Reuters World News Highlights at 1345 GMT, Nov 29
CAIRO - The body writing Egypt's new constitution began a session to vote on a final draft on Thursday, a move that President Mohamed Mursi's allies in the Muslim Brotherhood hope will help end a crisis prompted by a decree expanding his powers.
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WASHINGTON - Republican unity against raising tax rates for the wealthy began to show cracks on Wednesday after a conservative congressman said he would back an agreement with President Barack Obama to raise rates on the rich but extend tax cuts for income below $250,000.
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UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. General Assembly is set to implicitly recognize a sovereign state of Palestine on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding much-needed funds for the West Bank government.
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LONDON - A far-reaching inquiry into British newspapers called for a new independent body to regulate the press, backed by law, to prevent a repeat of the excesses that led to a phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid.
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VIENNA - The U.N. nuclear agency has made no progress in a year-long push to find out if Iran worked on developing an atomic bomb, its chief said on Thursday, calling for urgent efforts to end Tehran's standoff with the West.
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PHOENIX - Winning tickets bought in Arizona and Missouri matched numbers drawn for a record Powerball lottery jackpot of $588 million, the Multi-State Lottery Association said.
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HAMBURG - Argentina on Thursday asked a United Nations court to order the immediate release of its ship being held in Ghana at the request of holders of defaulted Argentine bonds.
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NEW YORK - Lindsay Lohan was arrested outside a New York nightclub on an assault charge early Thursday after she punched another woman in the face, police said, marking another legal dustup for the 26-year-old "Mean Girls" actress.
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NEW DELHI - The Indian government bowed to intense opposition pressure and agreed on Thursday to a vote on its decision to let foreign supermarkets set up shop in India, taking a major step towards ending a deadlock that has paralysed parliament for days.
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HILLA, Iraq - Bombs in two majority Shi'ite Muslim cities in southern Iraq killed 28 people on Thursday, police and hospital sources said, in an attack aimed at spreading sectarian strife.
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YANGON - Riot police fired water cannon and tear gas on Thursday to break up a three-month protest against a vast copper mining project run by the powerful Myanmar military and its partner, a subsidiary of a Chinese arms manufacturer.
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WASHINGTON - U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice failed on Wednesday to win over Republicans opposing her possible candidacy for U.S. secretary of state, and more senators - including a one-time supporter - questioned statements she made after the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi in September.
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CANBERRA - Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard heads into an election year with her leadership bruised over a union scandal dating back 20 years and with her government struggling to gain voter support after a brutal political year that ended on Thursday.
(Editing by Kevin Liffey)