Washington  - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confirmed on Wednesday that Washington was looking to establish a diplomatic post in Iran but concluded that the decision should be left to the next president.

"At this late moment, I think it is probably better that this decision be left to the next administration," Rice said, less than two months ahead of president-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Tehran  - Iran is now operating more than 5,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium as it continues to move forward on developing a nuclear capability in defiance of the United Nations, the country's nuclear chief said Wednesday.

"Currently we have more than 5,000 centrifuges operating," Gholam- Reza Aqazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

The United States and its allies suspect Iran is seeking the ability to build nuclear weapons, and the UN Security Council has adopted three resolutions containing limited sanctions and demanding Tehran suspend uranium enrichment.

Washington  - The US government has warned against a possible terrorist plot targeting the New York subway system during the holiday season, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security sa

Cairo  - Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Wednesday to find out ways to support the Palestinian talks after Islamist group Hamas refused to attend the Cairo-brokered reconciliation talks.

In his opening speech, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal warned that Israel was the sole beneficiary of the rivalry between Palestinians, which spared Israel the trouble of moving forward in the peace process.

"If we don't want to accuse anyone of hindering the peace process, then at least we are required to remind all parties involved of one fact: That we must not forget that the sole beneficiary of the rivalry between Palestinians is Israel," Faisal said.

London  - The Woolworth retail chain in Britain, which has had a presence on the High Street for nearly 100 years, has gone into administration, the BBC reported Wednesday.

The company, which employs more than 25,000 staff in 815 outlets across Britain, had struggled under the weight of debt of 385 million pounds (577 million dollars), the report said.

It reported half-yearly losses of nearly 100 million pounds in early September.

Last-minute talks to find a buyer had failed Wednesday, when Woolworth shares were suspended on the London Stock Exchange.

According to the BBC report, finance consultancy Deloitte will be called in as administrators of the store chain.

Kabul  - Seven years after the fall of the Taliban in the US- led invasion in Afghanistan, the NATO war on terrorism remains "unclear", President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday - and demanded a timeline for its success.

"This fight against terrorism and civilian casualties has been continuing for the past seven years. Our villages are bombarded, our people are getting killed," Karzai told a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer in his presidential palace.

Karzai said Afghanistan was burning because of "a war which is unclear what it is for, and what we are doing."