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It's 10:00 Universal Time and here is the news from the Voice of America.

I'm Steve Aldridge from the VOA News Center in Washington.

The US House of Representatives has passed an emergency military funding bill that would, for the first time, order President Bush to begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq by October 1st. Legislators voted 218 to 208 late Wednesday to approve the measure that would provide about 95 billion dollars for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but sets a non-binding goal of removing most US troops from Iraq by April 2008. The vote was largely along partition lines the legislation also creates benchmarks for the Iraqi government to show progress in securing the country.

Iraqi police say a suicide car bomber has rammed his vehicle into an Iraqi Army checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing nine soldiers. Police say 15 other people including several civilians were wounded in today's attack in the town of Kali, in Diyala Province. In northern Iraq, three bombings in the town near the city of Mosul killed at least three people and wounded 13. Police said the blasts involving two truck bombs and a man wearing explosives were apparently aimed at Kurdish * Forces and an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. In other news, the US military says coalition forces killed four terrorists during an operation near the town of Taji.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani says the European Union and Iran are closer to a unified view on how to break the deadline over Iran's nuclear program. Larijani made the remark before today's meeting with EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana in Ankara, Turkey. The Iranian envoy says he believes the two sides are aiming to reach a common paradigm to try to resolve the nuclear disputes through negotiations. Solana did not excite he did not expect a great breakthrough in the Ankara talks, but hopes to continue the process.

South Korean officials say North Korea may be preparing for a visit of UN nuclear inspectors to its main nuclear reactor as it has required in a six-nation nuclear disarmament deal. South Korea Spy Agency issued a report to the Parliament's Intelligence Committee today, saying North Korea has repaired the road to the Yongbyon reactor and built a structure near the facility. The agency says the increased activity could indicate North Korea is preparing for visitors. North Korea missed an April 14th deadline to begin closing the reactor and readmit UN inspectors.

A US congressional committee has issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, compelling her testimony on one of the Administration's key justification, but later discredited for war in Iraq. VOA's Dan Robinson reports of another panel authorized to subpoena to a former Department of Justice official involved in the firing of eight US attorneys.

The subpoenas are a part of broader offensive by majority Democrats to observe what they say is appropriate overside the Administration policies and to pressing investigations of such issues that firing of US prosecutors and pre-Iraq War intelligence issue. By a vote of 21 to ten, the House oversides the government Reform Committee approved the subpoena for Secretary of State Rice. Chairman Henry W*, a Democrat, has been seeking Rice's testimony about what she knew about the claim by the Administration that Iraq before the US invasion has sought uranium from N*. That claim used by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address later proved to be false. Meanwhile the Judiciary Committee in the Senate voted to authorize but not yet issue a subpoena to a deputy to C* R*, President Bush’s advisor to testify about the White House's role in the firings of the federal prosecutors. Dan Robinson, VOA News, Capital Hill.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says a growing stream of foreign money is being used to interfere in Russian affairs. Mr. Putin made the charge in his annual state the nation address to both Houses of Parliament at the Kremlin. He did not name the forces he said are using for money and what he called democratic rhetoric to meddle in Russian politics. The Russian President also declared a moratorium on implementing a treaty setting limits on conventional military forces in Europe. He says he is making the move because NATO countries have not ratified the conventional forces in Europe Treaty.

I'm Steve Aldridge ,VOA News.