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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's parliament could hold a preliminary vote as early as June 25 on whether to dissolve itself and force an election that could replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, legislative officials said on Wednesday.

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Indian soldiers evacuated thousands of stranded people from submerged villages on Wednesday, as floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains swept across the country's east and northeast.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will never surrender to an "illegitimate" demand by major world powers that it halt uranium enrichment, Iran's state radio on Wednesday quoted the country's envoy to the U.N. atomic watchdog as saying.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates ranked among the top five nations globally for consumer confidence despite fears over rising inflation in the oil-fueled economy, a U.S. research agency said on Wednesday.

TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Two thousand Turkish soldiers took part in an operation against Kurdish separatists on Wednesday, killing three rebels in southeast Turkey, security sources said.

HARARE (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki met Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and his rival on Wednesday to try to mediate an end to a violent election crisis.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Wednesday it accepted an Egyptian-brokered truce with Hamas Islamists ruling the Gaza Strip but voiced skepticism the ceasefire involving all Palestinian militant groups in the territory would hold.

ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Helicopter gunships and troops blasted a valley in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday in a huge offensive by NATO and local forces against Taliban insurgents, many of whom broke out of jail last week.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A meeting between the Indian government and its communist allies to break a deadlock over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States has been postponed, a senior communist leader said on Wednesday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's new president will replace his chief of staff and members of his inner circle this week after an unpopular deal to import U.S. beef triggered street protests against his government, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces on Wednesday blamed a rogue Shi'ite militia group seeking to stir up sectarian violence for a devastating truck bombing that killed 63 people in Baghdad.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian banks are not moving funds from Europe, the head of a state bank was quoted as saying, contradicting reports that Tehran was withdrawing assets in the face of tightening sanctions over its nuclear program.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia said on Wednesday it had released four Russian peacekeeping troops detained a day earlier near its breakaway region of Abkhazia on suspicion of transporting weapons without proper documents.

FENGKOU, China (Reuters) - China has posted hundreds of police and rescue officials to shore up dams threatening to burst under torrential rain that has already flooded 9,000 square miles of crops and homes.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, looking thin but animated, was shown on Cuban TV on Tuesday with his brother, President Raul Castro, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in the first public images of the bearded revolutionary since January.

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.

KASHGAR, China (Reuters) - The Olympic torch was paraded on Wednesday through China's sensitive former Silk Road city of Kashgar, home to ethnic-minority Muslim Uighurs, under the scrutiny of soldiers and choreographed cheering crowds.

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.

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.