ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The Pakistani government, after earlier rejecting outside help, may accept an international investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.Mohammed Sadiq, Foreign Ministry spokesman in the caretaker government, said Wednesday the investigation into the former prime minister's killing last week in Rawalpindi would be thorough and transparent and that the government is "open to receiving assistance from outside," CNN reported.Separately, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro, ... [full story]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The complex and eccentric Iowa caucus highlights the high-stake politics of the U.S. presidential race as the sparsely populated state helps decide its outcome.Republican and Democratic presidential candidates spent a combined total of 18 months stumping in Iowa despite that fewer than 250,000 of the state's 2.9 million residents were expected to participate in Thursday's caucus process, USA Today said Wednesday.Election observers, including David Yepsen with The Des Moines Register, said ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's main political parties said they weren't formally consulted before the country's election commission decided to postpone this month's elections.The parliamentary elections, scheduled for Jan. 8, have been delayed until Feb. 18 in the aftermath of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.Her Pakistan People's Party and the faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, led by Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister, had insisted the polls be conducted as scheduled.But Wednesday, ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hosts U.S. President George Bush and his team to discuss the contentious Iranian nuclear program.Olmert hosts Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley next week to focus on the Palestinian issue and issues outlined in the latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iran's nuclear program, Ynetnews said Wednesday.The NIE, a consortium opinion of the United States' intelligence community, suggested Iran halted work on ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's national parliamentary elections, set for next Tuesday, have been postponed until Feb. 18 in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.Chief Election Commissioner Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq said the original Jan. 8 vote would be put off because of the vandalism done to election offices in the unrest following last Thursday's assassination of Bhutto, a former prime minister and opposition party leader.Farooq said arson had destroyed ballots and computer equipment, ... [full story]

BERLIN -- Protests coincided with the filing of a lawsuit supported by thousands in Germany in opposition to a new law allowing the retention of telecommunication data.Protesters rallied in several German cities to support a lawsuit backed by more than 30,000 Germans filed to fight legislation that permits the storing of Internet data and telephone records for up to six months as part of wider counter-terrorism efforts, Deutsche Welle said Wednesday.Advocates in Hamburg marked "the ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said six Palestinian militants were killed and five others were wounded Wednesday in fighting in the Gaza Strip.IsraelNN.com quoted an unidentified military spokesman as saying five of the men were killed in gun battles and the sixth death was a result of an airstrike. The spokesman claimed the dead included members of the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah militants as well as Lebanese-based Hezbollah fighters.The Israeli strikes were in response to ... [full story]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Online investigations in Maryland and other states found troves of Americans' private information vulnerable to identity thieves.Federal, state and local officials warn individuals to guard private information but that information -- including full Social Security numbers -- is commonplace in file rooms and Web sites run by various levels of the government, The Washington Post said Wednesday."This is very dangerous," said Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler said. A Washington Post investigation ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George Bush's last year in the White House has significant political challenges, The Washington Post said Wednesday.The leader spent a week on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and returned to Washington Tuesday, telling reporters he planned on working "on policies to keep this country safe and to keep this country prosperous."White House counselor Ed Gillespie told reporters Bush's priorities this year include making permanent tax cuts set to expire ... [full story]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee aired a television ad in Iowa depicting a Christian symbol in the background ahead of Thursday's caucuses.CNN said Wednesday the 30-second spot features Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, addressing the Iowa Christian Alliance against a banner showing the ichthys, a simple fish representation common among evangelicals.The new ad comes as Huckabee decided not to use negative campaign ads against his closest Republican rival, former Massachusetts Gov. ... [full story]