New York  - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, emerging from months of political turmoil, called on Britain, the United States and other Western countries to end what he called "illegal" economic sanctions that have inflicted "untold miseries" in Zimbabwe.

Washington  - The financial emergency gripping the country made for odd bedfellows on Thursday as US President George W Bush brought together the two men who hope to replace him in January - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

The two senators joined congressional leaders as Republicans and Democrats appeared to be on the verge of hashing out the last details for an urgent and unprecedented 700-billion-dollar bailout of Wall Street.

New York  - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Thursday said reductions in violence will allow Iraq's security forces to take the lead from foreign forces in all provinces by the end of the year and invited diplomatic missions back into the country.

Talabani said ongoing efforts at national reconciliation and the coming of age of Iraq's police and military had both helped improve the security situation over the past year.

Washington - The principles of a 700-billion-dollar deal to bail the country out of its financial crisis have been agreed on in a bipartisan move, legislators from the special finance committees handling the issue said Thursday.

Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and chair of the Senate banking committee, could not say exactly when the bill would pass, but said he expected action "within the next few days."

"We've reached a fundamental agreement on a set of principles," Dodd said.

Vienna  - The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) refused Thursday to yield to the demand of the United States and other countries to speed up the probe of an Syrian alleged secret nuclear reactor that Israel bombed in 2006.

In response to a US request for a full report on Syria by November, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei told the agency's board that "we will provide a report as and when we have enough facts".

Washington  - US President George W Bush vowed Thursday to keep working toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal even as time is running out on completing a deal before he leaves office.

Meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, Bush offered his full support for Abbas' leadership in negotiating a settlement with the Israelis, including a creation of a Palestinian state.