London, Sep 9: The most prominent women in American politics Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and New York Senator Hillary Clinton assisted Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s efforts to counter the polling power of Sarah Palin.

Although President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were showering compliments on Palin, Rice offered only the faintest praise, The Times reported.

She failed three times to defend the Alaskan Governor from charges that she does not have the necessary experience to be vice-president.

Washington, Sep 9: US President George W. Bush is to describe Pakistan as a major battleground for the war on terrorism, like Afghanistan or Iraq on Tuesday, and is going to urge Islamabad to shoulder its responsibility to fight extremists.

Bush, in remarks prepared for delivery to the US National Defense University and released by the White House late on Monday, is to say that all three countries “pose unique challenges for our country” in the worldwide conflict.

Moscow  - Russia said Monday it would send warships and planes to participate in joint exercises with Venezuela in the Caribbean this year, a move that could exacerbate an already tense security balance with the United States.

Russian Foreign Ministry official Andrei Nesterenko said the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, one of the world's largest warships, and a unit of long-range anti-submarine aircraft would enter Venezuelan waters "before the end of the year."

Washington  - The United States has pulled a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Russia from congressional consideration in response to Russia's ongoing conflict with Georgia, the White House said Monday.

Pulling the nuclear agreement was one of many steps under consideration by the United States in response to Russia's invasion of Georgia, which has brought relations between the two powers to their lowest level since the Cold War.

In a letter to Congress, President George W Bush said Russia's actions had been "incompatible with peaceful relations with its sovereign and democratic neighbour Georgia," forcing the White House to kill the deal for the time being.

Russia said it regretted the move.

Tbilisi/Moscow  - Georgia said Monday that Russian forces, rather than showing signs of withdrawal, had dug in at checkpoints over the weekend in the Black Sea port of Poti, deep inside the former Soviet state.

"The Russian occupation force is reinforcing, rather than vacating, its checkpoints near the strategic commercial port of Poti," the Georgian government said in a statement.

It said that armoured personal carriers and about 60 troops were reinforcing two checkpoints in the strategic port, where a US battleship delivered aid last week.

Cairo  - Foreign ministers of the Arab League gathered in Cairo on Monday for talks expected to centre on the Palestinian situation and the crisis in Darfur.

Chaired by Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, the session was due to begin in the evening.

Among those participating are Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Arab League Chief Amr Mussa.

The ministers also planned to discuss a unified Arab position to free the region from nuclear weapons.

According to diplomatic sources, Syria wants the ministers to take up the issue of US sanctions preventing Syria and Sudan buying or renting commercial planes.