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MALABO (Reuters) - Powerful international businessmen who allegedly masterminded a failed 2004 coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea could try again to seize power there, a British mercenary said at his trial on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Thursday they were disappointed with a White House threat to veto a multi-billion-dollar housing market rescue bill.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. telephone companies that took part in President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program could be shielded from billions of dollars in lawsuits under a electronic spy bill finalized on Thursday by congressional and White House negotiators.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday accused a six-nation group of world powers of bullying Tehran over its nuclear program and said their efforts would end in disgrace.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel this month to Chengdu, China, the capital of Sichuan province that was struck by a massive earthquake in May, the State Department said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday there is "growing confidence" North Korea will make its long-overdue declaration of its nuclear programs.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Congressional ethics panel is examining allegations that two Senate Democrats, including the sponsor of a major housing bill, received preferential loans by troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp, a member of Congress said on Thursday.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel and Hamas halted fighting in the Gaza Strip on Thursday but, with wider peace prospects hazy, both sides voiced doubt over how long the Egyptian- brokered ceasefire might hold.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A young Canadian prisoner will go on trial before the Guantanamo prison camp's war crimes court on October 8 on charges of murdering a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, a judge said on Thursday.

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Two Spanish pilots and two German officers of the European Union's peacekeeping force were killed when their helicopter crashed in central Bosnia on Thursday, authorities said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson played host at a breakfast meeting on Wednesday to introduce recently installed top Chinese officials to members of Congress, a Treasury spokeswoman said.

MADRID (Reuters) - Two Spanish pilots of the EU peace force and two German officers were killed when their helicopter crashed in central Bosnia on Thursday, a Spanish Defense Ministry spokesman said.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Hundreds of Tibetan exiles, including nuns and monks, shouted anti-China slogans and scuffled with police in Kathmandu on Thursday before being hauled into waiting trucks and taken to detention centers, police said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Thursday he has decided to forgo public financing of his election campaign against Republican John McCain.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Militants in speedboats attacked Royal Dutch Shell's main offshore facility in Nigeria on Thursday, cutting the country's oil output by a tenth and raising fears of a new campaign against deepwater installations.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Floods sweeping southern China seem to have fulfilled the final stanza of an Internet curse involving Beijing's Olympic mascots, but censors have been quick to remove postings that might fuel the superstition.

DADAAB, Kenya (Reuters) - Fighting in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East is increasing refugee numbers worldwide and undermining efforts by aid agencies to manage multiple disasters, a senior U.N. official said on Thursday.

PARIS (Reuters) - France has renewed contact with the leaders of Colombian guerrillas holding Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt to try and secure her release after their main guerrilla contact was killed in March, presidency sources said on Thursday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States and its key Asian allies agreed on Thursday to push North Korea to take quick action to abandon its nuclear weapons programs, but they stopped short of thrashing out details to achieve their goal.

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Homemaker Mary Mardis, 52, liked U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton but now she's not sure who she'll vote for in November. Maybe Barack Obama, who beat Clinton to win the Democratic nomination. Maybe Republican John McCain.