UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Lebanon has asked the United Nations to help it investigate a car bomb that killed a top general this week in the latest of a string of political assassinations, the world body said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush on Thursday condemned the assassination of a Lebanese general and warned Syria against interfering in Lebanon. Brig. Gen. Francois al-Hajj, who was poised to become Lebanon’s army chief, was killed by a car bomb on Wednesday. He was a leading contender to replace …

GENEVA (Reuters) – Israeli restrictions have caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank that is growing worse, leaving hospitals unable to treat the sick and keeping farmers off their land, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Plans to rein in Palestinian government spending and boost foreign aid will not be enough to revive the Palestinian economy if Israeli restrictions stay in place, the World Bank said on Thursday.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan and NATO-led troops killed, wounded and detained hundreds of insurgents during fighting in the Taliban’s biggest stronghold, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Two-thirds of Pakistanis want President Pervez Musharraf to resign and his allies will fare badly in parliamentary elections next month, according to the first major poll published since he declared emergency rule.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Already furious at President Pervez Musharraf over a crackdown on opponents and emergency rule, Pakistanis from middle class housewives to the poor have a new gripe just weeks ahead of an election — the price of bread.

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers attacked a military checkpost in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, on Thursday, killing three soldiers and four civilians, the military said.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Prospects for a free and fair general election in Pakistan next month are poor and a rigged result could lead to more instability and play into the hands of Islamist militants, election watchdog groups said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The popularity of Dmitry Medvedev, anointed successor of Russian President Vladimir Putin, soared in an opinion poll released on Thursday. Medvedev was endorsed by Putin as his preferred presidential candidate on December 10 but he was already pulling away from other possible contenders, independent pollsters Levada said …