ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Sarah Palin, the brash, deeply conservative governor of Alaska who crashed onto the U.S. national political scene last year as the Republican candidate for U.S. vice president, announced abruptly on Friday she was resigning as governor.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate in 2008, said on Friday she will resign this month, an unexpected move that could signal a run for higher office.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has a hard road ahead if it is to heal the divisions that spurred six years of bloodshed and achieve lasting peace, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said during a trip there on Friday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected U.S. President Barack Obama's charge that he was mired in Cold War thinking, setting the scene for a stormy first meeting at a Moscow summit next week.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's envoy will hold a second meeting in a week with Israel's defense minister, an Israeli official said on Friday, announcing talks on Monday likely to focus again on a dispute over settlements.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will fly to London Sunday for a meeting with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, an Israeli official said on Friday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. businessmen are expected to use a Russia-U.S. business summit on Tuesday to press Moscow to rein in corruption and improve conditions for western companies operating in the country.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia hopes next week's visit by U.S. President Barack Obama will help restore confidence between the two biggest nuclear powers, a Kremlin aide said on Friday, after strains over Georgia and a U.S. missile shield plan.

LAGOS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's choice of Ghana for his first official trip to Africa next week has triggered a bout of self-questioning in Nigeria and Kenya, where many see his itinerary as a deliberate snub.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. and Russian negotiators have still not reached agreement on cutting stocks of their deadliest nuclear weapons ahead of President Barack Obama's first visit to Moscow on Monday, sources close to the talks said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued an informal invitation to President Barack Obama to visit Damascus for talks, in a sign that relations between the two countries may gradually be thawing.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will use next week's Moscow talks to relieve President Barack Obama of mistaken impressions he remains mired in Cold War thinking, Putin's spokesman said on Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Top California lawmakers raised hope on Thursday that an elusive budget deal could be at hand, as officials began issuing billions of dollars in "IOUs" to avoid a cash crisis on the second day of a new fiscal year without an agreement to balance the state's books.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who faces growing calls to quit over an extramarital affair, did not misuse public funds in trips he made to see his mistress, the state's top police official said on Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Henry Waxman, hospitalized in Los Angeles for a fainting spell days after spearheading House passage of a landmark climate change bill, will be back at work on Capitol Hill next week, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who faces growing calls to quit over his affair with an Argentine woman, did not misuse public funds in trips he made to see his mistress, the state's top police official said on Thursday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made a previously unannounced visit to Baghdad on Thursday to meet Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders just days after American troops withdrew from Iraqi towns and city centers.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may discuss reserve currencies with U.S. President Barack Obama at a breakfast in Moscow next week, Putin's spokesman said on Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California officials, facing a cash crisis without a state budget agreement, approved on Thursday a 3.75 percent interest rate and an October 2 maturity date for registered warrants, or "IOUs," the state will issue in lieu of payments to vendors, local agencies and individuals.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday there were signs that the "economic storm" that has made millions jobless was waning, but warned that it would still take the United States many months to recover.