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BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. and North Korean officials made progress on Wednesday toward implementing a long-delayed disarmament agreement, but have yet to pin down a timetable for completing the stage of the nuclear negotiations.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A general-election race for the White House between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain would feature vastly different approaches on the thorniest political issues, from Iraq and diplomacy to taxes and health care.

CHARLEVILLE-MEZIERES, France (Reuters) - Self-confessed killer and rapist Michel Fourniret and his wife Monique Olivier were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in one of France's grimmest serial murder cases.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The three major U.S. presidential candidates issued a rare joint statement on Wednesday condemning atrocities against civilians in Sudan and demanding an end to the violence.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing has learnt from the SARS epidemic and there will be no attempt to hide any outbreak of infectious disease during the Beijing Olympics, the city's chief medical officer said on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A senior U.S. senator said on Wednesday that he had been reassured that whatever peace accords were reached with militants, Pakistan would not tolerate them making cross-border attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has decided to set up refugee camps for tens of thousands of African migrants who fled their homes during a wave of deadly xenophobic attacks, the BBC said on Wednesday.

YOKOHAMA (Reuters) - The global food crisis could reverse some of the progress Africa has made in bringing down child mortality, the head of the United Nations' children's agency said on Wednesday.

ROME (Reuters) - The leaning tower of Pisa has been successfully stabilized and is out of danger for at least 300 years, said an engineer who has been monitoring the iconic Italian tourist attraction.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's parliament warned that current levels of cooperating with the U.N. nuclear watchdog were in jeopardy if major powers continue to "kick around" the country's disputed nuclear case, state radio said on Wednesday.

ROME (Reuters) - Italians have belatedly realized that Silvio Berlusconi's crackdown on illegal immigrants could deprive them of hundreds of thousands of foreigners who clean their homes and look after their children and elderly relatives.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc said on Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin the Shi'ite-led government after a disagreement with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over a cabinet post.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Britain's Defense Minister Des Browne endorsed peace talks between Pakistan and Taliban militants on Wednesday despite concerns from Afghanistan that the talks will allow the Taliban to regroup and launch more attacks.

HANOI (Reuters) - An unidentified flying object exploded in mid-air over a southern Vietnamese island, state media said on Wednesday, a day after Cambodia's air force retracted a report of a mysterious plane crash.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned on Wednesday that the world was facing an oil "shock" and would find there was no easy answer to price rises without coordinated global action.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's main coalition partner demanded on Wednesday he leave office over corruption allegations, dealing another blow to the unpopular leader in turmoil threatening to derail peace talks.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's military will fly tents and blankets to China after Beijing asked for help following the devastating earthquake this month that killed more than 68,000 people, Kyodo news agency said on Wednesday.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's political parties voted on Wednesday to abolish the Himalayan kingdom's 239-year-old Hindu monarchy, a key demand of Maoists after they ended a decade-long war against the government.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Defense Minister Ehud Barak may call on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step down from office or temporarily suspend himself after the latest testimony in a bribery case, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The top U.S. envoy in nuclear negotiations with North Korea said he hoped talks in the Chinese capital on Wednesday would help bring "definitive progress" on a long-delayed disarmament agreement.