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SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said he was willing to help North Korea repair its economy and end decades of international isolation if Pyongyang stopped a cycle of threats and finally moved toward nuclear disarmament.

KABUL (Reuters) - Newly-inaugurated Afghan President Hamid Karzai pledged on Thursday to tackle corruption and said his country's security forces should be ready to take over responsibility of unstable areas in three years.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Wednesday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was negligent in maintaining a key navigational channel in New Orleans and was liable for some damage caused by massive flooding from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. health officials distanced themselves Wednesday from controversial new breast cancer screening guidelines that recommend against routine mammograms for healthy women in their 40s and said federal policy on screening mammograms had not changed.

SEOUL/MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama issued a strong warning to Iran on Thursday of consequences of its failure to respond to the offer of a nuclear deal and could have a package of steps to take "within weeks."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama suggested on Wednesday the self-professed mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks would be convicted and put to death, but later said he was not trying to prejudge the trial.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress edged closer on Wednesday to creating new government powers to break up giant financial firms, which Europe is already doing, while a U.S. derivatives market crackdown got more complicated.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators vowed on Wednesday not to interfere with a criminal probe of the Fort Hood shootings but said they must move ahead with their own hearing into the rampage.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Construction of new homes in the United States hit a six month low in October, providing more evidence of the economy's sluggish recovery, while a surge in the cost of new and used vehicles lifted consumer prices.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama warned Israel Wednesday its approval of new construction in a Jewish settlement could prove "very dangerous" by fuelling Palestinian anger and harming prospects for peace.

MANILA (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister on Thursday dismissed the possibility of sanctions over Tehran's rejection of a deal to send enriched uranium abroad for further processing.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military does not have to decide until April or May whether to push back the end of its combat operations in Iraq due to a possible delay in the country's next election, the U.S. commander said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he believes the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, can be closed next year, but he acknowledged that he will not meet his original January deadline.

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will discuss luring a reluctant North Korea back to nuclear dealings and a long-delayed trade pact with Seoul in talks with President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday at the end of his Asian tour.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told President Barack Obama his nation does not seek a trade surplus with the United States and wants to balance flows, striking a conciliatory note but avoiding public comment on currency rifts.

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama took time out of his busy diplomatic schedule in China to meet with his half-brother, who lives in the southern part of the country -- but only for five minutes.

HARADHEERE, Somalia (Reuters) - The captain of a Virgin-Islands owned chemical tanker hijacked this week has died from gunshot wounds sustained when the ship was attacked, a Somali pirate said on Wednesday.