Rice cancels ME tour due to Israeli gov't strife

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has cancelled a planned Middle East trip due to the unstable political situation in Israel, the Foreign Ministry said late Monday evening. Tension has risen between government officials following the release of the Winograd's interim report into the Second Lebanon War. Many government officials have called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step down. On Thursday, 150,000 people participated in a mass demonstration at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square in an attempt to get Olmert and his government to resign.