KIEV (Reuters) – Floods in western Ukraine have killed 30 people and prompted the evacuation of nearly 18,000, officials said on Thursday, after five days of rain caused rivers to spill over into villages and farmland.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will try to reach an agreement in peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before a new Israeli government takes office, an official close to Olmert said on Thursday.

MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) – At least 13 people, including two women, were killed in clashes between troops and militants on Thursday in Pakistan’s Swat valley, police said, taking the death toll in days of fighting to nearly 50.