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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday tried to ease its way out of a dispute between South Korea and Japan over a cluster of islands both countries claim, which had threatened to mar U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Seoul next week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday signed into law a big expansion of U.S. efforts to fight AIDS in Africa and elsewhere, warning that defeating this scourge requires an unprecedented investment over generations.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidates have spent some $50 million and aired more than 100,000 TV ads since the start of the general election campaign in early June, far outpacing the rate of the 2004 campaign, a report showed on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A partisan election-year battle over high gasoline prices and a Republican push to open more U.S. coastal waters and federal land to oil and gas drilling has brought work in the U.S. Senate to a halt.

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 30, Reuters - Republican White House hopeful John McCain's campaign said on Wednesday the indictment of fellow Republican Sen. Ted Stevens was a "sad reminder" the next president will face a tough task rebuilding the public trust.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday made a new push for expanded offshore drilling to help lower fuel prices, days after new government data showed American petroleum product exports hit record levels.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday he would resign as Israel's prime minister after his ruling party chooses a new leader in September, a move that plunged Middle East peace talks and Israeli politics into limbo.

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Pope Benedict granted an unprecedented waiver to allow a former bishop to serve as president of Paraguay without violating church rules, a Vatican representative said on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's trade chief Peter Mandelson said on Wednesday the United States helped to bring down global trade talks this week when its negotiators shunned a compromise proposal at a key juncture in the talks.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's trade chief Peter Mandelson said on Wednesday the United States helped to bring down global trade talks this week when its negotiators shunned a compromise proposal at a key juncture in the talks.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A driver for Osama bin Laden lacked the education and skills for admission to the al Qaeda leader's inner circle, a defense witness testified on Wednesday at his Guantanamo war-crimes trial.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill aimed at preventing excessive speculation in oil and other futures trading did not get enough votes to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, as Republicans complained the measure did not also open more offshore areas to oil drilling.

AURORA, Colo. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain opened up a new line of attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama on Wednesday, labeling him a celebrity without the strength to bring change to Washington.

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama pushed his plans for middle-class economic relief in a Republican area of Missouri on Wednesday, and said White House rival John McCain was trying to scare voters about an Obama presidency.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A State Department official will visit Beijing this week to discuss with Chinese and North Korean officials ways to verify Pyongyang's account of its nuclear program, a U.S. spokesman said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday, discussing the risk of further deterioration in a weakening U.S. economy.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's highest court on Wednesday rejected an attempt to shut down the governing AK Party but imposed financial penalties on it for anti-secular activities, the court's chief judge said.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's Lech Walesa testified on Wednesday against his old rival General Wojciech Jaruzelski in a long-delayed hearing into a bloody communist crackdown on civilian protesters nearly 40 years ago.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will press ahead with its nuclear path, the country's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday, speaking just before a deadline set by Western officials in a nuclear dispute.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel voted on Wednesday to find former presidential adviser Karl Rove in contempt for defying a subpoena to testify in its probe into suspected political meddling at the Justice Department.