Iran announced new strides in its nuclear programme on Wednesday in a defiant blow to US and EU pressure to rein in its atomic activities, and amid signs of an increasingly vicious covert war with Israel over the issue. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled on state television what was described as Iran’s first domestically produced, 20-per cent enriched nuclear fuel for Tehran’s research reactor.

Iran on Wednesday renewed its warning to the United States against keeping a US Navy presence in the oil-rich Gulf, underlining a threat that Washington has dismissed as a sign of “weakness” from Tehr

The Libyan rebels’ push westwards towards Tripoli gathered momentum Sunday amid promises the uprising would not further hamper oil production in the areas under their control.