World Highlights

• A senior US general compared Iraq to a work of art in progress and played down incessant violence and friction with Iraqi leaders as "speed bumps" on the road to stability. Three-and-a-half years after the US-led invasion, President George W. Bush is under intense pressure over his Iraq policy before next week's Congressional elections in which polls show he could lose control of both houses.

• Israeli troops killed five Palestinians including three civilians and trapped scores of gunmen in Gaza, witnesses said, as the army pursued one of its biggest offensives in the strip in months. The armed wing of the ruling Hamas Islamist movement said its gunmen hit a group of Israeli soldiers with an anti-tank missile in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, inflicting casualties. The army said it had no information on the attack.

• Two top US diplomats will visit Japan, China and South Korea next week to prepare for a resumption of six-party negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear program, the State Department said. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph, travelling together, are tentatively scheduled to be in Tokyo on Sunday and Monday, in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, and in Seoul on Thursday. (Reuters)

• Democrats have at least slim leads in races for six of the seven most vulnerable Republican Senate seats, giving them a shot at winning control of the Senate on Tuesday, according to Reuters/Zogby polls released.

• Syria and Iran dismissed a US accusation that they are trying to topple Lebanon's government with their Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

• Remains of a flight attendant and passenger on the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on September 11 have been identified in New York, as families of attack victims prepare to rally for a new Ground Zero search.

• More than 10,000 fugitives, including 1,659 alleged sex offenders, were arrested in a week-long sweep by law enforcement officials in 24 eastern states, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.

• Seven people, including three Vietnamese-born US citizens, will be prosecuted on charges of plotting violence against Vietnam's communist government, officials said

• Fiji's prime minister was on a collision course with the military, raising fears of a fourth coup in 20 years, as police and the army increased their presence in the South Pacific island nation's capital.