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HOUSTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain called on Tuesday for energy conservation and an end to a ban on U.S. offshore oil and natural gas exploration to help curb the nation's "dangerous" dependence on foreign oil.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will make an announcement on Wednesday about energy and call on Congress to pass legislation lifting a ban on offshore oil drilling, the White House said.

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who faces bribery charges over $90,000 found in his freezer, said on Tuesday that he plans to seek re-election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate leaders have agreed to a bipartisan bill to establish a $300 billion rescue fund for troubled mortgages and a new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican John McCain's camp accused Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama on Tuesday of being weak on terrorism, drawing a sharp rebuke from Obama on the politically charged issue of how to deal with Islamic extremists.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People living in the United States could travel to Cuba more often and visit a broader list of family members under legislation approved by a congressional panel on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama misused a "code word" in Middle East politics when he said Jerusalem should be Israel's "undivided" capital but that does not mean he is naive on foreign policy, a top adviser said on Tuesday.

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. and Chinese officials agreed on Tuesday that turbulence sweeping global markets holds lessons for Beijing, but the United States warned it should not cause China to block access to its markets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House hopeful Barack Obama said on Tuesday the weakness in the U.S. dollar reflects the soft economy and large trade deficits, and the best way to strengthen the currency is to restore the economy's health.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Hundreds of families fled their homes in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday as Afghan and foreign forces prepared for an offensive to confront Taliban fighters who have overrun several villages.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday blocked debate of a bill to offer about $17.7 billion in tax incentives for consumers to build renewable energy sources like windmills and solar arrays, and buy plug-in cars that run on electricity rather than gasoline.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had an "animated and warm" meeting with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a visit to Havana, state-run media said on Tuesday, but no photos or videos of the left-wing allies were made public.

NIR OZ, Israel/GAZA (Reuters) - For Yossi Atzili, a truce with Hamas Islamists is the only way to stop mortar bombs from the Gaza Strip whizzing across the border and smashing into his paint factory in Israel.

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Elite troops in Guinea stormed a police base on Tuesday in a bloody shoot-out with members of an anti-riot brigade to put down a two-day police mutiny over pay, officers and witnesses said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and South Korean trade officials pressed ahead on Tuesday with negotiations that Seoul hopes will result in new limits to a recent deal to reopen South Korea's market to U.S. beef exports.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The armies of feuding Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea are "less than a football pitch" apart, risking a catastrophic new war on their border, a think-tank warned on Tuesday.

WARSAW (Reuters) - The United States is talking with Lithuania about possibly installing part of a planned missile shield there if negotiations with Poland do not succeed, Warsaw's chief negotiator on missile defense said on Tuesday.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's top court will hold its first hearings in early July in a case aimed at outlawing the ruling AK Party for Islamist activities, a court source said on Tuesday.

MALABO (Reuters) - British mercenary Simon Mann, one of Africa's last "dogs of war", went on trial in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday and the prosecution asked he be jailed for nearly 32 years for his role in a failed 2004 coup plot.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday set aside a former Bush administration official's conviction for lying and obstructing justice over his links to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and ordered a new trial.