Baghdad - Iraq received the US reply on Thursday on amendments Baghdad wants to a security agreement that will form the legal basis for the future presence of American forces, an Iraqi government spokesperson said.

Iraqi political factions will take their time to decide on the changes on the American side, Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Tel Aviv/Washington - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed in Israel Thursday to "continue to work" on the Israeli- Palestinian peace process, but the White House admitted that it was unlikely the sides would meet their self-imposed deadline.

"We do not think that it's likely that it would happen before the end of the year," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, in the first admission by the Bush Administration that that the goal of reaching a deal by the end of 2008 would not be successful.

Washington - The United States condemned the terrorist attack on a bus in Russia's North Ossetia republic on Thursday that left 11 people dead.

"The United States condemns the heinous act of terrorism that took place today," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said.

An explosion hit a crowded minibus in the populous city of Vladikavkaz as as it stopped for exiting passengers at the entrance to a movie theatre and market. Regional authorities said a preliminary investigation pointed to terrorism, but the source of the attack was unclear.

Washington - President George W Bush will welcome president- elect Barack Obama to the White House on Monday to discuss the transition phase over the coming months, the two announced Thursday.

Bush and his wife Laura will greet Obama and his wife Michelle before the two leaders retreat to a private meeting Monday afternoon.

Obama said the talks would help ensure a "smooth, effective transition" between now and January 20.

"I thank (Bush) for reaching out in the spirit of bipartisanship that will be required to meet the many challenges we face as a nation," Obama said.

Los Angeles - Barack Obama's historic victory in the presidential election was followed by a record 70 million viewers on live US television, according to figures released Thursday.

This was a dramatic increase from the 60 million viewers who watched the results of the 2004 election.

Millions more Americans also followed the results online, with the most popular news sites - Yahoo, MSNBC and CNN - all getting about 12 million unique visitors each, according to Nielsen Online.

Moscow - President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday Russia was ready for better relations with US president-elect Barack Obama, one day after a speech that seemed to be a direct challenge to the next US leader.

The comments came after Medvedev said in his first-state-of-the- nation that he would deploy Iskander missiles in Russia's European enclave of Kaliningrad to "neutralize" US missile shield plans.