The US treasury department has eased sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to help further the use of web services and support opposition groups.

US technology firms will now be allowed to export online services such as instant messaging and social networks.

Companies had not offered such services for fear of violating sanctions.

Opposition supporters in Iran used social networking sites and services to organise protests after the country's disputed presidential poll last year.

The US Treasury said exports would be allowed of services related to web browsing, blogging, e-mail, instant messaging, chat, social networking and photo- and movie-sharing.

Nigerians are burying victims of a massacre of predominantly Christian villagers near the central city of Jos, blamed on a Muslim group.

The burials in mass graves using mechanical excavators follow Sunday's attack on three villages that left more than 500 people dead.

Residents of the village of Dogo Nahawa, about 15km south of Jos, said herders from nearby hills had attacked their village, shooting into the air before using machetes to cut down those who came out of their homes.

Nigerian authorities have arrested nearly a hundred people in connection with the attacks.

Britain will tomorrow urge the Afghan government to put more effort into the pursuit of peace talks amid fears that the war could be prolonged - and more British lives lost - as a result of incompetence and lack of political will in Kabul.

A speech to be delivered in the US by the foreign secretary, David Miliband, will reflect growing anxiety in London that President Hamid Karzai's professed desire for a political solution has not been backed up by any serious planning or concrete proposals.

Unless more pressure is put on the Afghan government, some British officials predict that Karzai's proposed loya jirga, or grand peace council, due at the end of next month, will be little more than a PR stunt. "My argument today is that now is the time for the Afghans to pursue a political settlement with as much vigour and energy as we are pursuing the military and civilian effort," Miliband will say at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to a text of the address seen by the Guardian.

Israel's interior ministry tonight announced approval for 1,600 new homes in an East Jerusalem settlement, casting a cloud over a visit by US vice-president, Joe Biden, just hours after he pledged his strong support for the Israeli government.

The new approvals, for homes in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox settlement near Shuafat, came just a day after the Israeli defence ministry announced 112 new apartments would be built in Beitar Illit, a settlement on the occupied West Bank.

The new building comes at a delicate moment in the long-stalled peace process when Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to start indirect negotiations. The latest approvals were announced by the interior ministry, which said they had been passed by the Jerusalem district planning committee. A spokeswoman said there were 60 days to appeal against the decision.

A tour of the United States arranged by the State Department to improve ties to Pakistani legislators ended in a public relations fiasco when the members of the group refused to submit to extra airport screening in Washington, and they are now being hailed as heroes on their return home.

"People should be thankful, you made them so proud," said Hamid Mir, the host of a popular national talk show, during an interview in his studio on Tuesday with four of the six politicians, who railed against the security precautions at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Meetings with the Obama administration's top policy makers on Pakistan, including the president's special representative, Richard C. Holbrooke, and visits to the Pentagon and the National Security Council, did not allay the anger the politicians said they felt at being asked to submit to a secondary screening on Sunday before boarding a flight to New Orleans. They declined to be screened and did not board the flight.

A court case brought by the family of Rachel Corrie, a US protester killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003, has begun in Israel.

The civil action against the Israeli defence ministry will decide whether damages should be paid for her death in Gaza at the age of 23.

Corrie and other activists had been trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes.

Her family has maintained that a full investigation was never carried out.

Corrie's writings - published posthumously - and a play about her life made her a symbol of the international campaign on behalf of Palestinians.

Top Pakistan stars Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan have been told they cannot represent their country again.

The Pakistan Cricket Board's inquiry into the tour of Australia found the pair had been involved in "infighting which... brought down the whole team".

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik each face one-year bans and big fines.

Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal also face heavy fines while their conduct will be strictly monitored during a six-month probationary period.

The PCB has implemented the recommendations of an inquiry committee formed to evaluate Pakistan's dismal performance against Australia during the winter, when they lost all nine internationals.

Pakistan must now try to defend their ICC World Twenty20 crown in the Caribbean next month with severely depleted resources, before facing what could be a chastening tour of England.

Reports from Fiji say the wherabouts are unknown of a nationalist politician, Peceli Rinakama, who was last seen on Friday.

Mr Rinakama, who was once a member of parliament, was reportedly seized by soldiers and sources say it is not known where he has been taken.

Attempts to get information from the interim government have been unsuccessful.

Fiji's military regime has jailed 8 of its opponents on dubious charges of conspiring to kill the dictator, after an unfair trial.  Rinakama was originally accused of the same charge, but the charges were dismissed at an early stage.  The military thugs may be out for revenge against someone they see as having escaped "justice".