World News Highlights 0600 GMT Nov 17

TOKYO - Japan sank into recession in the third quarter, even before it felt the full force of the financial crisis, and world leaders at a weekend summit gave investors little hope they could rescue the global economy.

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BAGHDAD - Iraq's cabinet approved a pact on Sunday that will let U.S. troops stay in the country until 2011, setting a final date to end a military presence that began with the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

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CHICAGO - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama resigned his seat in the Senate on Sunday to focus on his transition to the White House, appointing new staff and thanking his home state of Illinois for launching his political career.

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PARIS - The suspected head of military operations of Basque separatist rebel group ETA has been arrested in south western France, the French interior ministry said on Monday.

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JAKARTA - A powerful earthquake struck an area off Indonesia's northern Sulawesi early on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring nearly 40 after hundreds of houses collapsed, a disaster official said.

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HOUSTON - Space shuttle Endeavour docked at the International Space Station on Sunday on an outer-space home improvement mission to add amenities like a new toilet and kitchen to the 10-year-old orbital outpost.

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JOMBA, Congo - Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda agreed on Sunday to take part in U.N.-backed peace talks, but fighting between the army and rebels raged on in the east despite his declared support for a ceasefire.

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MOGADISHU - President Abdullahi Yusuf has admitted Islamist insurgents now control most of Somalia and raised the prospect his government could completely collapse.

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GAZA - An Israeli air strike killed four militants in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had commissioned a plan for military action in the Hamas-run territory if rocket attacks on Israel persist.

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LOS ANGELES - Wildfires hop-scotched around Southern California on Sunday although calmer winds slowed flames that have destroyed almost 1,000 houses, forced tens of thousands to evacuate and turned some neighborhoods into scenes resembling war zones.