Middle East

Gen. David Petraeus told congress he hoped to halt troop withdrawals from Iraq for 45 days starting in July. The senators he and Amb. Ryan Crocker testified to were not impressed.

Moqtada al-Sadr threatened to end the ceasefire his militia has maintained since last year. A dozen people were killed in Sadr city last night.

There were losses on both sides in clashes in the Gaza Strip.

2008 U.S. Elections

All three candidates used the Petraeus hearing as an opportunity to air their views on the Iraq war.

Barack Obama is breaking records for ad spending in Pennsylvania.

Obama continues to gain on Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania polls.

Asia

With protests worsening, the International Olympic Committee will meet to decide whether to alter or end the Olympic torch relay.

Negotiators say progress is being made in North Korean nuclear talks.

Nepal's upcoming elections have been marred by violence.

Europe

A mafioso-turned-crime writer was murdered in Bulgaria amidst growing gang violence.

Germany's Catholic Church has admitted using forced labor during the Holocaust.

Italian opposition leader and former president Silvio Berlusconi is under fire for making sexist comments a few days before national elections.

Elsewhere

The opposition accused Robert Mugabe's government of provoking violence in Zimbabwe. The country's high court said it would be "dangerous" to release official election results.

Lord's Resistance Army commander Joseph Kony may be ready to sign a peace deal that would end Uganda's long-running civil war. 

France called off a mission to secure the release of FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

Citigroup plans to sell $12 billion in leveraged loans to a group of private equity firms.

An artificial reef made of New York City subway cars is thriving off the coast of Delaware.

Today's Agenda 

• The Olympic flame will meet massive protests in San Francisco.
• Crocker and Petraeus will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
• Parliamentary elections will be held in South Korea. Record low turnout is expected.

Yesterday on Passport

• Avoiding reality on the Hill
• Daniel Fried: Macedonians exist
• Food-riot watch: Port-au-Prince under siege