DEMOCRATS in the US House of Representatives might decide not to support a last-minute deal to raise the debt ceiling when they meet today, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said last night.

The Taliban took aim at Afghanistan’s intelligence services today, killing four people and injuring more than 30 in two separate attacks, including a suicide bombing on a bus in the capital, officials said.

PRIME Minister Nuri al- Maliki said yesterday Iraq’s own soldiers and police were capable of defending a “sovereign and independent” country as American forces ended seven years of combat operations.

An al-Qaida front group in Iraq declared in a statement posted on the internet today that its two top figures have been killed.

RELATIONS between Israel and the United States have hit a 35-year low, Israel’s ambassador in Washington said, amid simmering tensions between the two allies.

US Vice President Joe Biden became embroiled in a row with a key aide to former President George Bush after saying he gave an earful to Mr Bush in the Oval Office.