* Category 4 Earl threatens North Carolina's Outer Banks * Hurricane watch issued for most of North Carolina coast * Direct full hit to U.S. shoreline is not forecast so far * But any westward shift could prompt evacuations (Updates with latest storm locations, hurricane watch area expanded) By Jane Sutton MIAMI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Powerful Hurricane Earl churned toward the eastern U.S. seaboard on Tuesday and looked to sideswipe the densely populated coa

* Four Israeli civilians shot dead * Hamas claims responsibility, armed wing threatens more * Israel says bid to derail diplomacy won't succeed (Updates with Netanyahu, Hamas threat, changing dateline) By Douglas Hamilton JERUSALEM, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Four Israeli settlers were shot dead in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in an attack that Islamist Palestinian group Hamas said was its first assault on Middle East peace talks due to start on Wednesday i

* Rwanda has 3,485 soldiers, 143 police in Darfur * Calls U.N. report claims of genocide 'malicious' * Accuses U.N. of double standards (Adds details, U.N. spokesman; paragraphs 2, 10) By Kezio-Musoke David KIGALI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Rwanda is considering pulling out all its troops from United Nations peacekeeping missions, starting with Darfur, after a leaked draft U.N. report said Rwandan troops may have committed genocide in Congo. The Central African

* This could occur at North Carolina's Cape Hatteras * Any shift west of Earl's track could prompt evacuations (Recasts, adds details, quotes) MIAMI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are considering coastal evacuations along the eastern seaboard if Hurricane Earl's track suddenly shifts westward after coming close to the North Carolina coast this week, federal officials said on Tuesday. "There is still some concern for a close approach to Cape Hatteras on Thursda

(Adds roadside bomb, quote) LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Three aid workers with British humanitarian group Oxfam have been killed by a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan, the charity said on Tuesday. It said in a statement two Afghan staff members and a community volunteer were killed in the remote mountainous region of Badakhshan. "They died in a roadside bomb attack," an Oxfam spokeswoman said. Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since Afghan arme

LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - British aid group Oxfam said on Tuesday it had suspended operations in a northern Afghan region after two of its workers died there. An Oxfam spokeswoman in London declined to say how they died or whether the Taliban were involved. Oxfam said two Afghan staff members and a community volunteer had died in the remote region of Badakhshan. "We have temporarily suspended operations in Badakhshan and are reviewing all security measures and protocols,&qu

* Anger rising over lack of medical care * Sleeping on hospital floors * Children's emergency (Updates with quote from U.N. official) By Kamran Haider MUZAFFARGARH, Pakistan, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Victims of Pakistan's floods on Tuesday queued at hospitals where scant resources were available to treat a rising number of patients. Aid agencies fear disease, food shortages and malnutrition may create new crises as people head back to their shattered tow

* Combined environmental factors creating risk * Analysts says global weather patterns a catalyst * Calls for tighter river management By Rebecca Conway ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Global warming might be one explanation for Pakistan's devastating floods, but scientists believe poor land management, outdated irrigation systems and logging are at least as much to blame. Flooding has battered Pakistan since the onset of heavy monsoon rains a month ago, aff

* 50,000 U.S. soldiers are staying on * Iraq now stands as equal to United States - Maliki * Biden in Baghdad to press leaders to form government (Adds comment by Baath party and Maliki) By Serena Chaudhry and Rania El Gamal BAGHDAD, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister said the end of U.S. combat operations on Tuesday restored Iraq's sovereignty and meant it stood as an equal to the United States, despite political deadlock and persistent violence.

* Three Russians released by military operation * Norwegian aid worker expelled from South Darfur (Adds Norwegian expelled, detail of release) By Opheera McDoom KHARTOUM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Three Russian air crew members kidnapped in Darfur two days ago were released on Tuesday after a military operation by Sudan's army, officials said. The three, who were working for the Sudanese Badr Airlines but subcontracted to the U.N.-African Union (UNAMID) peaceke