SANAA (Reuters) – No American embassy staff were hurt in a suspected car bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Yemen on Wednesday, a source inside the heavily-fortified compound said.

KABUL (Reuters) – Under pressure over rising civilian deaths in Afghanistan, the U.S. defense chief said on Wednesday that the U.S. military needed to do more to prevent the killing of ordinary Afghans caught up in military operations.

KABUL (Reuters) – A roadside bomb killed four soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition force and an Afghan national in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.

CANBERRA (Reuters) – France on Wednesday asked its European allies to relax restrictions on troop deployment and operations in Afghanistan just a month after losing 10 soldiers in a Taliban ambush.

KARACHI (Reuters) -The Pakistani rupee weakened on Wednesday due to import payments, weak economic fundamentals and concern over tension with the United States over U.S. military attacks on militants in Pakistan.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Members of Israel’s ruling party began voting on Wednesday for a new leader to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has promised to resign following a corruption investigation in which he faces indictment.

A double car bomb attack on the US embassy in Yemen has killed at least 16 people, Yemeni officials say.

A double bombing in a west Baghdad business district has killed at least eight people and wounded another 20, Iraqi police say.

Three US soldiers have been charged with murder over the deaths of four Iraqis in Baghdad, the US army says.

A gunfight between rival Christian political groups in northern Lebanon has left two people dead and three wounded, security officials say.