Iraq US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Iraq's government to boost security and open its political system and economy, while seeking world support to rebuild the country after decades of devastation. Iraq The release of a Filipino held hostage in Iraq was revealed as an international forum trumpeted support for Baghdad's efforts to cement democratic foundations and order amid unyielding violence. Iraq A US Air Force U-2 spy plane has crashed in southwest Asia killing its pilot, the military said in a statement released in Baghdad. Mideast Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas tried to rally international support after coming away with no tangible results from a humiliating summit with Israel's Ariel Sharon, who lectured him at length over militant violence. EU European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso stood firm on the EU's commitments to open accession talks with Turkey but also said it needed to "discuss seriously" public concerns about the country's possible membership. SKorea-NKorea-talks SEOUL: South Korea pressed North Korea to return to six-party nuclear talks in July "without fail" in a bid to break the deadlock over its nuclear weapons drive. Afghanistan-US-Taliban-attacks KABUL: US and Afghan forces backed by warplanes and attack helicopters have mounted a major offensive in the south in which up to 60 suspected Taliban and three Afghan policemen have been killed, officials said. Russia Hope faded for the world's first solar-sail spacecraft, Cosmos 1, after the Russian navy's Northern Fleet said it had failed to reach orbit. US Americans reacted with a collective sigh of relief at the manslaughter conviction of a former Ku Klux Klan leader and former Baptist preacher in the killings of three civil rights activists on the 41st anniversary of their deaths. South Korea Japan vowed to increase its research whaling programme and extend it to two threatened species, despite condemnation by the International Whaling Commission. Guinea - Bissau Two former presidents of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha and Joao Bernardo Vieira, have taken the lead on full results from the first round of a presidential poll, the national vote panel stated.