Iran media on Wednesday slammed a proposal made by world powers seeking to scale back Tehran's nuclear program as "unbalanced" and failing to address other outstanding issues.

State media, including the Islamic Republic News Agency, all called the proposal made to Iranian officials in talks in Baghdad "outdated, not comprehensive and unbalanced."

Russia is ready to host direct talks between the Syrian regime and rebel representatives, a top official said Wednesday, in a bid to end 14 months of bloodshed that has claimed over 10,000 lives.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said peace mediator Kofi Annan's deputy was trying to secure agreement with the fractured foreign-based Syrian opposition on who could meet Bashar Assad's Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly expressed on Wednesday the United States’ appreciation for the efforts of the Internal Security Forces and Lebanese army to work together to maintain calm in Lebanon.

She emphasized after holding talks with ISF chief General Ashraf Rifi her country’s “concern for the current security situation in Lebanon and called on all parties to exercise restraint and respect for Lebanon’s security and stability.”

A dispute broke out on Wednesday between Phalange Party and Hizbullah students at Saint Joseph University in Beirut’s Monot district.

The dispute, whose causes remain unknown, soon developed into a fistfight.

Speculation was rife on Wednesday among Syrian anti-regime activists over the alleged "killing" of President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law who is also Syria's deputy defense minister.

Assef Shawkat, former head of military intelligence, was poisoned, according to anti-regime activists. The authorities in Damascus could not be reached for comment and have not responded publicly to the claim.

A roadside bomb exploded near a bus carrying Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in a Sunni area of western Iraq on Wednesday, killing three and wounding 10 others, Iraqi police and medical sources said.

"A roadside bomb exploded in the Khamsat Kilo area as a bus carrying Lebanese pilgrims... passed on the highway, killing three of them and wounding 10," a first lieutenant in the Anbar provincial police said, referring to an area west of the provincial capital Ramadi.

Britain's Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will give its judgment in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's long-running fight against extradition to Sweden on May 30.

The court announced the date in a statement on its website, saying the judgment would start at 9:15 am (0815 GMT) next Wednesday and would last around 10 minutes.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun noted on Wednesday that a large number of Lebanese have steered away from the path of resistance and forgotten about the Israeli threat against Lebanon.

He said: “Some sides are seeking to spread the unrest in Syria to Lebanon in order for us to surrender” to foreign powers.

President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday said that a letter sent to United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon by Syria’s envoy to the U.N. Bashar al-Jaafari was not based on “verified facts.”

“It is not based on verified facts, and moreover the information of the Army Command and the Lebanese security agencies say totally otherwise,” Suleiman told U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly during a meeting at the Baabda Palace.

Russia said on Wednesday that Iran was ready to hold serious talks on its nuclear program that could lead to a gradual lifting of sanctions in exchange for broader transparency from Tehran.

"We have a clear understanding... that Iran is ready to agree on concrete actions," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters, without elaborating.