KABUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military disputed on Tuesday the toll of 96 civilians the Afghan government and United Nations said were killed in an air strike in western Afghanistan last month, saying five to seven civilians had been killed.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces began a push on Tuesday to evict people squatting in Baghdad homes that were abandoned by residents fleeing sectarian violence, a military spokesman said.

MIAMI (Reuters) - A new tropical depression formed on Tuesday near the Cape Verde Islands off Africa while storm Hanna drenched the Bahamas and Ike sped westward as Atlantic storm activity reached a frenetic pace.

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Heavy rains and rising floodwaters forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in northeastern India and sent elephants and rhinos fleeing, as monsoon misery spread in South Asia.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is adding YouTube-like video communications features to its business application suite, looking to make video-sharing among office workers as easy as trading e-mails or instant messages.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia praised the European Union on Tuesday for taking a "responsible approach" to its conflict with Georgia by refusing to impose sanctions or freeze ties with Moscow.

RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - The U.S. military handed over Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi security forces on Monday, less than two years after it almost lost the western region to a Sunni Arab insurgency.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new tropical depression formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday 170 miles

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Army chief Anupong Paochinda said on Tuesday he would not use force to evict protesters occupying the prime minister's official compound despite a state of emergency giving him the power to do so. "If we thought we could use police and soldiers to get them out with a peaceful conclusion, we would do it. But we think that that would create more problems," he told a news conference after a man died in clashes between pro and anti-government protesters.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan began searching for a new prime minister on Tuesday after Yasuo Fukuda became the second leader to abruptly resign in less than a year, threatening a further policy vacuum as the economy teeters on the brink of recession.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Millions of poor children in the United States may be getting fat before age 10 because their mothers are stressed out and the youngsters seek escape in unhealthy comfort food, researchers said on Tuesday.

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Republicans opened their convention on Monday in a somber mood, with Hurricane Gustav's assault and Sarah Palin's announcement of the pregnancy of her unmarried teenage daughter overshadowing John McCain's show.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal, in his first grand slam as the number one target, took his turn at shooting down one of the big-hitting young guns at the U.S. Open on Monday to ride into the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Hurricane Gustav slammed ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast just west of New Orleans on Monday but rebuilt levees appeared to be holding surging floodwaters out of the city devastated by Katrina in 2005.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal, in his first grand slam as the number one target, took his turn at shooting down one of the big-hitting young guns at the U.S. Open on Monday to ride into the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Expensive advertising of prescription drugs directly to consumers may do little to encourage sales, U.S. and Canadian researchers reported on Monday.

NORTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Vijay Singh, helped by three monster putts on the back nine, eased to his third PGA Tour title in five weeks with a commanding five-shot victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday.

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - As Hurricane Gustav blew through nearly deserted streets in New Orleans on Monday, messages left by fleeing residents on the shuttered homes bore silent testimony to the city's sense of humor.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Hanna formed near the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, as powerful Hurricane Gustav battered New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast and a new tropical depression formed between Africa and the Leeward Islands.

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced on Monday he was resigning.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU heavyweights France and Italy insisted on Monday the bloc should not take steps to isolate Russia, hours before an emergency summit due to issue a tough verbal condemnation of its actions in Georgia.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran denied on Monday it had bought Russia's advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, after Israeli defense sources said the Islamic Republic could take delivery of the weapons by the end of the year.

RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - The U.S. military handed over Iraq's western Anbar province to Iraqi security forces on Monday, less than two years after the region was all but lost to a Sunni Arab insurgency.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Commerzbank aims to cut almost 2 billion euros ($2.95 billion) in costs by slashing 9,000 jobs and paring laggard investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort after swooping in to buy Dresdner Bank, it said on Monday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - An earthquake that hit China's southwest killed 38 people, Xinhua news agency said on Monday, two days after the most recent in a series of tremors to hit the region.

KABUL (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters blocked a road in Kabul on Monday accusing U.S.-led troops of killing three members of a family, including two children, in a raid in the city, residents and witnesses said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia does not want confrontation with the West but will hit back if attacked, Kremlin leader Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday, a day before EU leaders meet to draft a response to Moscow's actions in Georgia.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama left hospital in Mumbai on Monday morning after being treated for abdominal pain, smiling and waving to waiting photographers.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's presidential election next week will be a three-way tussle between the country's main parties after the Election Commission on Saturday issued a final list of candidates.