Reuters: The governor of Florida, who is on a trade mission in Brazil, canceled a meeting with executives of the state energy company Petrobras on Thursday because of its business dealings with Iran.

UPI: Two U.S.-based e-mail services, Microsoft and Yahoo!, have taken Iran off their country lists.

The Guardian: Multinational companies are coming under increasing pressure from the US to stop doing business with Iran because of its nuclear programme. European operators are facing threats from Washington that they could jeopardise their US interests by continuing to deal with Tehran, with increasing evidence that European governments, mainly France, Germany and Britain, are supporting the US campaign.

Washington Times: President Bush’s decision to impose sanctions on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and other Iranian targets drew support from Capitol Hill to Brussels, as members of Congress and the European Parliament praised the action but urged the administration to go further.

Reuters: Iranian security forces have killed three Kurdish rebels in the country’s Kurdistan province bordering Iraq, an official Iranian daily reported on Thursday.