[...]Ahead of weekend talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Rice urged both Arab and EU nations to help the peace process by breaking off with Hamas' political wing. "We are pressing the Arab states to cut off support for Hamas, whatever Hamas wants to say it's being used for... The EU had listed the armed wing, but social organisations of Hamas have also got to be listed," she said at a London conference.

"The notion that on the one hand Hamas is peaceful and on the other hand is trying to blow up the peace process is just illogical and, we're saying, will not work."

Other radical groups like Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and "all of the other rejectionists" should also be targeted, she said.

Rice also drove home Washington's warnings to North Korea and Iran over their nuclear programmes. "The North Koreans will have to be stopped and the world will have to stop them," she said. "Blackmail will not work. You will simply isolate yourselves further."

On Iran, which Washington suspects may be secretly developing nuclear weapons, she was equally blunt: "The world should not tolerate any attempt by Iran to get nuclear weapons." [...]