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A Lebanese soldier sits on an armoured personnel carrier in front of a giant poster of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in Beirut May 28, 2008. Lebanese leaders are close to a deal on the formation of a national unity government as stipulated in an agreement that ended the country's political crisis, political sources said on Saturday. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters)

Lebanese leaders close to government deal: sources

7 minutes ago

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese leaders are close to a deal on the formation of a national unity government as stipulated in an agreement that ended the country's political crisis, political sources said on Saturday.

  • Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt (C) and other hostages wait to board a helicopter during a rescue operation in Colombia July 2, 2008 in this frame grab taken on July 4, 2008. Betancourt, 3 Americans and 11 other hostages, were rescued on Wednesday by the Colombian military after many years in the jungle as captives of leftist guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). (Handout/Reuters)
    Colombia shows rescue video Fri Jul 4, 8:26 PM ET

    BOGOTA/PARIS (Reuters) - Colombia showed a video on Friday of the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages where their anger turned to ecstasy as theater-trained military agents duped and overpowered leftist rebels.

  • Soldiers patrol on a street in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, July 4, 2008. The ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) has won parliamentary elections by a landslide, preliminary results showed on Thursday, after charges of election cheating sparked violence killing five people. (Zeev Rozen/Reuters)
    Calm in Mongolia as emergency rule nears end 2 hours, 8 minutes ago

    ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - Troops began pulling back from the streets of the Mongolian capital on Saturday and political leaders called for calm ahead of the lifting of emergency rule that was declared after rioting over alleged election fraud.

  • An Afghan man looks out from his balcony in the city of Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, July 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
    Gunmen shoot dead Afghan member of parliament 43 minutes ago

    KABUL (Reuters) - Two gunmen shot dead an Afghan parliamentarian near his home in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

  • Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) waves to journalists as Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili stands in the background before an official meeting in Tehran July 1, 2008. Iran said on Saturday its nuclear stance had not changed and it was ready to hold talks with world major powers over its disputed nuclear program based on international regulations. (Raheb Homavandi/Reuters)
    Iran says its nuclear stance unchanged 2 hours, 47 minutes ago

    TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Saturday its nuclear stance had not changed and it was ready to hold talks with world major powers over its disputed nuclear program based on international regulations.

  • Explosion kills 4 in northern Yemen: official 12 minutes ago

    SANAA (Reuters) - At least four people were killed in an explosion near a postal office in the northern province of Saada in Yemen, a local official said on Saturday.

  • Leader of Georgia's breakaway region Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sukhumi, May 13, 2008. Georgia's breakaway region Abkhazia said on Saturday Tbilisi had planned to take the area over by military force earlier this year but failed in its mission, Russian agencies reported. (Konstantin Basov/Reuters)
    Abkhazia says Georgia planned to take region by force 46 minutes ago

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Georgia's breakaway region Abkhazia said on Saturday Tbilisi had planned to take the area over by military force earlier this year but failed in its mission, Russian agencies reported.

  • A farmer shouts slogans during a rally to demand the full-scale renegotiation of the U.S. beef import deal and the resignation of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul July 5, 2008. Polls show that most South Koreans oppose a U.S. beef import deal President Lee struck in April to open the market to U.S. beef but about two-thirds of respondents say it is also time to halt the rallies that have grown more violent in recent weeks. The signs read, 'Keep our dining table (from the U.S. beef)'. (Jo Yong-Hak/Reuters)
    Big protest planned for Seoul against beef and Lee Sat Jul 5, 12:43 AM ET

    SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police said they expect about 35,000 to gather on Saturday for a protest against a U.S. beef import deal and the polices of the new president, whose government has faced a crisis due to the weeks of street rallies.

  • India party backs government over nuclear deal 1 hour, 53 minutes ago

    NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A key regional party in India said on Saturday it backed the government over a controversial nuclear energy agreement with the United States, easing concerns the pact could trigger early elections.

  • France's President Nicolas Sarkozy attends a meeting with local businessmen in Limoges, June 26, 2008. Sarkozy on Saturday said it was 'not reasonable' to gather the Group of Eight (G8) leaders at an annual summit without the participation of strong emerging countries such as China and India. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters)
    France's Sarkozy says "not reasonable" to meet as G8 59 minutes ago

    PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday said it was "not reasonable" to gather the Group of Eight (G8) leaders at an annual summit without the participation of strong emerging countries such as China and India.

  • Earthquake hits north of Tokyo, no damage reported 2 hours, 38 minutes ago

    TOKYO (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 shook northern Japan on Saturday, a Japanese government agency said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

  • Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk listens to a question from the media during a news conference at the Prime Ministers Chancellery in Warsaw July 1, 2008. (Peter Andrews/Reuters)
    Poland rejects U.S. missile shield offer Fri Jul 4, 3:09 PM ET

    WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland spurned as insufficient on Friday a U.S. offer to boost its air defenses in return for basing anti-missile interceptors on its soil but said it remained open to talks with Washington.

  • Supporters of various opposition parties chant slogans demanding the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf during a lawyers' rally in Lahore July 3, 2008. (Mohsin Raza/Reuters)
    Pakistan's Musharraf defies resignation calls Fri Jul 4, 3:58 PM ET

    KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf hit back at calls for his resignation on Friday, saying he was needed to help political parties avoid an economic meltdown and tackle a militant threat gripping the country.

  • Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe attends his inauguration at State House in Harare, June 29, 2008. (Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters)
    Mugabe says opposition must drop claim to power Fri Jul 4, 12:41 PM ET

    HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, defiant despite growing African condemnation of his re-election, said on Friday the opposition must drop its claim to power and accept that he was the rightful head of state.

  • Santa Cruz's Governor Ruben Costas is seen during a ceremony of an unofficial legislative assembly in Santa Cruz, May 15, 2008. Regional governors pushing for greater autonomy from Bolivia's central government said Friday they will not boycott an August recall vote that could force them out of office despite initially resisting the ballot. (Stringer/Reuters)
    Bolivia's rebel governors agree to recall vote Fri Jul 4, 5:53 PM ET

    LA PAZ (Reuters) - Regional governors pushing for greater autonomy from Bolivia's central government said Friday they will not boycott an August recall vote that could force them out of office despite initially resisting the ballot.

  • A process operator shows a handful of corn at the GreenField Ethanol plant in Chatham, Ontario, April 10, 2008. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)
    Biofuels blamed for food price crisis Fri Jul 4, 10:39 AM ET

    LONDON (Reuters) - Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75 percent -- far more than previously estimated -- according to a confidential World Bank report published in a British newspaper on Friday.

  • Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) waves to journalists as Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili stands in the background before an official meeting in Tehran July 1, 2008. (Raheb Homavandi/Reuters)
    Iran responds to big powers' nuclear offer Fri Jul 4, 3:08 PM ET

    TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran responded on Friday to an incentives package offered by six world powers aimed at resolving a standoff over its disputed nuclear ambitions.

  • Armenian opposition supporters march through capital Fri Jul 4, 2:16 PM ET

    YEREVAN (Reuters) - Thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Armenian capital on Friday and vowed to hold a month-long series of protests to demand the resignation of President Serzh Sarksyan and new elections.

  • Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak addresses the media during a news conference at the parliament in Jerusalem May 28, 2008. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)
    Israel orders razing of Jerusalem attackers' homes Fri Jul 4, 9:41 AM ET

    JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday sought the demolition of the houses of two Palestinians behind recent deadly attacks against Israelis after the attorney-general said the move was legally viable.

  • French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt (C) poses with her daughter Melanie (R), her son Lorenzo (L) and her nephew at the Elysee palace in Paris July 4, 2008. (Charles Platiau/Reuters)
    Betancourt gets hero's welcome in Paris Fri Jul 4, 7:01 PM ET

    PARIS (Reuters) - French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt was given a hero's welcome on Friday in France, where President Nicolas Sarkozy had made her release a foreign policy priority and thousands had campaigned for her freedom for years.