BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his main rival Iyad Allawi are set to win the same number of seats in Iraq's parliament, according to an AFP projection based on 80 percent of votes cast.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US House of Representatives on Tuesday urged China to end its "persecution" of the Falungong and rejected Beijing's charges that the banned spiritual movement is an "evil cult."

CHICAGO (AFP) - Mumbai bombing suspect David Headley is set to change his plea to guilty in a US court admitting charges of helping to plan the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, court records showed Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Tuesday that US envoy George Mitchell will not meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials before the Middle East quartet meets in Moscow on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The deepest public dispute between Israel and the United States in years will not shake the "unbreakable bond" between Washington and the Israelis, the White House said Tuesday.