A Muslim chaplain has delivered the opening prayer for the U.S. House of Representatives, an honor few Muslim clergy get.

Abdullah Antepli of Duke University in North Carolina served as a guest chaplain Wednesday, at the invitation of Representative David Price, a North Carolina Democrat.

He prayed for God to guide members of Congress and enable them to serve citizens of the country and all humanity, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion.

Duke University says Antepli, who was born in Turkey, is only one of a few full-time Muslim chaplains at U.S. colleges and universities. It says his work focuses on religious leadership for Duke's Muslim community, pastoral care and counseling for people of any faith or belief, and intra- and interfaith work. 

A new study released by Freedom House shows that women in the Middle East and North Africa have made modest progress in winning more rights and opportunities over the past five years, despite ongoing resistance. But, violence against women remains widespread in the region, along with impunity for spousal abuse and so-called honor killings.

Sanja Kelly, a senior researcher and managing editor at the independent watchdog organization Freedom House, summed up the bad news concerning women in the Middle East and North Africa at a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

"Women in the Middle East are being discriminated in all aspects of lives," said Sanja Kelly. "And the Middle East still remains probably the most repressive region in the world when it comes to these issues."

Police arrest five Italians and two Iranians, says anti-terrorism prosecutor Armando Spataro

Seven people were arrested in Italy Wednesday on suspicion of trafficking arms to Iran, despite an international arms embargo against Tehran.  Two of the men arrested are Iranians and are believed to be Iranian secret service agents.  Police say two other Iranian suspects have likely fled the country.  The five others arrested are Italians.  

Operation Sniper was the result of a continuing investigation that was launched last June and involved Italian, British, Swiss and Romanian authorities.

Norway has expelled an Iranian diplomat in a dispute that comes a week after Iran ordered a Norwegian diplomat to leave Tehran.

In a statement Wednesday, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry did not identify the diplomat, but characterized the expulsion as a strong reaction to a similar move by Tehran several weeks ago.

The dispute erupted last month, when Oslo granted asylum to Iran's former counsel-general, Mohammed Reza Heydari.  The Iranian quit his post in January to protest Iran's deadly crackdown on opposition demonstrators in the Islamic republic a month earlier.

Heydari went into hiding immediately after his resignation, saying he feared for his life. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki insists his country is only interested in nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.  And, he says Tehran does not rule out a uranium enrichment swap with western powers.  Mottaki spoke to journalists in Geneva after addressing the UN Human Rights Council.

He says his country only wants to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and that Tehran is not averse to exchanging some of its low-enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel that can be used in a reactor producing medical isotopes.

In fact, he notes the Americans established a nuclear reactor in Iran for producing medicines 50 years ago.  He says Iran is now using this same reactor to provide medicines for 850,000 patients.

He says Tehran has cooperated in working with the western powers on possibly handing over 3.5 percent low-enriched uranium in return for 20 percent of a higher-grade enriched uranium to be used in its reactor.  He speaks through an interpreter.

"We agreed on the swap of the low-enriched uranium [for] the 20 percent enriched uranium.  Because of that, we began and still are running and holding negotiations and talks with different parties.  And, if we have some points regarding the form of the swap and agreed on the form of the swap, the issue of swap is possible to be carried out," Mottaki said.

It was another day of bullhorn diplomacy by Iran's top nuclear officials, who appear to be struggling to halt momentum for a new round of international sanctions.  The head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, began the day by calling IAEA chief Yukiya Amano "biased."

Salehi added that Iran hopes that Amano will change his approach.  

The remarks coincide with a meeting of the IAEA board in Vienna, which began Monday, in which Amano complained that Tehran "has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation," and that he could "not confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is [being used] in peaceful activities."

Amano's report to the IAEA board also stressed that Tehran may be working to develop a nuclear warhead, and its recent decision to enrich uranium to the 20-percent level could, in theory, give it the material needed to produce an atomic bomb.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says his country is ready to consider new sanctions against Iran if persuasion fails to stop it from enriching uranium.

Mr. Medvedev says international efforts to influence Iran to suspend its sensitive nuclear work have been ineffective, but that Russia is hoping a deal can still be reached with Tehran.

He says new sanctions should be "smart" and should not hurt civilians.

Western nations have been pushing for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program.  Russia has long been reluctant to support tougher sanctions.

Agency's new chief, Yukiya Amano, says Iran's insistence that nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only cannot be confirmed

The International Atomic Energy Agency's new chief says it is impossible to verify whether Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful, since the country is not fully cooperating with the U.N. panel.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Yukiya Amano said Iran's insistence that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only cannot be confirmed.  Those remarks were part the new chief's first address to the IAEA's 35-member board of governors, which is meeting this week in Vienna.

"We cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is for peaceful purposes because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation," Amano said.

An IAEA report last month for the first time suggested Iran could be trying to make a nuclear bomb.  Tehran denies this and says all its nuclear activities are for peaceful civilian purposes.

In U.S. politics, 2010 is shaping up to be a good year to be a conservative.  Poll ratings for President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are down, and opposition Republicans are hoping that energized conservatives will carry the party to victory in the November congressional elections.  But the conservative movement is not monolithic.

Grass roots conservatives were early and vocal opponents of President Obama's health care reform plan.  That grass roots anger against big government evolved into what is known as the tea party movement, a loosely-organized nationwide activist group that was inspired by the anti-tax tea protests just prior to the American Revolution.

Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was the featured speaker at a national tea party convention last month.

"The tea party movement is not a top-down operation," said Sarah Palin. "It is a ground-up call to action that is forcing both parties to change the way that they are doing business, and that is beautiful!".

President Barack Obama is urging Congress to vote in the next few weeks on his proposal to reform the U.S. health care system. The president is indicating that he is ready to try to pass the plan with no Republican Party support.

After about a year of debate, President Obama says lawmakers owe the American people a final vote on health care reform. "So that is our proposal.  This is where we have ended up.  It is an approach that has been debated and changed and I believe improved over the last year.  It incorporates the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans," he said.

The president is rejecting Republicans' demands that he start over on the issue, and has asked leaders in both houses of Congress to schedule a vote in the next few weeks. "For us to start over now could simply lead to delay that could last for another decade or even more.  The American people and the U.S. economy just cannot wait that long," he said.

With no Republican support for the bill, Senate Democrats will need to use a legislative procedure called reconciliation, which would require almost unanimous Democratic support

President Barack Obama will lay out what White House officials call the "final act" in his efforts and those of the Democratic majority in Congress to pass health care reform legislation. The president will use a statement on Wednesday to offer a revised proposal that might contain more ideas from minority Republicans lawmakers who have opposed health care legislation.

After spending last year trying to get health care reform through Congress, President Obama now finds himself in the third month of 2010 facing united Republican opposition, and skepticism among some members of his own Democratic Party.

The House of Representatives and the Senate approved separate health care bills last year.  But lawmakers have been unable to come up with a final bill to send to the president, who used an unprecedented, televised health care summit with lawmakers from both major political parties last week to try to find common ground.

As proposed by Democrats, the legislation would extend coverage to some 30 million uninsured Americans during the next 10 years and require most to buy health insurance.  It does not contain a government-run insurance program to compete with private insurers.

Briefing reporters on the eve of the president's statement, to be delivered at the White House, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs avoided getting into details about what changes the president might propose.

He said the president and his advisors continued to work through final decisions, but he declined to confirm media reports that some key proposals put forward by Republicans would be part of the plan.

In a letter to congressional leaders on Tuesday, President Obama listed four proposals favored by Republicans that he said he remained open to including in legislation.  At the same time, he made clear again that he rejects Republican calls to scrap the House and Senate-passed bills and start the process over.

Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo have agreed to support a U.S. proposal for indirect peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters Wednesday that members of the Arab League will back the talks for a period of four months.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is attending the Cairo meeting, has said he would abide by the Arab League's decision.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also welcomed the decision.

British insurance company Prudential says it will buy the Asian unit of U.S. insurer AIG for $35 billion, allowing AIG to repay some of the money it owes U.S. taxpayers.

Prudential announced its proposed takeover of AIG's AIA Group Monday, saying the deal will make the British company the largest insurer in Southeast Asia.

Prudential says AIG will get $25 billion in cash and $10 billion in new Prudential shares in return for AIA. The deal is subject to approval by shareholders and regulators.

AIG says it will use the funds to repay some of the $180 billion it received in a U.S. government bailout in 2008 during the height of the global financial crisis.

Prudential already has a significant presence in Asia's insurance market. Its chief executive Tidjane Thiam said Monday he sees Asia as the "engine" of the group's future growth. 

Some of the world's major automakers are seeing a surge in sales, led by a 43 percent jump at U.S.-based Ford Motor Company.

Ford on Tuesday said its sales in February rose for every brand, when compared to the same month last year.  

It also was the first time since 1998 that Ford out-sold General Motors, the biggest U.S. carmaker.

GM also posted gains in February.  The Detroit-based automaker said sales increased almost 12 percent compared to February of last year, when officials feared the automaker might collapse.

Republicans Were “More Prepared,” “Respectful And Serious,” “Very Disciplined,” “Reasonable And Sincere”

NBC’S CHUCK TODD: “Republicans Were Seen 10 Times More Prepared For This Summit Than The Democrats Were.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 2/26/10)

NEW YORK MAGAZINE’S JOHN HEILEMANN: “Did They [Republicans] Beat Expectations? I Think They Did In That Regard. They Came Across As Sober, And Respectful And Serious and that they had a dispute with the President and Democrats that was rooted in what seemed to be calm, collected, real judgment.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 2/26/10)

DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT DAN GERSTEIN: “The Republican Tone Was Just Right: A Respectful, Substantive Disagreement, Very Disciplined And Consistent In Their Message.” (“No Clear Winner In Seven-Hour Gabfest,” Politico, 2/26/10)

POLITICO: “But Instead, The Republicans Who Showed Up Generally Looked Reasonable And Sincere.” (“The Aftermath: Confusion, Conflict,” Politico, 2/26/10)

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’S PEGGY NOONAN: “The Choice Of Sen. Lamar Alexander As The First GOP Spokesman Was Smart.” (Peggy Noonan, Op-Ed, “More Boor Than Cure,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/26/10)