WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Iraq were unlikely to meet a July 31 deadline for completing a long-term security pact, but intensive negotiations were under way on an agreement that will help dictate the role of U.S. forces after year-end, the White House said on Monday.

BUFFALO, New York (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate John McCain appeared to leave a door open on Monday to a large-scale drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq in the next two years.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fire-brand Socialist, will sign arms and energy deals during a visit to Moscow which started on Tuesday, moves likely to further strain ties between Russia and the United States.

KABUL (Reuters) – More than 10,000 ethnic Hazaras protested in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, calling for President Hamid Karzai to resign over killings of their kin by rival Kuchi nomads.

KABUL (Reuters) – Two French aid workers kidnapped in central Afghanistan last week are being held by a commander of a former armed faction, a Western radio broadcaster said on Tuesday.

KABUL (Reuters) – NATO-led forces accidentally killed four Afghan civilians in a mortar attack overnight, the alliance said on Sunday, the latest of a string of mistakes that have hurt public support for the presence of foreign troops.

KOHAT, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships have killed 15 Taliban militants and captured 60 in an operation that began mid-week in a troubled northwestern town, the military said on Sunday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan is committed to supporting the U.S.-led global coalition fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban but will not allow allied foreign forces to operate on its territory, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said.

BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel (Reuters) – Britain’s Gordon Brown will discuss a way ahead in Middle East peace moves and announce new aid for the Palestinians during his first visit as prime minister to Israel and the Palestinian territories, which began late on Saturday, British officials said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown flew into Baghdad on Saturday and said he wanted to reduce British troop levels in Iraq, although he refused to set a timetable for their departure.