Washington  - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama criticized his Republican opponents on Thursday for supporting President George W Bush's policies.

The Obama campaign said the speech by John McCain's vice presidential candidate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, at the Republican convention Wednesday night undermines their effort to portray themselves as candidates of change.

Vienna  - The United States has pledged to change its proposal seeking to exempt India from international export control rules in a bid to reach a consensus on lifting a nuclear trade embargo against the Asian nation, sources close to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) said Thursday.

Sources close to the NSG, which sets international nuclear export control standards, said several members were still critical of US drafts for a trade exemption but expected a decision on Friday.

Washington - Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, Wednesday lashed out at Republicans for ignoring the dragging economy and its impact on ordinary people's lives in the opening session of their presidential nominating session.

Obama, referring to speeches delivered Tuesday evening in St Paul, Minnesota, charged that none of the speakers mentioned the economic hardships and the struggles people are having in sending their children to college or hanging on to pensions.

Baghdad  - British ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Prentice, on Wednesday revealed his country's intention to engage in negotiations with Iraq over an agreement which he said will regulate the presence of British troops after 2008.

"We will start negotiations with the Iraqi government to obtain a legal presence for our forces if our mission is not complete by the end of this year," Prentice told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency in an interview at the headquarters of the British embassy in Baghdad.

Damascus  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad held "frank and constructive" talks, both presidents said in a press conference held in Damascus Wednesday.

"We discussed many things but concentrated on peace in the Middle East," said al-Assad.

"Our main topic was the peace process and the indirect peace negotiations between Syria and Israel, where do the talks stand now and their future," the Syrian president said.

Washington  - The United States was dispatching a senior envoy to China for consultations following reports that North Korea has begun reassembling its main nuclear facility in violation of a disarmament agreement.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday that Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will depart Wednesday for Beijing for the discussion with his Chinese counterparts.