A defiant President Robert Mugabe yesterday vowed he would 'go to war' if he lost the presidential run-off due to take place in less than two weeks.

Describing the opposition as 'traitors', he claimed Zimbabwe would never 'be lost' again. Speaking at the burial of a veteran of the independence war, Mugabe said he would never accept the Movement for Democratic Change taking over. 'It shall never happen ... as long as I am alive and those who fought for the country are alive,' he said. 'We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it.'

The threat was seen as an angry response to the pressure mounting on the government from other African leaders over the regime's harassment of the MDC leadership and supporters in the run up to the 27 June election.

Frantic diplomatic negotiations took place in Tehran yesterday as Iran weighed up a package of trade inducements offered by world powers in exchange for the abandonment of its uranium enrichment programme.

European foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Tehran with the offer of the last-ditch deal on behalf of Britain, the US, Germany, Russia, France and China. Tehran is being given a month to agree to suspend enrichment of uranium in exchange for economic, technological and political incentives or face further punitive measures, including the prospect of unilateral sanctions by the EU.

Almost as soon as Solana arrived, a senior Iranian government spokesman insisted that the suspension of Iranian enrichment demanded as part of the deal was not 'debatable'. 'Iran's stance is clear. The precondition of a halt and suspension of nuclear activities cannot be brought up,' said Gholam Hossein Elham.

Several hours later a second government official offered a cautiously optimistic account of the talks saying that they had opened 'a new diplomatic path' in the efforts to resolve the long-running nuclear dispute

In a desolate field just beyond the Rome ring road, a single line of caravans is a stark sign of the times in the new and increasingly anti-immigrant Italy. The vehicles are the modest homes of 25 Gypsy families, who have become the first victims of a campaign waged by the city's new right-wing mayor to crack down on foreign criminals and illegal Gypsy camps

'We work for a living, but in a couple of hours, everything we had created, the relationship we had built with locals over decades, was wiped out,' said Alessandro, 36.

The eviction, against the advice of Rome's police chief, was the latest sign of the disturbing groundswell of resentment building across Italy against the 150,000-strong Roma population. In Naples, a camp was recently firebombed. Near Venice, well supported demonstrations have mobilised locals against a proposed new camp agreed by the council. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's promise to get tough on the perceived lawlessness of Gypsies and foreigners earns him huge approval ratings and gives the green light to right-wing allies, such as Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, to take drastic action.

Marking the first such demonstration in Italy, the protesters wore the same black triangle bearing the letter Z as worn by Gypsy inmates at the camps. 'We don't want to be scapegoats,' said Roma singer and academic Santo Spinelli, who helped organise the march. 'Italians are not racist, but we must put an end to the misinformation, mystification and media violence in this country.'

Such sentiments cut little ice with the likes of the mayor. The fact that many of those targeted are Italian citizens also appears to offer little protection. Alessandro, like the rest of the Gypsy group, was born in Italy and carries an Italian passport. Not surprisingly, he is furious. 'I did my military service, I vote and I would like a few rights,' he said.

Standing in a cavernous hall in the headquarters of the evangelical group Focus on the Family, Lisa Anderson has some bad news for John McCain. 'This is going to be an interesting election,' she said with a smile.

The phrase conveys a stark warning to the Republican candidate. Focus on the Family, where Anderson is a director, is one of the most powerful evangelical groups in America. Many of its supporters - and millions of other US evangelicals - helped elect George W Bush twice, giving him their votes and volunteering for his campaign. McCain, who desperately needs their votes, would like them to support him, too. But many evangelicals neither trust nor like McCain.

The 7.2 magnitude quake caused huge landslides that blocked roads across Iwate, a picturesque - but relatively unpopulated - area 190 miles north of Tokyo. In the capital itself buildings trembled but there were no reports of damage.

The government sent almost 800 soldiers to the area to assist with the recovery efforts. "The top priority is to save lives," said Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. "We're doing our best in rescue operations."