The US House of Representatives is to vote Friday on a resolution opposing President George W. Bush’s decision to deploy more troops to Iraq, the first major repudiation of the increasingly unpopular war.

Insurgents met the determined advance of Iraqi and US security forces into Baghdad with another deadly bomb Friday, despite signs that Shiite militiamen at least have decided to go to ground.

The group that kidnapped two Germans in Iraq last week are said to have made a series of political demands in exchange for the hostages’ release, a German news magazine reported Friday.