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MIAMI (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama said on Friday he would he would pick the time and place for direct diplomatic talks with Cuba as U.S. president and criticized Republican John McCain for embracing failed policies.

BOROBUDUR, Indonesia (Reuters) - The Buddhist temple of Borobudur, set among volcanoes on Indonesia's Java island, stands as a testament to the Buddhist roots of the world's most populous Muslim country.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's security chief accused rightwingers linked to the former apartheid government on Friday of fanning anti-foreigner violence that has spread to Cape Town, the second largest city and tourist centre.

UNION CITY, California (Reuters) - Republican John McCain took aim at presidential rival Barack Obama's lack of military service on Thursday, drawing a rebuke from the Democratic front-runner for his "endless diatribes and schoolyard taunts."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lead U.S. and North Korean nuclear negotiators are expected to meet in Beijing next week, a diplomatic source said on Thursday, in a sign Pyongyang may be closer to making a declaration of its atomic programs.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives would make a big foreign policy blunder if they continued blocking a vote on a free trade agreement with Colombia and deny action on another pact with South Korea, a House Democrat said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress enacted the $289 billion U.S. farm law on Thursday over a presidential veto, a move that will expand the major nutrition program for poor Americans at a time of rapidly rising grocery prices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Karl Rove, who had been one of President George W. Bush's top aides, was subpoenaed on Thursday for a second time to testify in a congressional probe of the administration's firing of federal prosecutors.

UNION CITY, California (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday rejected the endorsement of a Texas preacher after the pastor was discovered to have made derogatory comments about Jews.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not propose a U.S. naval blockade of Iran during talks with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat's office said on Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday welcomed a Lebanese peace deal brokered by Qatar, an agreement that may have averted a new civil war in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill to strengthen U.S. tools to enforce trade agreements is unnecessary and could invite retaliation against U.S. farm exports to China, a top U.S. trade official said on Thursday.

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Four people were killed and close to 5,000 forced out of their homes amid heavy rain and flooding in central and southern Chile, and the evacuation figure could rise further, the government said on Thursday.

PALO ALTO (Reuters) - The United States will aggressively impose more sanctions on Iran as long as it refuses to give up sensitive nuclear work and uses the world's financial system for "terrorism," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday.

PALO ALTO (Reuters) - The United States will aggressively impose more sanctions on Iran as long as it refuses to give up sensitive nuclear work and uses the world's financial system for "terrorism," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday.

UNION CITY, California (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain opened a new line of attack against Democratic front-runner Barack Obama on Thursday, taking aim at Obama's lack of military service.

GAZA (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb at one Israeli checkpoint and violence at a rally by Hamas at another on Thursday highlighted frustrations in the Palestinian enclave at slow progress in efforts to secure a ceasefire with Israel.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate joined the House on Thursday to override President George W. Bush's veto of the $289 billion farm bill, enacting it as law except for the trade section, which was deleted through a clerical error.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A proposed bill to strengthen U.S. tools to enforce trade agreements is unnecessary and could invite retaliation against U.S. farm exports to China, a top U.S. trade official said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Thursday approved an additional $165 billion to wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan for another year after lawmakers blocked proposed timetables for withdrawing American troops from Iraq.