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DOHA (Reuters) - Rival Lebanese leaders were close to agreeing a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict that has pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war.

KOHAT, Pakistan (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants set off a roadside bomb as a Pakistani military truck was passing on Tuesday, wounding seven people in the third bomb attack in the country in two days.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert lost his first court challenge on Tuesday against a bribery investigation that could force him from office.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi army launched an operation on Tuesday to take control of Baghdad's Sadr City slum, the power base of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats on Monday said White House pressure may have influenced the Environmental Protection Agency to reject a bid by California to impose strict limits on emissions from new cars and trucks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama will take a major step toward the Democratic presidential nomination when Oregon and Kentucky vote on Tuesday, but rival Hillary Clinton still hopes to spoil the party.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized Democratic front-runner Barack Obama on Tuesday for saying he was willing to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro and accused him of wanting to weaken the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

YANGON (Reuters) - Flags across Myanmar flew at half-mast on Tuesday for the victims of Cyclone Nargis as the U.N.'s top aid envoy pressed the military government to allow foreign helicopters to fly in supplies to survivors.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's new president took office on Tuesday with a historic offer to reopen dialogue with China, which claims the island as its territory, but pledged to maintain Taipei's existing self-rule and separate international profile.

CARACAS (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy jet violated Venezuelan airspace around two small Caribbean islands over the weekend in what the South American country said was a provocation coordinated with neighboring Colombia.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Monday they had reached a deal on legislation to create a multibillion-dollar mortgage rescue fund and a new regulator for housing finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

CHAVAGNES-EN-PAILLERS, France (Reuters) - Learning Latin, attending Catechism and hurrying along draughty corridors to prayer, two dozen boys are experiencing old-fashioned British boarding school life -- deep in the French countryside.

CROW AGENCY, Montana (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama became an honorary member of an American Indian tribe on Monday and promised a proactive policy to help tribal people if he wins the White House in November.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite President George W. Bush opposing a bill to temporarily halt adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, on Monday he signed into law the measure Congress passed in an effort to lower gasoline prices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, on Monday said he agreed with President George W. Bush's decision to the $289 billion farm bill because it did not cut subsidies to wealthy farmers enough.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Monday they had reached a deal on legislation to create a multibillion dollar mortgage rescue fund and a new regulator for housing finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea appears close to making a long-overdue declaration of its nuclear programs, the top U.S. negotiator with Pyongyang said on Monday in an upbeat assessment after months of difficult negotiations.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy to the United Nations on Monday welcomed the visit of a special U.N. human rights investigator to probe racism but said the Human Rights Council should focus on "real problems" elsewhere.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats on Monday said White House pressure may have influenced the Environmental Protection Agency to reject a bid by California to impose strict limits on emissions from new cars and trucks.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi and U.S. forces have arrested about 100 suspects thought to be crucial to the operations of militant groups in al Qaeda's last haven of north Iraq, the commander of U.S. forces in the area said on Monday.