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KUALA LUMPUR/MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine government and the largest Muslim rebel group failed to reach a pact on Friday to create an ancestral home for 3 million Muslims in the country's south, both sides said.

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dropped a plan to visit wounded U.S. troops in Germany on Friday amid concerns the stop would be viewed as a political event.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - At least 45 people were killed and another 100 were missing after a boat sank on a remote stretch of river in Democratic Republic of Congo, a local government official said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on Friday to limit debate on a bill aimed at shoring up both the housing market and mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, paving the way for a final vote expected on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation to rein in excessive energy speculation failed a key procedural vote on Friday to move forward in the Senate, and now lawmakers will set aside the bill to consider other legislation.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki invited Pope Benedict on Friday to visit Iraq, saying it would help the process of reconciliation.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police said on Friday they had detained 125 Tibetan refugees, including nuns and monks, for trying to storm a Chinese consular office in Kathmandu.

BERLIN (Reuters) - If Europeans had a vote, polls suggest Democratic candidate Barack Obama would be a shoo-in for U.S. president, but his speech to a huge crowd in Berlin showed he would be a more demanding partner than many realized.

MADRID (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Spain's King Juan Carlos shook hands and made up on Friday in their first meeting since the monarch told the president to "shut up" at a summit in November.

HARARE (Reuters) - The United States expanded sanctions against President Robert Mugabe's government on Friday, increasing pressure on the Zimbabwean leader as his party discusses a power-sharing deal with the opposition.

KOHAT, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pro-Taliban militants freed eight of the dozens of paramilitary troops and government officials they have been holding hostage for nearly two weeks in northwestern Pakistan, officials and a negotiator said on Friday.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Darfur rebel faction that has a pact with Sudan's government accused the army on Friday of bombing a village this week even while President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was in the region making a call for peace.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - New Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani can expect U.S. demands for action against militants in tribal lands on the Afghan border, along with usual statements of support, when he visits Washington next week.

GAZA (Reuters) - A bomb exploded next to a car used by the armed wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing three gunmen and a girl, the ruling Palestinian Islamist group and medical officials said.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - At least six people were killed on Friday in heavy clashes between rival sectarian factions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, medical sources said.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Radovan Karadzic can expect an en suite cell, home-cooked Balkan cuisine and a convivial atmosphere where former enemies play table football when he is transferred to the detention unit of the Hague Tribunal.

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday there was still time for Israelis and Palestinians to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian authorities have banned the evening edition of a large circulation newspaper for publishing news they said was harmful to the economy, Iranian media reported.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's top new diplomat to the United States said on Friday he is unaware of any U.S. freeze on arms sales to the island, despite conflicting media reports on the subject over the last two weeks.

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama hopes his visit to Europe and the Middle East will show U.S. voters that he is a safe pair of hands, the Democrat said in an interview on Friday.