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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday made a new push for expanded offshore drilling to help lower fuel prices, days after new government data showed American petroleum product exports hit record levels.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday he would resign as Israel's prime minister after his ruling party chooses a new leader in September, a move that plunged Middle East peace talks and Israeli politics into limbo.

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Pope Benedict granted an unprecedented waiver to allow a former bishop to serve as president of Paraguay without violating church rules, a Vatican representative said on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's trade chief Peter Mandelson said on Wednesday the United States helped to bring down global trade talks this week when its negotiators shunned a compromise proposal at a key juncture in the talks.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's trade chief Peter Mandelson said on Wednesday the United States helped to bring down global trade talks this week when its negotiators shunned a compromise proposal at a key juncture in the talks.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A driver for Osama bin Laden lacked the education and skills for admission to the al Qaeda leader's inner circle, a defense witness testified on Wednesday at his Guantanamo war-crimes trial.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill aimed at preventing excessive speculation in oil and other futures trading did not get enough votes to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, as Republicans complained the measure did not also open more offshore areas to oil drilling.

AURORA, Colo. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain opened up a new line of attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama on Wednesday, labeling him a celebrity without the strength to bring change to Washington.

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama pushed his plans for middle-class economic relief in a Republican area of Missouri on Wednesday, and said White House rival John McCain was trying to scare voters about an Obama presidency.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A State Department official will visit Beijing this week to discuss with Chinese and North Korean officials ways to verify Pyongyang's account of its nuclear program, a U.S. spokesman said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday, discussing the risk of further deterioration in a weakening U.S. economy.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's highest court on Wednesday rejected an attempt to shut down the governing AK Party but imposed financial penalties on it for anti-secular activities, the court's chief judge said.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's Lech Walesa testified on Wednesday against his old rival General Wojciech Jaruzelski in a long-delayed hearing into a bloody communist crackdown on civilian protesters nearly 40 years ago.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will press ahead with its nuclear path, the country's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday, speaking just before a deadline set by Western officials in a nuclear dispute.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel voted on Wednesday to find former presidential adviser Karl Rove in contempt for defying a subpoena to testify in its probe into suspected political meddling at the Justice Department.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York will slice spending by $630 million, partly by freezing hiring and running agencies more efficiently to close a deficit, and ask the legislature to slash another $600 million in an emergency summer session, New York Governor David Paterson said on Wednesday.

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Pope Benedict granted Paraguay's president-elect a historic waiver to allow the former bishop to take office next month without violating church rules, a Vatican representative said on Wednesday.

BISHKEK (Reuters) - The United States criticized Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday for destroying part of a fence surrounding a Western luxury hotel, saying its actions undermined investor confidence in the Central Asian state.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's highest court will announce its much-anticipated verdict on whether to close the governing party on charges of Islamist activities on Wednesday, the Anatolian state news agency said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted on Wednesday.