SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea invited on Thursday the chief U.S. envoy to stalled six-country nuclear negotiations to visit Pyongyang for talks, provided Washington meets certain conditions.

AP - Slobodan Milosevic defied doctors' orders to quit smoking and took unauthorized medication smuggled to him in prison, a U.N. war crimes tribunal report into his death said Wednesday.

AP - Woodrow Wilson tried to bring the United States into the League of Nations, but Congress voted him down. He also tried to block Prohibition and failed. But while his administration suffered setbacks, he turned out to be one of the most prescient of presidents.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Lights, camera and ... revolution.

AP - David Safavian faces a second day of cross-examination by prosecutors about assistance he provided, as a Bush administration official, to Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff.

Reuters - A hard-fought U.S. House election in California that could offer clues about voter sentiment before November's midterm election highlights a busy day of voting in eight states on Tuesday.

AP - A former Republican congressman led early Wednesday in a closely watched House race that was being seen as a barometer of voter attitudes ahead of the midterm elections.

AFP - A US Senator, demanding strong action against Beijing for copyright piracy, brought Chinese fake auto parts to a public hearing to underline the seriousness of the counterfeit threat to the US auto industry.

AP - The Texas Democratic Party won a temporary restraining order Thursday blocking the process that would name a replacement for Republican U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on the November ballot.

AP - A gubernatorial candidate will be placed on the Republican primary ballot while officials determine whether he had enough signatures on his petition, a judge said Friday.

AP - Records containing personal information on more than 150,000 voters are missing at city election offices, and officials are trying to determine if the files were lost, moved or stolen.

AP - Western states must work together to reduce greenhouse gasses in the fight against global warming, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Sunday at the annual meeting of the Western Governors' Association.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. district court judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by a California atheist against the U.S. government for its use of the phrase 'In God We Trust' on its coins and currency.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - James Webb, a former Navy secretary during the Reagan administration, won a rough Democratic primary fight in Virginia on Tuesday for the right to challenge Republican Sen. George Allen in November.

AFP - The United Nations issued an emergency appeal for nearly 20 million dollars to aid an estimated 133,000 people left homeless by the recent violence in East Timor.

AFP - A United Nations-backed criminal probe into violence that killed at least 21 in East Timor may reach all the way to Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, one of the investigation team said.

AP - Former Rep. Ron Dellums appeared to win the mayor's race late Friday after a final ballot count showed he got the majority of votes needed to avoid a November runoff.

AP - A file cabinet containing the personal information of thousands of voters disappeared since the Denver Election Commission moved to a new building, officials said, dashing hopes the records were misplaced.

AP - The U.N. Security Council authorized the transfer Friday of former Liberian President Charles Taylor to an international tribunal that will try him for war crimes.

AP - Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said Monday he will not run for U.S. Senate this year, leaving Republicans with no clear major challenger to Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan agreed on Wednesday to resume U.S. beef imports, suspended for five months due to concerns about mad cow disease, after it inspects beef processing plants authorized by the U.S. government as suppliers.

AP - Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was taken to a Dutch prison Tuesday to await a U.N. war crimes trial for the killing, rape or mutilation of hundreds of thousands in West Africa.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's agriculture minister said on Friday it was meaningless for U.S. lawmakers to file a bill seeking sanctions against Japan over a ban on U.S. beef after the two governments had already agreed to resolve the issue.

AP - When two Democrats looking toward 2008 pushed hard for a firm date on withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, they crashed headlong into Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's effort to retake the Senate this year.

AP - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that the Taliban's fugitive leader should come out of hiding and face justice. An audio tape allegedly made by Mullah Omar and aired Sunday by a Pakistani television station said the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan government do not have the ability to solve Afghanistan's escalating violence.

Reuters - Canada expressed "disgust" on Wednesday at Iran's decision to send Tehran's chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, as a delegate to the new United Nations human rights council, saying he was implicated in the death of a Canadian photographer.

PRESTWICK (Reuters) - The United States wants to coordinate better cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan against Taliban fighters in their border region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

AP - A Spanish news agency apologized for a report that described a Republican gubernatorial candidate's proposed work program for illegal immigrants as "concentration camps."

AP - President Bush is welcoming visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi with the pomp due a leader whose country provides a crucial U.S. bulwark against a rising China and a volatile North Korea.

AP - Cook County's chief executive, who suffered a stroke that has kept him in seclusion for three months, plans to resign, an alderman said Thursday.