JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's labor union chief declared that a general strike involving public sector workers would go ahead starting at 0700 GMT on Wednesday following the breakdown of talks with the treasury over unpaid salaries.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday its anti-drug agency helped Mexico uncover $206 million in narcotics money stacked inside a mansion last week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of vintners from some of the world's most famous wine-growing areas want U.S. officials to help stop rivals from diluting their brand.

Reuters - Israel's labor union chief declared that a general strike involving public sector workers would go ahead starting at 0700 GMT on Wednesday following the breakdown of talks with the treasury over unpaid salaries.

Reuters - Indian elders and a former astronaut took the ceremonial first steps on Tuesday on a glass-bottomed walkway perched 4,000 feet

Reuters - The United States said on Tuesday its anti-drug agency helped Mexico uncover $206 million in narcotics money stacked inside a mansion last week.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's powerful Histadrut labor union launched a general strike on Wednesday, stopping international flights and shutting public services after talks with the government broke down.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear threat languished on Wednesday, as Pyongyang waited to receive freed funds and delegates warned time was running out to press forward a disarmament plan.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Heavy fighting broke out in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday when the interim government's Ethiopian military allies were attacked, residents said.

AP - Flexing their political muscle against the White House, Democrats in the House and Senate are insisting that President Bush's top aides describe their roles in the firings of eight federal prosecutors on the record and under oath.

AP - Delegates at talks on disarming North Korea's nuclear program voiced impatience Wednesday that the negotiations remained stalled for a second day over a dispute on when $25 million of Pyongyang's funds will be released from a Macau bank.

AP - Heavy rains triggered landslides that buried three homes in Pakistan's portion of Kashmir, leaving 31 people dead, officials said Wednesday.

AP - Britney Spears has left rehab.

AP - As the Federal Reserve tries to guide the economy in for a soft landing, it is being battered by turbulent financial markets, a slumping housing industry and stubborn inflation pressures.

Reuters - Israel's powerful Histadrut labor union launched a general strike on Wednesday, stopping international flights and shutting public services after talks with the government broke down.

Reuters - Talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear threat languished on Wednesday, as Pyongyang waited to receive freed funds and delegates warned time was running out to press forward a disarmament plan.

Reuters - Heavy fighting broke out in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday when the interim government's Ethiopian military allies were attacked, residents said.

AFP - US President George W. Bush vowed to resist any attempt by Congress to force top aides to testify under oath about a row over fired prosecutors, warning against a "partisan fishing expedition."

AFP - Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer may have been murdered at the World Cup, a team official said, as police in Jamaica confirmed they were treating the death as suspicious.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear threat languished on Wednesday as Pyongyang waited to receive freed funds, prompting delegates to warn that the chance to press forward a disarmament plan was being lost.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Switzerland recently sent a senior official to Iran to discuss a proposal aimed at resolving Tehran's nuclear dispute with the West, despite requests by key Western powers to drop the idea, diplomats said.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer's death at the World Cup on Sunday is now being treated as 'suspicious' by Jamaican police, the deputy commissioner Mark Shields told a news conference on Tuesday.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, the world's richest man, said on Tuesday the United States should reform its immigration laws and give more flexibility to higher-skilled foreign workers.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least four people were killed in heavy fighting that erupted in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday after insurgents shot at the interim government's Ethiopian military allies, witnesses said.

AP - After nearly a month of seclusion in a luxurious rehabilitation center, Britney Spears has moved on.

AP - With all five starters returning, Maryland was all set to make a run at a second straight NCAA championship.

Reuters - Talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear threat languished on Wednesday as Pyongyang waited to receive freed funds, prompting delegates to warn that the chance to press forward a disarmament plan was being lost.

Reuters - Russia will not support "excessive sanctions" against Iran in the United Nations Security Council, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer's death at the World Cup on Sunday is now being treated as "suspicious" by Jamaican police, the deputy commissioner Mark Shields told a news conference on Tuesday.

Reuters - At least four people were killed in heavy fighting that erupted in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday after insurgents shot at the interim government's Ethiopian military allies, witnesses said.

AFP - Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday in the Somali capital killing at least eight people in a dramatic escalation that saw stray rounds flying over southern Mogadishu, residents said.

AFP - Israel's main workers union paralysed the country on Wednesday, shutting down airports, government offices and other essential services in an open-ended general strike over unpaid wages.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of using Cold War methods to persuade Europe to host an anti-missile shield that Moscow says is a threat to its national security.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali insurgents dragged soldiers' bodies through the streets of Mogadishu before burning them on Wednesday when at least eight people were killed and scores injured in heavy fighting, witnesses said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers killed five suspected militants on Wednesday in a raid on a bomb-making factory north of Baghdad that was later destroyed in an air strike, the U.S. military said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - With Iranian help, Hamas forces are expanding fast and getting more sophisticated weapons and training than those under Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's control, according to the U.S. security coordinator.

AP - Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday that it will not support 'excessive' sanctions against its economic partner Iran, as the U.N. Security Council drew closer to a vote on a new, harsher set of measures intended to push Tehran to freeze its nuclear program.

AP - A half hour before the clock strikes 12, India's top technology institute pulls the plug on Internet access in students' dorm rooms.

Reuters - Switzerland recently sent a senior official to Iran to discuss a proposal aimed at resolving Tehran's nuclear dispute with the West, despite requests by key Western powers to drop the idea, diplomats said.

Reuters - Somali insurgents dragged soldiers' bodies through the streets of Mogadishu before burning them on Wednesday when at least eight people were killed and scores injured in heavy fighting, witnesses said.

Reuters - U.S. soldiers killed five suspected militants on Wednesday in a raid on a bomb-making factory north of Baghdad that was later destroyed in an air strike, the U.S. military said.

Reuters - With Iranian help, Hamas forces are expanding fast and getting more sophisticated weapons and training than those under Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's control, according to the U.S. security coordinator.

AFP - Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday in the Somali capital leading to the death of at least 14 people in an escalation of violence which also saw angry residents attacking the bodies of dead soldiers.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program reached stalemate on Wednesday over funds frozen in a tiny Macau bank, prompting frustrated delegates to warn that a chance to press forward was being lost.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States expressed concern on Wednesday about Russia's arms sales to Iran, Syria and Venezuela and accused Moscow of bullying its neighbors.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali insurgents dragged soldiers' bodies through the streets of Mogadishu before burning them on Wednesday in heavy fighting that killed at least 13 people and injured scores more, witnesses said.

AP - U.S. troops killed five insurgents and destroyed a bomb-making factory Wednesday north of Baghdad, and dozens more were detained after fierce clashes in a Sunni-dominated province west of the capital.

AP - The typical Chinese restaurant menu is a sea of nutritional no-nos, a consumer group has found. A plate of General Tso's chicken, for example, is loaded with about 40 percent more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day.

AP - After nearly a month of seclusion in a luxurious rehabilitation center, Britney Spears has moved on. The pop star checked out of Promises Malibu Alcohol and Drug Rehab Treatment Facility 'after successfully completing their program,' Spears' manager, Larry Rudolph, said in a statement released by Jive Records late Tuesday.

Reuters - Talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program reached stalemate on Wednesday over funds frozen in a tiny Macau bank, prompting frustrated delegates to warn that a chance to press forward was being lost.

Reuters - The United States expressed concern on Wednesday about Russia's arms sales to Iran, Syria and Venezuela and accused Moscow of bullying its neighbors.

Reuters - Somali insurgents dragged soldiers' bodies through the streets of Mogadishu before burning them on Wednesday in heavy fighting that killed at least 13 people and injured scores more, witnesses said.

Reuters - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of using Cold War methods to persuade Europe to host an anti-missile shield that Moscow says is a threat to its national security.

AFP - Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday in the Somali capital, killing as many as 14 people in an escalation of violence which saw the bodies of dead soldiers burned and dragged through the streets.

AFP - French President Jacques Chirac gave his official backing on Wednesday to the right-wing presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, frontrunner to succeed him in the April-May vote.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic-led congressional panel defied President George W. Bush on Wednesday and authorized legal orders for several White House aides to testify under oath about the firing of eight U.S. prosecutors.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday she would reduce a funding request to Congress for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces due to concerns over how some funds would be spent.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's powerful Histadrut labor union called off a one-day nationwide strike that had stopped international flights and public services on Wednesday after a deal was reached with the state on unpaid employees.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of using Cold War methods to persuade Europe to host an anti-missile shield that Moscow says is a threat to its national security.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - The penultimate World Cup Group D match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe began with an eerie hush, following a one-minute silence in memory of the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer.

AP - A House panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitutional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

AP - Iran's supreme leader said Wednesday that Tehran will pursue nuclear activities outside international regulations if the U.N. Security Council insists it stop uranium enrichment.

AP - Al Gore, a Democratic favorite for the presidency despite pronouncements that he's not running, spoke out on his signature issue Wednesday, warning of a 'true planetary emergency' if Congress fails to act on global warming.

AP - Pfizer's stab at giving diabetics insulin without needles is getting more praise than prescriptions so far. Exubera, a powdered form inhaled through a special device, was introduced last year in a targeted launch to specialists, a debut analysts deemed disappointing. While doctors applaud Pfizer Inc.'s effort to find a new way to deliver insulin, some are concerned about the drug's long-term effects on the lungs, cost and insurance coverage.

AP - Boxing great, ordained minister and grilling guru George Foreman has added another job to his resume: reality TV judge.

Reuters - A Democratic-led congressional panel defied President George W. Bush on Wednesday and authorized legal orders for several White House aides to testify under oath about the firing of eight U.S. prosecutors.

Reuters - Israel's powerful Histadrut labor union called off a one-day nationwide strike that had stopped international flights and public services on Wednesday after a deal was reached with the state on unpaid employees.

Reuters - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of using Cold War methods to persuade Europe to host an anti-missile shield that Moscow says is a threat to its national security.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Richard Nixon invoked it during Watergate, President Bill Clinton briefly asserted it during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, and President George W. Bush might next claim executive privilege in his battle with Congress.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday Iran would hit back with everything it has if attacked over its disputed nuclear program, according to provincial television monitored by the BBC.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces have released a senior aide to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on the orders of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister's office said on Wednesday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A lawyer accused of helping former media kingpin Conrad Black skim millions of dollars from one of the world's largest media companies made honest mistakes but is not guilty of fraud, his attorney told a jury on Wednesday.

SANTA BARBARA, California (Reuters) - Thirty-three states have informally agreed to create a registry for companies and organizations to log early actions on cutting output of gases linked to global warming -- and possibly get credit for them if future limits on the gases are passed -- state officials said.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has dusted off Ernest Hemingway's books, records and stag heads, cleaned out his pool and weeded his dogs' graves, hoping to attract more visitors to his cherished hilltop home overlooking Havana.

AP - A House panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitutional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

AP - The former astronaut fired by NASA after she was charged with trying to kidnap a romantic rival will develop flight lesson plans as part of her new military assignment.

AP - Kelly Ripa says Regis Philbin, her co-host on 'Live With Regis and Kelly,' is back home after having heart bypass surgery last week.

AP - Jason Pellegrino (an 8.2 on the attractiveness scale) says the problem with Internet dating services is not enough really hot-looking people. So he and a business partner have created HotEnough.org, a sort of online version of Studio 54, the exclusive '70s disco where gaining admission was a pitiless Darwinian exercise. HotEnough.org is for 'fit, good-looking' people.

Reuters - Congressional Democrats defied President George W. Bush on Wednesday and authorized legal orders to compel White House aides including Karl Rove to testify under oath about the firing of eight U.S. prosecutors.

Reuters - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday Iran would hit back with everything it has if attacked over its disputed nuclear program, according to provincial television monitored by the BBC.

Reuters - U.S. forces have released a senior aide to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on the orders of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister's office said on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday she would reduce a funding request to Congress for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces due to concerns over how some funds would be spent.

Reuters - A lawyer accused of helping former media kingpin Conrad Black skim millions of dollars from one of the world's largest media companies made honest mistakes but is not guilty of fraud, his attorney told a jury on Wednesday.

AFP - Israel's powerful labour union on Wednesday staged an eight-hour strike that paralysed much of the country's essential services until a deal was hammered out to end a wages crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders on Wednesday predicted the U.S. House of Representatives will pass a war-funding bill that sets a strict timetable for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq, after struggling to round up sufficient votes.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday Iran would hit back if attacked over its nuclear program, which the United States believes is aimed at making atom bombs.

ROME (Reuters) - The United States and Britain criticized Italy's hostage deal with the Taliban on Wednesday, saying the release of five guerrillas in exchange for an Italian reporter put NATO troops in danger and encouraged kidnappings.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Gore -- star of an Oscar-winning movie, former U.S. vice president and the object of 2008 presidential speculation -- on Wednesday took his crusade against global warming to Capitol Hill.

AP - Al Gore, who has reversed his political fortunes to become a potential contender in the 2008 presidential race, made an emotional return to Congress Wednesday in an appeal for an even more dramatic rescue — saving the planet.

AP - With concern growing about global warming, researchers said Wednesday they have developed a new system to track carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

AP - Stocks surged ahead Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the economy seemed likely to keep growing at its current pace, and after the central bank also softened its tone about possible rate hikes. The Fed's statement allowed Wall Street to cast off some of the concerns that triggered last month's sharp selloff.

AP - Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest faces four misdemeanor charges stemming from a dispute with his wife at home earlier this month. The charges were filed late Tuesday. Placer County Deputy District Attorney Dan Quick said Artest will be arraigned Thursday on charges of battery and corporal injury to a spouse, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. Each carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

Reuters - President Richard Nixon invoked it during Watergate, President Bill Clinton briefly asserted it during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, and President George W. Bush might next claim executive privilege in his battle with Congress.

Reuters - Democratic leaders on Wednesday predicted the U.S. House of Representatives will pass a war-funding bill that sets a strict timetable for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq, after struggling to round up sufficient votes.

Reuters - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday Iran would hit back if attacked over its nuclear program, which the United States believes is aimed at making atom bombs.

Reuters - The United States and Britain criticized Italy's hostage deal with the Taliban on Wednesday, saying the release of five guerrillas in exchange for an Italian reporter put NATO troops in danger and encouraged kidnappings.

AFP - EU and UN officials met with a Palestinian minister on Wednesday, in further signs of a gradual shift in policy toward the new unity government, as Israel continued to refuse to deal with it.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A U.S. federal grand jury has indicted a former U.S. Navy sailor on charges of spying and providing material support to terrorists in a case going back six years, authorities said on Wednesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Talks on North Korea's nuclear program went into an unexpected fourth day on Thursday, with envoys hoping to overcome a deadlock over frozen funds and steer negotiations back toward nuclear disarmament.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Gore -- star of an Oscar-winning movie, former U.S. vice president and the object of 2008 presidential speculation -- on Wednesday took his crusade against global warming to Capitol Hill.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It's wartime, and an enemy doctor is conducting painful and inevitably fatal experiments on children.

AP - President Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress careened closer to a full-blown legal showdown over the firing of federal prosecutors Wednesday as a House subcommittee voted subpoenas for top administration officials in defiance of the White House.

AP - Iran's top leader warned Wednesday his country will pursue 'illegal actions' if the U.N. Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations.

AP - Senate Democrats on Wednesday revived legislation urging President Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq in a year, attaching it to a $122 billion measure needed to fund the war.

AP - Some 1,600 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers pushed into a dangerous Sunni Arab area of west Baghdad on Wednesday, searching houses in the expanding security crackdown, while at least 33 apparent victims of sectarian killings were found dumped across the capital.

AP - The Veterans Affairs' vast network of 1,400 health clinics and hospitals is beset by maintenance problems such as mold, leaking roofs and even a colony of bats, an internal review says.

AP - A recall of potentially deadly pet food has dog and cat owners studying their animals for even the slightest hint of illness and swamping veterinarians nationwide with calls about symptoms both real and imagined.

AP - Firefighters face a far greater risk of dying of heart problems while battling a blaze than was thought, suggests a large U.S. study that offers more evidence of their need to stay in shape. The risk of a heart-related death while putting out a fire was up to 100 times higher than the risk during down time, Harvard researchers found, even though fighting fires accounts for only a small percentage of these workers' time.

AP - On-again friends Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are taking 'The Simple Life' — which shows the tabloid-ready celebutantes thrown into everyday situations with real people — to camp. After last season's format allowed the then-feuding friends to have little to do with each other, this year's edition brings them together again.

AP - Motorola Inc. replaced its chief financial officer Wednesday in a shakeup of top management as it slashed its first-quarter sales forecast, blaming weaker-than-expected revenue from its cell-phone unit.

Reuters - Talks on North Korea's nuclear program went into an unexpected fourth day on Thursday, with envoys hoping to overcome a deadlock over frozen funds and steer negotiations back toward nuclear disarmament.

AFP - Major power mediators said Wednesday that they would judge a new Palestinian unity government bringing together moderates and radical Islamists by what it does, not who it includes or what they say.

AFP - Angry crowds burned the bodies of two dead soldiers in Mogadishu on Wednesday, where fighting claimed some 14 lives, while the Somali Islamist leader defended the capital's bloody insurgency.

AP - Calvert DeForest, the white-haired, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry 'Bud' Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows, has died after a long illness. The Brooklyn-born DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, Letterman's 'Late Show' announced Wednesday.

Reuters - Karl Rove, architect of President George W. Bush's two election victories and the Democrats' favorite target, is back in the cross hairs again -- this time over the firings of U.S. prosecutors.

Reuters - A U.S. federal grand jury has indicted a former U.S. Navy sailor on charges of spying and providing material support to terrorists in a case going back six years, authorities said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Al Gore -- star of an Oscar-winning movie, former U.S. vice president and the object of 2008 presidential speculation -- on Wednesday took his crusade against global warming to Capitol Hill.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Karl Rove, architect of President George W. Bush's two election victories and the Democrats' favorite target, is back in the cross hairs again -- this time over the firings of U.S. prosecutors.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. negotiators sought on Wednesday to bridge differences with South Africa on sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, with the United States stressing the importance of Russian pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Repairing damage to a space shuttle fuel tank from a freak hailstorm will push the next launch of Atlantis from April to mid-May at the earliest, NASA managers said on Wednesday.

AP - Sammy Sosa got some boos. Cheers, too. An old teammate, Carlos Zambrano, greeted him. So did general manager Jim Hendry, who traded the former star away from the Chicago Cubs.

Reuters - U.N. negotiators sought on Wednesday to bridge differences with South Africa on sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, with the United States stressing the importance of Russian pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

AP - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards accompanied his wife, Elizabeth, who has been treated for breast cancer, on a doctor's visit Wednesday. His campaign said they would hold a news conference in their hometown Thursday to discuss her health.

AP - Is 'American Idol' for real?

AP - Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James struggled. Fortunately for Nowitzki, the rest of the Dallas Mavericks outplayed James' teammates. Nowitzki scored 23 points and Jason Terry added 21 to help the Mavericks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time this month, 98-90 Wednesday night.