DHAKA (Reuters) - Six people were killed and 65 wounded by suspected suicide bombings in two Bangladesh cities on Tuesday, apparently the latest in a wave of attacks by militants fighting to turn the country into a sharia-based Islamic state.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador John Bolton urged the United Nations and governments on Monday to crack down on corruption and mismanagement turned up by a probe of the U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Any European Union state that secretly hosted a CIA prison faces loss of its voting rights, and Washington should punish any violations that occurred, an EU commissioner said on Monday.

AP - The Indianapolis Colts' unbeaten ride is picking up so much steam that even their opponents see the possibility of perfection.

AFP - The European Union hailed a first-ever summit with its Mediterranean-rim neighbours this week as a "great success," but the mostly Muslim partners' assessment was at best mute, at worst angry.

AFP - The death toll from one of China's biggest mining disasters in recent years has risen to 138, as angry relatives of the dead blamed the state-run mine's management for ignoring safety standards.

RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended primary elections of his ruling Fatah movement on Tuesday over widespread fraud in Gaza and the West Bank, a party official said.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Eight people were killed and 65 wounded by suspected suicide bombings in two Bangladesh cities on Tuesday, apparently the latest in a wave of attacks by militants fighting to turn the country into a sharia-based Islamic state.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - An American expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia said on Tuesday she would be allowed back to live in Indonesia after being expelled last week in a case reminiscent of the country's authoritarian past.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will seek to deflect growing European pressure over allegations that the CIA has been running secret prisons in the region on a trip to the continent next week.

AP - Despite his low standing in the polls, President Bush is working to help Republican House and Senate candidates build their campaign war chests while promoting his own troubled agenda.

AP - When Mark Meyer looked out the window to check his farm for damage, he saw nothing but swirling snow.

AP - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff says President Bush was "too aloof, too distant from the details" of post-war planning, allowing underlings to exploit Bush's detachment and make bad decisions.

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the unlimited detention of suspected terrorists saying, in an interview that it benefitted the United States and the entire world.

AFP - The death toll from one of China's biggest mining disasters in recent years has risen to 140, as angry relatives of the victims blamed the state-run mine's management for ignoring safety standards.

AFP - Syrian officials demanded that a UN report implicating them over the February murder of five-time Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri be revised after state television broadcast the apparent recanting of a witness.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Nine people were killed and 65 wounded by suspected suicide bombings in two Bangladesh cities on Tuesday, apparently the latest in a wave of attacks by militants fighting to turn the country into a sharia-based Islamic state.

MANILA (Reuters) - Five of six U.S. Marines accused of rape by a Filipino woman gave their side on Tuesday in sworn statements submitted by their lawyers to prosecutors in the Philippine city of Olongapo.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday suspended primary elections of his ruling Fatah party over widespread voting fraud in a new blow to preparations for a January parliamentary ballot.

AP - Canadian politicians will hit the campaign trail this holiday season after opposition parties seized upon a corruption scandal to bring down the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin in a vote of no confidence.

AP - The German Foreign Ministry reported Tuesday that one of its citizens in Iraq has been missing for five days, and a television station broadcast photos allegedly showing the blindfolded woman with her captors.

AFP - The Vatican published an instruction approved by Pope Benedict XVI banning bishops across the world from ordaining homosexuals into the priesthood.

AP - The snowstorm that brought blizzard-like conditions and knocked out power to thousands across the Plains is heading toward the Great Lakes region. The storm dumped snow from North Dakota to the Texas Panhandle, closing hundreds of miles of highways and piling up drifts 6 feet high.

AP - Despite his low standing in the polls, President Bush is working to help Republican House and Senate candidates build their campaign war chests while promoting his own troubled agenda.

AP - As many as 150,000 employees and retirees of the former Kmart Corp. would share $11.75 million in a proposed settlement of a lawsuit against ex-company officials over the investment of pension funds in Kmart's now worthless stock.

AP - Along with concert tickets, sports memorabilia and designer handbags, add a Missouri jail to the list of things you can buy on eBay.

AFP - A German woman and six Iranian Shiite pilgrims, including two women, have been kidnapped in Iraq in the latest strike against foreigners in the war-torn country.

AFP - Pneumonia is spreading amongst cold and hungry children who survived Pakistan's giant earthquake, killing two and affecting hundreds more as the Himalayan winter sweeps in.

AP - Canadian politicians will hit the campaign trail this holiday season after opposition parties seized upon a corruption scandal to bring down the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin in a vote of no confidence.

AP - The Vatican published its long-awaited document on gays in the clergy Tuesday, saying men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies should not be ordained but those with a "transitory problem" could be if they had overcome them for three years.

AP - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rebounded sharply in October as demand for military aircraft shot up by the largest amount in more than five years.

AP - Simon Cowell will be insulting prospective singers on "American Idol" for several years to come.

AP - Sen. Arlen Specter accused the National Football League and the Philadelphia Eagles of treating Terrell Owens unfairly and said he might refer the matter to the antitrust subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs.

Reuters - Two men appeared in a British court on Tuesday accused of leaking a secret document which a newspaper said showed that U.S. President George W. Bush wanted to bomb Arabic television station Al Jazeera.

Reuters - If a federal election is called on Tuesday, Canada's minority Liberal government will hit the campaign trail with a six-percentage-point lead, according to a new poll.

Reuters - Five of six U.S. Marines accused of rape by a Filipino woman gave their side on Tuesday in sworn statements submitted by their lawyers to prosecutors in the Philippine city of Olongapo.

AP - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods and sales of new homes rose sharply in October while consumer confidence soared in November, all indications the economy is recovering from the blow delivered by the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

AP - Broad areas of the Dakotas remained shut down Tuesday by the Plains' first blizzard of the season, with highways closed by blowing, drifting snow and thousands of people without electricity as temperatures hit the low teens.

AP - Ohio carried out the nation's 999th execution since 1977 on Tuesday, putting to death a man who strangled his mother-in-law while high on cocaine and later killed his 5-year-old stepdaughter to cover up the crime.

AP - Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark said Tuesday he met with deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and found him in "extremely good spirits" even though the former president is isolated from friends and family.

The Christian Science Monitor - Exactly 229 death-row inmates have been granted clemency since the United States reinstated capital punishment in 1976, and the list of reasons is short. The 16 governors who have given such pardons cited just three reasons: lingering doubt about guilt, a governor's own philosophical opposition to the death penalty, and mental disability of the accused.

AP - Canadian politicians will hit the campaign trail this holiday season after opposition parties seized upon a corruption scandal to bring down the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin in a vote of no confidence.

AP - Simon Cowell will be insulting prospective singers on "American Idol" for several years to come.

AP - The Rolling Stones will take a brief break from touring to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Reuters - Iraq's national security adviser said on Tuesday up to 30,000 U.S. troops could leave Iraq early next year as the performance of local security forces improves.

Reuters - Prime Minister Paul Martin launched an election campaign on Tuesday with a slim lead in the polls after his minority government was toppled in Parliament on Monday night over a corruption scandal.

Reuters - Two men appeared in a British court on Tuesday accused of leaking a secret document which a newspaper said showed that U.S. President George W. Bush wanted to bomb Arabic television station Al Jazeera.

Reuters - In the first major ruling of Pope Benedict's reign, the Catholic Church on Tuesday imposed restrictions on homosexuals becoming priests, saying only men who had overcome "transitory" gay tendencies could be ordained.

AFP - The death toll from one of China's biggest mining disasters in recent years has neared 150, as angry relatives of the victims blamed the state-run mine's management for ignoring safety standards.

AFP - Canadians will head to the polls on January 23 after the longest election campaign in decades, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced, after his scandal-tainted minority government was ousted by the opposition in a no-confidence vote the previous night.

AP - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods and sales of new homes rose sharply in October while consumer confidence soared in November, all indications the economy is recovering from the blow delivered by the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

AP - Crews on Tuesday gradually reopened major highways that had been closed by the Plains' first blizzard of the season, stranding post-Thanksgiving travelers. Thousands of people remained without electricity.

AP - Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video Tuesday showing four peace activists taken hostage in Iraq, with a previously unknown group claiming responsibility for the kidnappings.

AP - Ohio carried out the nation's 999th execution since 1977 on Tuesday, putting to death a man who strangled his mother-in-law while high on cocaine and later killed his 5-year-old stepdaughter to cover up the crime.

AP - President Bush said Tuesday that "it would be a terrible mistake" to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq and that politics should not play any part in a decision about withdrawal.

Reuters - An unknown Iraqi group issued a video showing four Western hostages, calling them "spies of occupying forces," Al Jazeera television reported on Tuesday.

Reuters - The White House said on Tuesday that Iraqi forces should be sufficiently trained to permit a reduction in U.S. troops in Iraq next year as President George W. Bush worked to convince an increasingly wary American public that his strategy can succeed.

Reuters - A man who killed his mother-in-law and 5-year-old stepdaughter after a cocaine binge 20 years ago was executed by the state of Ohio on Tuesday, the 999th person put to death since United States reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

AFP - The African Union launched a seventh round of peace talks on the crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, as delegates expressed optimism that the latest meeting would finally bring an end to 33 months of bloodshed.

AFP - Canadians will head to the polls on January 23 after the longest election campaign in decades, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced, after his scandal-tainted minority government was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

AFP - Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Britain would not give up its EU rebate without a cut in farm subsidies for France, as eastern European leaders warned that the row over the EU budget threatened to undermine confidence in the bloc.

AP - The outlook for the holiday shopping season brightened Tuesday with news that consumer confidence soared in November in response to a drop in gasoline prices and a pickup in the job market.

AP - Crews on Tuesday gradually reopened major highways that had been closed by the Plains' first blizzard of the season, stranding post-Thanksgiving travelers. Thousands of people remained without electricity.

AP - The busiest and costliest Atlantic hurricane season on record officially — and mercifully — draws to a close Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands of Americans still dealing with the devastation wrought by Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

AP - President Bush said Tuesday that "it would be a terrible mistake" to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq and that politics should not play any part in a decision about withdrawal.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday verbally slapped a congressman from his Republican party for taking bribes, calling it "outrageous."

Reuters - The United States ruled out making extra pledges to fight global warming beyond 2012 on Tuesday, angering environmentalists who accused Washington of blocking a 189-nation conference in Canada.

AFP - The German government said that a German woman missing in Iraq has been kidnapped, as four Western aid workers abducted at the weekend were paraded on a video shown on Arab television.

AFP - Ten people were killed and 21 badly injured in what police said were Bangladesh's first suicide bombings and the latest in a string of attacks by Islamic extremists.

AP - Al-Jazeera broadcast video Tuesday of four Western peace activists held hostage by a previously unknown group, part of a new wave of kidnappings police fear is aimed at disrupting next month's elections.

AP - Virginia's governor on Tuesday spared the life of a convicted killer who would have been the 1,000th person executed in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976.

AP - Americans have been migrating south and west for decades, but it appears they've been leaving some high-paying jobs behind. While there are many pockets of wealth in the South and West, the states with the highest wage earners line the East Coast, according to Census data released Tuesday.

AP - Interest rate concerns stifled Wall Street's attempt to extend its rally Tuesday, even as the market drew support from upbeat reports on factory orders, housing demand and consumer confidence.

AP - Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts would define perfection as winning a Super Bowl title. Anything more would be a bonus.

Reuters - Four Western hostages labeled "spies of the occupation" were shown in a video aired on Tuesday as a spate of abductions took Iraq back to the dire security conditions foreigners faced from hostage-takers last year.

Reuters - Virginia Gov. Mark Warner halted the execution of a convicted murderer who would have been the 1,000th person put to death in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Reuters - The White House said on Tuesday Iraqi forces should be sufficiently trained to allow reduced U.S. troop levels in Iraq next year, but President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it would be a huge mistake to pull them out now.

Reuters - President George W. Bush promised the use of unmanned flying drones on Tuesday to help patrol the porous U.S.-Mexican border as Democrats charged he had not done enough to provide border security.

Reuters - Under German pressure, the United States acknowledged for the first time on Tuesday that allegations of secret CIA prisons in Europe have raised widespread concern in the region.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Veteran statesman Shimon Peres will announce on Wednesday he is leaving the Labor Party to back Ariel Sharon in Israel's March election, without formally joining the prime minister's new party, Channel 10 TV said.

AP - Al-Jazeera broadcast video Tuesday of four Western peace activists held hostage by a previously unknown group, part of a new wave of kidnappings police fear is aimed at disrupting next month's elections.

AP - President Bush said Tuesday a U.S. military pullout from Iraq would be a terrible mistake, beginning a new push defending his embattled war policy. His Pentagon chief said, "Quitting is not an exit strategy."

AP - George Michael said Tuesday that he and his longtime partner will make their relationship official under new British legislation offering gays many of the legal protections available to married couples.

Reuters - The U.S. Army, fresh off missing its latest annual recruiting goal, has launched an unprecedented effort to coax former troops to sign up again for active-duty military service, officials said on Tuesday.

AFP - US President George W. Bush was to unveil a "strategy for victory in Iraq" on Wednesday, hoping to convince a skeptical US public two and a half years after the war began that he has a plan to end it.

AFP - Gabon's President Omar Bongo, who has been in power since 1967, was re-elected for seven more years after winning 79.2 percent of the votes cast in weekend election, officials said.

AP - Efforts to train thousands of federal agents to protect commercial flights during heightened terror alerts were quietly abandoned more than a year ago because Congress objected to the cost, government investigators said Tuesday.

AP - First, a liquor store was vandalized by a gang of men in suits and bow ties for selling alcohol to blacks. Then, days later, the store clerk was kidnapped, and the business was burned down.

AP - Astronomers have discovered what they believe is the birth of the smallest known solar system. Peering through ground- and space-based telescopes, scientists observed a brown dwarf — or failed star — less than one hundredth the mass of the sun surrounded by what appears to be a disk of dust and gas.

Reuters - The Vatican's tougher stand on homosexuality has divided American Catholics, with some welcoming it as a renewal of a Church plagued by scandal and others warning it would further alienate Catholic leaders.

Reuters - Four Western hostages branded as spies were shown in a video aired on Tuesday as a spate of abductions took Iraq back to the dire security conditions foreigners faced from kidnappers last year.

AFP - The United Nations will face a crippling financial crisis if Washington manages to stall the organization's two-year budget until management reforms are agreed.

AP - Donald Trump is leaving New York to fire people on the West Coast. NBC announced Tuesday that "The Apprentice" has been picked up for a sixth season and will be shot in Southern California.

AP - It wasn't for the national title, and neither roster looked all that familiar. Still, Illinois got a measure of revenge.

Reuters - Backers of the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming may need 3-5 years from now to work out a successor to the pact that runs out in 2012, the U.N.'s climate change chief said on Tuesday.