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The Bush administration is shifting gears on its policy with Iran. The United States now says it will hold face-to-face talks with Iranian and European officials if Iran suspends nuclear activities suspected of being part of a weapons program. President Bush says he wants to take a leadership role in resolving the issue.

Taliban militants launched new attacks on police posts in southern Afghanistan today. More than four years after the movement's overthrow, the U.S. military acknowledges that the rebels have grown in strength and influence.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the United States is ready to join in direct talks with Iran about that country's nuclear program. But Iran must first halt uranium enrichment before talks can begin. The United States has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since 1979 and sent the message through the Swiss ambassador to the U.S. Steve Inskeep talks to Matthew Bunn of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany, met Wednesday in London to try and reach agreement over how to approach Iran on its nuclear program. They failed to come to any comprehensive agreement, although there are signs that the European position may be moving closer to that of the U.S.

Senior officials representing the U.N. Security Council's permanent members, and Germany, meet in London to discuss Iran's nuclear program. The meeting could initiate new negotiations between Iran and the EU. Iran, reportedly, would like to make direct contact with the U.S.

The U.S. is pushing countries around the world to accept new restrictions on their nuclear programs. An American diplomat at a conference in Geneva has proposed a treaty to ban the production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium. Security analyst Joe Cirincione talks with Steve Inskeep about the proposal.

Everyone suddenly wants to learn Mandarin Chinese. The problem is that there are few credentialed teachers. Now the Chinese government is making plans to develop teaching partnerships with U.S. public school districts.

The main rebel group fighting government forces and militia in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan signed on to a peace agreement earlier this month. Madeleine Brand speaks with the U.S. State Department's Jendayi Frazier, assistant secretary for African affairs, about the next steps in the peace process.

EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels to work out a deal with Iran on its nuclear program. The Bush administration and its European allies fear that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. They hope to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution that would oblige Iran to halt all uranium enrichment work.

The U.S., EU, Russia and the U.N. have agreed on a deal to create a trust fund for the Palestinian Authority. The authority is in the midst of a deepening financial crisis created when Hamas was voted into power, prompting Western donors to end their support for the government. The four powers now hope to get aid directly to the Palestinian people.