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HUDSON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender John McCain said on Friday that government assistance would likely be needed for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae because a failure of the two mortgage giants would have a ripple effect through the entire U.S. economy.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico City police are investigating classified advertisements posted on the Internet by people offering their services as hired killers for as little as $6,000, police said on Friday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Two of the main rebel groups in Darfur pledged on Friday to protect civilians and aid workers in the western Sudanese region where a dire humanitarian situation has worsened amid escalating insecurity, a joint statement said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan's Foreign Minister sought to reassure Washington on Friday his country was doing all it could to fight militants on the border with Afghanistan and that Islamabad would not tolerate U.S. interference there.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government turned in a $50.7 billion budget surplus for June, beating expectations, but the deficit for the year-to-date was the third highest on record, the Treasury said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress must move quickly to put a stronger regulator in place for government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a senior aide to Republican Sen. Richard Shelby said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The top U.S. environmental regulator on Friday declined to make rules to regulate planet-warming emissions under existing pollution laws despite a Supreme Court decision that has pressured his agency to act.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's biggest guerrilla force said on Friday it was betrayed by its own men in last week's military rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages that added to a string of recent setbacks.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Defence Ministry on Friday denied any Israeli air force drills had taken place in its airspace after a report that the Israelis were preparing there for a possible strike on Iran.

DAYTON, Ohio (Reuters) - Barack Obama raised well over $30 million in June, a top aide indicated on Friday, outpacing Republican rival John McCain again as the Democratic White House hopeful's fundraising picked up after a lull in May.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush urged Congress on Friday to act before its August break to open new areas for oil exploration in the United States to help ease record high oil prices.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund managers are famous for betting against conventional wisdom, and this year many are doing just that by backing Democrat Barack Obama's White House bid and defying Wall Street's usual embrace of Republicans.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it was still processing a request by Reuters for video footage from U.S. helicopters and other materials relating to the killing of two Iraqi staff in Baghdad a year ago.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama supports a civilian nuclear trade deal between India and the United States and would not push for changes to it, an Indian news magazine quoted him as saying.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday that his chief aim at present is to back government-sponsored mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their "current form", giving no sign a government bailout of them was imminent.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition on Friday accused government security forces of murdering a polling agent in fresh political violence that could undermine preliminary talks with President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government denied on Friday that Washington had put any pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to block a proposed speech by U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama in Berlin in late July.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon ended weeks of wrangling on Friday and formed a unity government in which Hezbollah and its allies hold effective veto power, as agreed under a deal that ended a paralyzing political conflict in the country.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The "best thing" for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac right now would be for Congress to pass new oversight legislation, the White House said on Friday, amid growing concerns about the mortgage giants' funding problems.

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. coalition force air strike on Sunday killed 47 civilians, including 39 women and children, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, an Afghan official said on Friday.