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ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER (Reuters) - A security threat forced Middle East envoy Tony Blair to cancel a trip to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that would have marked the highest-level diplomatic visit since Hamas took control, a spokesman said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has offered to award major arms contracts to Russia in return for Moscow curtailing cooperation with Iran, Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified diplomatic sources.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombers killed around 40 people and wounded scores in several attacks in northern Iraq on Tuesday, days after the government vowed to expand a crackdown against militants in a region where al Qaeda retains influence.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen kidnapped two Turkish nationals working on construction project in western Afghanistan on Monday, a senior police official said.

YANGON (Reuters) - One man was killed when a bomb exploded on a bus in army-ruled Myanmar, newspapers said on Tuesday, the latest incident ahead of anniversaries that sometimes serve as flashpoints for dissent.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's coastguard said on Tuesday it had stepped up patrols near islands at the centre of a territorial dispute with Japan, a day after Seoul recalled its ambassador in anger at new Japanese claims to the rocky outcrops.

ATHENS (Reuters) - One person was killed in an accident after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the island of Rhodes in southeast Greece, officials said on Tuesday, but there were no other reports of casualties or damage.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rep. Charles Rangel, the chairman of the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, is soliciting donations from corporations with business before his panel for an academic center that will bear his name, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

NACO, Ariz., (Reuters) - Republican John McCain made a dramatic plea for Hispanic votes on Monday, reading from a roll-call of some of the hundreds of illegal immigrants who die each year crossing the border from Mexico.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - About 150,000 young pilgrims attended mass on the shores of Sydney Harbor on Tuesday for the Catholic church's biggest youth festival, but protesters plan to rally against Pope Benedict ahead of his outdoor mass on Sunday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former White House aide Karl Rove denied on Monday that his close ties with Republican politics and John McCain's presidential campaign undermine his credibility as an election analyst for the Fox News Channel.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Minnesota governor and pro wrestler Jesse Ventura has ended speculation over his political future, announcing on Monday he will not run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota this year.

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama on Monday urged blacks to take more responsibility for improving their own lives, standing firm on a tough message that has been criticized by some African Americans.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Zhou Zhilian is one of thousands of entrepreneurs for whom the Olympic Games next month represent more a missed opportunity than a chance to cash in on the influx of visitors expected to pour into Beijing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Tuesday a "single-minded" focus on Iraq was distracting the United States from other threats, and he promised to end the war and shift resources to fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China expressed "grave concern" on Tuesday after the International Criminal Court's prosecutor charged Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Finding a way to safely let U.S. patients buy cheaper medicines from other countries will pose a challenge for the next president and Congress, a health adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain told Reuters on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Monday lifted a White House ban on offshore drilling to try to drive down soaring energy prices, a largely symbolic bid unlikely to have any short-term impact on high gasoline costs.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Finding a way to safely let U.S. patients buy cheaper medicines from other countries will be a challenge, a health adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain told Reuters on Monday.

VIENNA (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board will meet on August 1 to consider India's draft plan for nuclear inspections submitted to help launch a U.S.-Indian nuclear cooperation deal, officials said on Monday.