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HARARE (Reuters) - The United States expanded sanctions against President Robert Mugabe's government on Friday, increasing pressure on the Zimbabwean leader as his party discusses a power-sharing deal with the opposition.

KOHAT, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pro-Taliban militants freed eight of the dozens of paramilitary troops and government officials they have been holding hostage for nearly two weeks in northwestern Pakistan, officials and a negotiator said on Friday.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Darfur rebel faction that has a pact with Sudan's government accused the army on Friday of bombing a village this week even while President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was in the region making a call for peace.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - New Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani can expect U.S. demands for action against militants in tribal lands on the Afghan border, along with usual statements of support, when he visits Washington next week.

GAZA (Reuters) - A bomb exploded next to a car used by the armed wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing three gunmen and a girl, the ruling Palestinian Islamist group and medical officials said.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - At least six people were killed on Friday in heavy clashes between rival sectarian factions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, medical sources said.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Radovan Karadzic can expect an en suite cell, home-cooked Balkan cuisine and a convivial atmosphere where former enemies play table football when he is transferred to the detention unit of the Hague Tribunal.

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday there was still time for Israelis and Palestinians to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian authorities have banned the evening edition of a large circulation newspaper for publishing news they said was harmful to the economy, Iranian media reported.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's top new diplomat to the United States said on Friday he is unaware of any U.S. freeze on arms sales to the island, despite conflicting media reports on the subject over the last two weeks.

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama hopes his visit to Europe and the Middle East will show U.S. voters that he is a safe pair of hands, the Democrat said in an interview on Friday.

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama urged Europe to stand by the United States in stabilizing Afghanistan in a speech to over 200,000 in Berlin that stressed the need for unity in the face of new threats.

SANAA (Reuters) - Two people were killed and at least 18 others injured when a car was rammed into a police station in Yemen's Hadramout province early on Friday, a security source said.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Earlier this month, a Mumbai city official stood up to make a presentation on water meters only to be heckled and jeered into silence by his colleagues.

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that Pakistan needed to do more to help curb the flow of militants across its border into Afghanistan as the Taliban had increased terrorist activity.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council was split on Thursday over how to push Myanmar to improve human rights and adopt democratic reforms as a U.N. special envoy prepared for a key visit to the Asian nation.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC guerrillas have released eight hostages in the first such handover since the rebel group was tricked in a military operation to free Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other captives on July 2, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian lesbian couple have lost a controversial court battle after trying to sue their doctor for having healthy twins from an in vitro fertilisation procedure (IVF), with doctors on Friday praising the verdict.

PERTH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a taste of life in the Australian mining boomtown of Perth on Friday, sipping coffee with the foreign minister at his local and chatting with girls about shopping.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Ministers hailed an emerging trade deal on Friday, as compromise proposals revitalized deadlocked talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).