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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The 2008 presidential race, which has already drawn a record number of dollars and voters, is poised to shatter another record: the amount of money spent on television advertisements.

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's security forces have killed more than 60 followers of a Muslim spiritual leader who had threatened to launch a holy war in the African country in defence of the Islamic faith, the government said.

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. allies in NATO must provide better equipment and drop many restrictions on how their forces are used to help defeat Afghanistan's resilient Taliban insurgency, the alliance's supreme commander said on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is expecting visits soon from Jordan's King Abdullah and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, easing its regional diplomatic isolation, the foreign minister said on Wednesday.

KABUL (Reuters) - A helicopter belonging to U.S.-led coalition troops was shot down by small-arms fire in Afghanistan on Wednesday and America's top military officer said he was increasingly concerned about the rising violence.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani politicians should stop squabbling over the fate of President Pervez Musharraf and focus on pressing problems of rising Islamist militancy, soaring prices and energy shortages, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rita Boyadjian wishes she were in a better mood to celebrate the weddings of fellow gay friends after California began legally marrying same-sex couples last month.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Heavy rain has flooded most streets in the southwestern Chinese tourist city of Kunming and forced the closure of its airport after water submerged the runway and part of the terminal, state media said on Wednesday.

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby, who is serving a 20-year jail term in Indonesia for smuggling marijuana, spent several hours having her hair and nails done in a Bali beauty salon on Wednesday.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian construction worker rammed a bulldozer into buses and cars on one of west Jerusalem's busiest streets on Wednesday, killing three Israelis and wounding more than 40 before he was shot dead.

ANKARA (Reuters) - A senior Turkish general called for calm on Wednesday after two prominent retired generals were detained in a widening police investigation into a suspected coup plot against the government.

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United States will not allow Iran to block the Gulf, which carries crude from the world's largest oil exporting region, and would defend its ships in the waterway, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday.

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United States will not allow Iran to block the Gulf, which carries crude from the world's largest oil exporting region, and would defend its ships in the waterway, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese man angry at the demolition of his property blew up a government office on Wednesday, injuring 12 people, local media and an official said.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell on Wednesday, with Japan recording its worst losing streak in 43 years, as climbing oil and food prices exacerbated stagflation fears, increasing the risk investors will capitulate and knock the market even lower.

LAWRENCEBURG, Indiana (Reuters) - Seven women pile out of a massive white Chevrolet Suburban and unload the vacuums, mops and buckets of their trade. Gasoline may cost $4 a gallon, but the Chevy's driver and business owner Leesa Baldwin has no intention of downsizing to a smaller vehicle.

KABUL (Reuters) - A helicopter belonging to U.S.-led coalition troops was shot down by small-arms fire south of the Afghan capital on Wednesday, but there were no serious injuries to those on board, the U.S. military said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Nine people were killed on Wednesday when a helicopter crashed in Russia's far north, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said.

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - Five people were killed and more than 300 injured in a riot in Mongolia's capital among people alleging fraud in a weekend election, the country's justice minister said on Wednesday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Members of a militant South Korean labor group said they would walk off the job on Wednesday, briefly halting production at major carmakers, in protest against a U.S. beef import deal.