http://192.168.2.6/english/1117/20061114VOA.mp3

It's 15:00 Universal Time. And here is the news from the Voice of America.

From the VOA news center in Washington, I'm Frances Alonzo.

Iraqi police say a suicide bomber has blown himself up on a bus in Baghdad, killing at least ten people and wounding nearly twenty. The blast took place today in a largely Shiite district of northeastern Baghdad. Police also report several shootings in the capital, including the killing of a traffic police official.

President Bush meets today with the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel named by Congress to make recommendations about US policy in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group is co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker of Republican and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton. A White House spokesman said the group is not due to present its final report to the president today but will announce its recommendations to Mr. Bush and Congress by the end of this year.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meets with US President George Bush at the White House today with Iran's controversial nuclear program high on the the agenda. Mr. Olmert discussed the issue with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over dinner late Sunday. The United States and Israel suspect Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge that Iran denies.

Palestinian negotiators say they will have largely reached an agreement on a new prime minister and that a deal on a unity government is all but complete. The negotiations are proceeding as Israel's Prime Minister is visiting Washington where meets with US officials to discuss reviving negotiations with the Palestinians. VOA's Jim Teeple has this report from Jerusalem.
Negotiators for the Fatah and Hamas fractions are holding talks in Gaza City on allocating seats in a new Palestinian Cabinet. News reports say they are in an agreements on nominating Mohammed Shabir, the former head of the Islamic University in Gaza, as prime minister. Shabir will replace Ismail Haniyeh, a leading Hamas militant, who says he will step down if it means lifting the international boycott of the Palestinian Authority because of the Hamas refusal to recognize Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is visiting Washington for talks with President Bush and other senior officials. Just before he left Jerusalem, Mr. Olmert said he wanted to sit down and talk with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Meeting Sunday in Cairo, Arab League foreign ministers called for a new Middle East peace conference to be convened based on the principle of land for peace. A spokesman for Israel's foreign Ministry says an international conference would be welcome, but only if it occurred as part of the roadmap peace plan. Jim Teeple, VOA news, Jerusalem.

The Lebanese government has approved a United Nations draft setting up an international court to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The cabinet approved the measure today despite the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers. Hours before that meeting, the country's environment minister resigned.

US and Afghan forces have arrested a senior al-Qeada member in southeastern Afghanistan. Police say he was among the six men the troops detained in the city of Khost. The local police chief says he cannot confirm reports that the operative escaped from a US prison in Bagram last year.

South Korea says it will not formally join a US-led coalition aimed at preventing international traffic in weapons of mass destruction. VOA's Kurt Achin explains this report from Seoul.
South Korean officials said Monday Seoul will not join the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, as Washington had hoped. However, they said South Korea is already doing more than any other nation to prevent North Korea from trafficking its weapons of mass destruction. Eleven nations signed on to the PSI, which calls on members to stop and search any vessel reasonably suspected of transporting nuclear weapons material or similar dangerous items. Dozens of nations have voiced support for the PSI since the North nuclear test. South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Park In-kook said Monday his country cannot formally participate due to its "special situation" vis-a-vis the North. North Korea is expected to return to six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program later this year. Those talks also involve South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia. South Korea is scheduled Monday to submit its reports to the United Nations outlining plans for implementing punitive UN Security Council sanctions passed after Pyongyang's nuclear test last month. Kurt Achin, VOA news, Seoul.

US stock indexes were down slightly in Monday's early trading. The Dow-Jones Industrial Average fell 19 points to 20089. The S&P 500 lost 7 point at 1380, and the NASDAQ dropped 1 point to reach 2389.

You can check out details on these and more on our website 24 hours a day at voanews.com.