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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi troops set up checkpoints and patrolled strategic streets in Moqtada al-Sadr's Baghdad stronghold on Wednesday, testing a truce with the Shi'ite cleric's Mehdi Army militia.

KABUL (Reuters) - An explosion in the eastern Afghan province of Ghazni killed two soldiers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and one civilian interpreter, ISAF said in a statement on Wednesday.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe told police on Wednesday to ignore opposition accusations they are behind political intimidation and blamed his foes for violence ahead of a presidential election run-off.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali gunmen stormed the office of an aid group and kidnapped two Italian aid workers and a Somali colleague on Wednesday, officials and residents said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed in talks with a U.S. Congressional leader that a naval blockade be imposed on Iran to try to curb its nuclear program, an Israeli newspaper said on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Gabon are among states vying for 15 seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday that rights watchdogs say are unfit to be on it.

ALMATY (Reuters) - Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has accused Kazakhstan of blocking access to its website which it said was deliberate interference in its news reporting.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian citizen accused of Nazi warcrimes in Hungary in 1944 has appeared on Australian television to say he is innocent.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgians voted for a new parliament on Wednesday but the opposition accused President Mikheil Saakashvili of trying to rig the election and vowed to hold a huge protest rally in the capital.

YANGON (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon began a mission on Wednesday for Myanmar's cyclone victims, saying "our focus now is on saving lives", as the military government gave approval for the first foreign helicopters to distribute aid.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Beijing Olympic torch relay will resume on Thursday in the coastal city of Ningbo after three days of national mourning for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake, Xinhua news agency said.

DOHA (Reuters) - Rival Lebanese leaders signed a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict that had threatened to push the country to a new civil war.

KABUL (Reuters) - On the western edge of Kabul, in the saddle between two hills, stands a flaking monument to what the city once aspired to be -- a cosmopolitan destination drawing chic travelers from the world over.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday warned Pakistan against negotiating an agreement with militants along its border with Afghanistan, saying a deal might allow them to plot attacks in Pakistan and abroad.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba plans to build 14,000 plastic homes a year to help ease a national housing shortage, a government news agency reported on Tuesday.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's ruling party is likely to win a majority in a parliamentary election on Wednesday that the West says will be a test of President Mikheil Saakashvili's democratic credentials as he pushes for NATO membership.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - There is a growing danger of a coup by military hardliners in Zimbabwe to prevent opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai from toppling President Robert Mugabe, a leading think tank said on Wednesday.

GAZA (Reuters) - Three Israeli air strikes and a raid in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed three Hamas militants and two Palestinian civilians, local medical workers and the Islamist group said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military painted China on Tuesday as posing a growing threat to the United States and others in space and cyberspace.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday questioned whether the United States could have productive talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without first stepping up pressure on Tehran.