* Iran ‘forces down foreign plane’ A foreign aircraft has been forced to land in Iran after violating Iranian airspace.

* Pentagon denies report US plane landed in Iran An Iranian news agency said on Tuesday that a US Military aircraft had unintentionally violated Iranian airspace and been forced to land in Iran.

* Markets mixed in volatile trade World stock markets have been volatile in Tuesday trading as investors continued to worry over the strength of financial institutions.

* Medvedev: Russia will continue to play important role in Mideast During a meeting with outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the Kremlin on Tuesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted an invitation to visit Jerusalem.

* Israel Threatens to Decimate Lebanon Three senior Israeli military commanders have threatened to decimate Lebanon’s infrastructure with disproportionate firepower.

* Hamas blames US ‘Jewish Lobby’ for financial crisis The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip on Tuesday blamed what it called a “Jewish lobby” in the US for the global financial crisis.

* Arabs Begin Return to Iraq The return of an Arab League mission chief this week to the organization’s Baghdad office to fill a position that has been vacant since January 2007 is the latest signal that Arab countries are making a belated diplomatic comeback.

* EU endorses bank deposit guarantees The 27 EU leaders have vowed to “take all measures necessary” to ensure the stability of the ailing financial system.

* Turkish jets bomb Kurdish targets in Iraq, Turkey Turkish warplanes bombed suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey early Tuesday.

* Iran opposes US-Iraq security deal The proposed US-Iraqi security deal would be a “disgrace” for Iraq and should be rejected.