WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to a series of direct talks on Thursday, seeking to forge the framework for a U.S.-backed peace deal within a year and end a conflict that has boiled for six decades. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hosted the first session of ...

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's government sought to avert a run on the country's top private bank by nervous investors after directors at Kabulbank resigned, ostensibly to meet new rules but also amid media allegations of graft. Long queues were seen outside several Kabulbank branches in the ...

LISBON (Reuters) - A Portuguese court will render its verdict Friday in one of the country's highest profile legal cases, a shocking story of alleged child abuse at a state orphanage that has gripped the nation for over half a decade. Seven defendants, including a well-known television presenter, ...

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will give Pakistan $450 million in emergency flood aid, providing some relief for a government overwhelmed by the disaster and facing renewed militant violence. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in Washington on Thursday ...

Fernando Azcarraga Lopez, a former mayor of the port city of Tampico in northeastern Tamaulipas state, was seized as he left a coffee shop in Tampico, El Norte and El Sol de Tampico newspapers reported. He was later released and returned to his residence, which was under heavy guard by Mexican ...

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned on Thursday an air strike by NATO-led forces which he said killed 10 election campaign workers, although U.S. officials maintained it was aimed at an Islamist leader. Civilian casualties caused by foreign forces hunting militants have ...

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's electoral commission said Thursday it had produced a final voter list for the first time, raising the chance that an election which has been delayed six times in five years might go ahead. The poll, now scheduled for October 31, is needed to end years of turmoil ...

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard came within grasp of a return to power on Thursday after one of four "kingmaker" MPs backed her Labor Party's bid to form a minority government following last month's dead-heat elections. Labor has promised to introduce a new ...

The website Saham News said members of the Basij, a militia loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had been surrounding the house for days, "savagely assailed" Karoubi's home Wednesday night and broke down his door Thursday. "These individuals, who seemed to enjoy ...

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defended his socialist government's security record on Thursday, rejecting pre-election claims by the opposition that crime had risen sharply during his 11 years in power. Rampant murders, kidnappings and robberies are the top concern of voters ...