US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (2nd from R) speaks during a news conference as Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergey Lavrov (L), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2nd from L) and European Union representative Javier Solana listen at the United Nations in New York, May 9, 2006. The quartet of Middle East peace brokers agreed on Tuesday on an "international mechanism" to channel aid to the Palestinians for a trial period to ease the financial squeeze on the new government following the election of Hamas. [Reuters]