full freeze of its disputed nuclear fuel activities and rejects Western demands for such confidence-building measures, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

* HUNT – India was on the hunt for the attackers who killed at least 61 people in coordinated blasts in New Delhi, with suspicion falling on militants opposed to the peace process with Pakistan. * QUAKE – Pakistan and India agreed to open two-way movement across the disputed border from November 7 in quake-ravaged Kashmir where thousands of survivors desperately await help, a joint statement said.* ENVIRONMENT – British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Kyoto Protocol is failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions and warned this would only be achieved by forging a new united front with the United States.* CRISIS – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was facing a political crisis after rebels within his right-wing Likud party promised to thwart his proposed appointment of three new ministers.* JUSTICE – The White House faced a damaging loss of credibility after the criminal indictment and resignation of I.Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s right-hand man, for lying to investigators in a CIA leak probe.* ATTACKS – Israeli jets carried out further attacks aimed at halting militant activity in the northern Gaza Strip, as the Palestinian authority called on Washington to press for an Israeli ceasefire.* KILLED – A US and a British soldier were gunned down in Afghanistan in a deadly series of attacks that claimed 23 lives, including those of 14 suspected Taliban insurgents.* MILITARY – The US and Japan adopted plans to sharply cut American forces in Okinawa, deploy a powerful missile defence radar in Japan and bind their militaries more closely together in a major realignment of their alliance.* COALITION – Poland was heading for a minority government by the conservative Catholic Law and Justice party after the breakdown of talks with the liberal Civic Platform party to form a coalition government.- Nampa-AFP* QUAKE – Pakistan and India agreed to open two-way movement across the disputed border from November 7 in quake-ravaged Kashmir where thousands of survivors desperately await help, a joint statement said.* ENVIRONMENT – British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Kyoto Protocol is failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions and warned this would only be achieved by forging a new united front with the United States.* CRISIS – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was facing a political crisis after rebels within his right-wing Likud party promised to thwart his proposed appointment of three new ministers.* JUSTICE – The White House faced a damaging loss of credibility after the criminal indictment and resignation of I.Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s right-hand man, for lying to investigators in a CIA leak probe.* ATTACKS – Israeli jets carried out further attacks aimed at halting militant activity in the northern Gaza Strip, as the Palestinian authority called on Washington to press for an Israeli ceasefire.* KILLED – A US and a British soldier were gunned down in Afghanistan in a deadly series of attacks that claimed 23 lives, including those of 14 suspected Taliban insurgents.* MILITARY – The US and Japan adopted plans to sharply cut American forces in Okinawa, deploy a powerful missile defence radar in Japan and bind their militaries more closely together in a major realignment of their alliance.* COALITION – Poland was heading for a minority government by the conservative Catholic Law and Justice party after the breakdown of talks with the liberal Civic Platform party to form a coalition government.- Nampa-AFP