• The US Congress has approved legislation that links withdrawal of combat troops to paying for the war, ensuring a certain veto. Nonetheless, by a vote of 51-46, the Senate joined the House of Representatives in backing the hotly contested bill that would provide about $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year while setting a deadline to withdraw US forces over the next 11 months.

• Palestinian armed factions renewed their commitment to a Gaza Strip truce but said rocket salvoes from the territory could resume if Israel did not halt military operations in the occupied West Bank.

• Ethiopian tanks supporting the Somali government pounded insurgent positions in Mogadishu and Somalia's prime minister declared significant gains after a nine-day offensive.

• Ukraine's prime minister said a decree by his rival President Viktor Yushchenko setting a new date for a parliamentary election had damaged trust between the two and dimmed hope for their future ties.

• The United States' struggle to stabilize Iraq may get harder before it gets easier and runs the risk of higher US and Iraqi casualties, the top US commander in charge of the war said. Army Gen. David Petraeus provided his assessment the day after the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives pushed through legislation calling for US troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq by October 1.

• Iran's nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran and the EU were nearing a united view in some areas of their talks and new ideas were raised to break an international impasse over Tehran's atomic programme.

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