WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Pat Toomey has opened a 10-point lead over Democrat Joe Sestak among likely voters in a Senate race in Pennsylvania dominated by economic worries, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.

PARIS (Reuters) - France has sent detailed proposals to the European Commission calling for common action to regulate volatile commodities markets before it is due to head the Group of 20 economic powers, ministry officials said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York voters contradicted themselves over a planned Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center site, with majorities saying both that Muslims have the right to build one but that they should be forced to move it, a poll issued on Tuesday finds.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most economists in a recent survey said they approved of the Federal Reserve's current course on monetary policy and see deflation as a risk for the short term.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Global miner BHP Billiton on Sunday played down any chance of raising its $39 billion bid for fertilizer maker Potash Corp, saying it had timed its move to catch out weakened rival bidders.

VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday Iraq could "chart its own course" and told Americans the drawdown of U.S. troops helped fulfill a promise he made during the 2008 presidential campaign.

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Foreign and Afghan troops killed 24 insurgents as they fought off pre-dawn attacks on two bases in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, with the Taliban saying suicide bombers the fighters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More Americans now disapprove of President Barack Obama than approve of him as high unemployment and government spending scare voters ahead of November's congressional elections, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday it had cut its troops in Iraq to below 50,000 before an August 31 deadline set by President Barack Obama as he seeks to keep a promise to end the war.

VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama revved up his effort on Saturday to curb corporate influence on political campaigns, chiding Republicans for keeping the public "in the dark" by opposing a reform bill.

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians accepted on Friday an invitation by the United States and other powers to restart direct talks on September 2 in a modest step toward forging a deal within 12 months to create a Palestinian state and peacefully end one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities conducted an autopsy on Monday on a man found dead in his Boston prison cell more than a year after being charged with murdering a masseuse he met on Craigslist, a law enforcement official said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson has announced he will oppose the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, making him the first Democrat to declare against her.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, the Pentagon said on Thursday, warning its unprecedented leak of secret U.S. military files could cost lives and damage trust of allies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Senate Republicans voiced objections on Thursday to the new START nuclear arms treaty with Russia, raising concerns that could delay efforts to hand President Barack Obama a foreign policy victory ahead of the November elections.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for unemployment benefits slipped last week, but stayed at a stubbornly high level that underscored the labor market recovery was having trouble gaining traction.

FOROS, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he had met with Russian spies swapped in an exchange with the United States earlier this month, and promised them a bright future in Russia.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it would begin a "sacred war" against the United States and South Korea at "any time necessary" based on its nuclear deterrent, in response to "reckless" military exercises by the allies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Housing starts hit their lowest level in eight months in June, further evidence the economy lost momentum in the second quarter, but a rise in permits offered hope of a pick up in homebuilding.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed new economic partnerships on Sunday to buttress a shaky alliance with Pakistan that U.S. officials say is vital to victory in the escalating war in neighboring Afghanistan.

CUPERTINO, California (Reuters) - A defiant Steve Jobs on Friday rejected any suggestion the iPhone 4's design was flawed, but offered consumers free phone cases to address reception complaints that have hurt Apple Inc's image and shares.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Efforts to clinch a deal on the way banks, insurers and markets in the European Union are supervised failed on Wednesday and talks will resume in late August or early September, EU sources said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hedge funds and private equity firms had an easier time raising capital in the last three months, but the market for asset-backed securities remains crippled, according to a new Federal Reserve survey.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's ruling party, mauled in Sunday's upper house election, faces an uphill struggle to win new allies to back its policies to cut back huge public debt and probably bitter infighting over whether the premier should quit.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin on Wednesday put off naming a successor to the late Senator Robert Byrd, which could further complicate passage of financial reform legislation in the U.S. Senate .