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FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) - In his first public remarks since he and two other American hostages were freed in Colombia, a U.S. defense contractor on Monday branded their captors as terrorists and praised the Colombian army for a daring rescue.

New york (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed a case brought by families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks who said the city denied proper burials by sending debris containing possible human remains to a garbage dump.

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks, measured by MSCI, fell on Tuesday to their lowest level since October 2006, with the index dropping 20 percent below its all-time highs set in November last year.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and American interests around the world if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear activities, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will propose overhauling U.S. bankruptcy laws on Tuesday to ease their impact on people unable to pay their bills because of medical expenses or military service.

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The United States and the Czech Republic signed a treaty on Tuesday allowing Washington to build part of a missile defense shield in the central European state despite opposition from its former Cold War master Russia.

New york (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday said the U.S. central bank might keep open a lifeline to financial firms as it fights to keep the credit crisis from wreaking further havoc on the struggling economy.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will not accept any security agreement with the United States unless it includes dates for the withdrawal of foreign forces, the government's national security adviser said on Tuesday.

POWDER SPRINGS, Georgia (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama rejected charges on Tuesday that he has shifted positions on Iraq and other issues as part of a move to the center now that he is his party's nominee.

ARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank may keep an emergency lending facility for big Wall Street firms open longer than it initially intended, a signal the Fed is fearful of shutting down a vital backstop.