Rice to travel to Middle East to assess progress of talks

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to the Middle East next month for talks meant to assess progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Thursday that Rice will be in the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Egypt from November 5 to 9. Earlier, a senior Palestinian official said the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers will meet in Egypt, arriving there Nov. 8.