US president George W Bush will hold a video conference with his senior generals in Iraq today to discuss the escalating violence there.

Bush has said they may focus on changing tactics to combat the unrest, but not the overall military strategy.

Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Iraqis should take responsibility for security "sooner rather than later".

Their comments come amid fears that Bush's Iraq policy could cost his party control of Congress in upcoming polls.

Doubts over Korea nuke claim

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has accused North Korea of wanting to escalate international tensions over its nuclear weapons programme.

Rice said she doubts claims that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed not to carry out a second nuclear test or that he regretted the first.

Her comments follow media reports that Kim made the pledge to Chinese envoy Tang Jiaxuan when he visited Pyongyang.

She is in Moscow for talks expected to focus on the North Korea crisis and will also meet leaders in Japan, South Korea and China.

Wogan producer dies aged 59

PAUL Walters, long-time producer of Sir Terry Wogan's Radio 2 breakfast show, has died in hospital aged 59 following a long illness.

Walters, known to millions as Dr Wally, joined the BBC's film department in 1974, moving to Radio 2 in 1977.

He is credited with introducing artists such as Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy to the British public.

"To know Paul Walters was to love him. His character was in his smile, " said Wogan.

35 die in Sri Lanka naval battle

SRI Lankan navy boats destroyed seven Tamil Tiger vessels in a sea battle, killing at least 35 rebels, a naval spokesman said yesterday, as President Mahinda Rajapakse appealed for peace.

Sri Lanka has seen a surge in violence this year, raising doubts about the success of peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Geneva on 28-29 October.

In the latest clash, rebels and government forces fought off the coast of the Jaffna peninsula in the Tamil-dominated north.