The White House has indicated that President Barack Obama will not accept an invitation to meet Thursday with Senate Republicans on the deficit and debt.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney says the White House already knows what the Republican position is on the issue.

The top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell, invited the president to Capitol Hill to discuss the stalled efforts on cutting the government deficit and raising the U.S. debt ceiling to prevent a default on the nation's loans.

McConnell said Mr. Obama should hear directly from Republicans about why the president's call to eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy will not win congressional approval.

Spokesman Carney said hearing what would not pass in Congress is “not a conversation worth having.”

Mr. Obama on Wednesday challenged Republicans to increase tax revenue from the wealthy to reduce the nation's $1.4 trillion budget deficit. He called for an end to tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, big oil companies, hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the Senate is canceling a holiday recess next week to concentrate on the budget talks.

Reid said lawmakers will return to work Tuesday, after the July 4 Independence Day holiday, rather than taking the week off as had been scheduled. He said if the U.S. defaults on its loans, it could push the economy into a “full-blown depression.”

President Obama held talks earlier this week with Senators Reid and McConnell, although no progress was made on restarting joint negotiating sessions.

Talks stalled last week after Republican lawmakers walked out of the sessions chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. They said the White House was using the crisis to push for tax increases.

The United States risks defaulting on its $14.3 trillion national debt unless Congress acts to raise the legal limit on the amount the U.S. government is allowed to borrow by August 2.

Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, say they will not raise the debt ceiling without deep spending cuts. Democrats say Republicans are holding the debt ceiling vote hostage to an ultra-conservative fiscal agenda the Republicans could never enact on their own.

Russia says France may have violated a U.N. arms embargo on Libya by air-dropping weapons to rebels fighting troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi earlier this month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday Moscow has asked Paris to explain the arms drop to rebels in Libya's Western Mountains region. He says that if the incident is confirmed, it is a “flagrant violation” of a U.N. Security Council resolution that imposed an arms embargo on Libya in February.

French ambassador to the United Nations Gerard Araud said Wednesday the arms drop complies with a separate Security Council resolution adopted in March, establishing a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians. He says the French weapons are meant to defend Libyan civilians from attack by Mr. Gadhafi's forces.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday the alliance has no involvement in the French arms drop. France is a part of the NATO mission that has been carrying out weeks of air strikes on Libyan government targets to pressure Mr. Gadhafi into giving up power.

The Libyan leader has been using his forces to fight a pro-democracy rebellion that erupted in February against his 42-year autocratic rule.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that London is sending body armor, police uniforms and communications equipment to the Libyan rebels. He says the supplies include 5,000 sets of body armor, 6,650 police uniforms and 5,000 high-visibility vests.

Hague says the equipment will help Libya's opposition Transitional National Council to “better protect” rebel representatives and international aid communities in rebel-controlled areas.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman responded to a question about the French arms drop by calling on countries to avoid taking any action that goes beyond the mandate of the U.N. resolution authorizing the no-fly zone. China and Russia abstained from voting on that resolution.

French military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said Wednesday that France air-dropped light weapons into the Jebel Nafusa region of western Libya, including machine guns and rocket launchers.

A European Union court in Kosovo has convicted a Kosovo Albanian of terrorism and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

European authorities said Thursday the court found Asim Sopa, a member of the Albanian National Army, guilty of firing a rocket at the Pristina offices of a United Nations prosecutor in 2003.

The U.N., which governed Kosovo at the time, has declared the Albanian National Army a terrorist organization.

U.S. stock market indexes rose in Thursday's midday trading, as progress on the Greek debt issue encouraged investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 rose one percent and the NASDAQ gained 1.2 percent.

European stock markets were higher at the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index gained 1.5 percent to finish at 5,946. The CAC-40 in Paris moved up 1.5 percent to end at 3,982 and the DAX in Frankfurt jumped 1.1 percent to reach 7,376.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained two-tenths of a percent to finish at 9,816. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.5 percent to finish the day's trading at 23,398.

The price of gold fell more than $5 to trade at $1,509.08 an ounce.

The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.

The United Nations says a food crisis in Somalia is rapidly growing due to rising food prices and an ongoing drought in the region.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, warned Wednesday that many may die of malnutrition unless something is done to address the problem.

Bowden said food prices in Somalia have soared 270 percent compared to a year ago because of a persistent drought across the Horn of Africa.

He said Somalia has received only about 40 percent of the international aid it has requested.

The head of the U.N. World Food Program said Wednesday the agency is scaling back its programs in Somalia and Ethiopia because of dwindling resources.

Josette Sheeran said 10 million people in the region face severe food shortages.

The United Nations recently said the Horn of Africa is suffering the worst drought in six decades.

Afghanistan is going after former officials linked to a massive banking scandal that has jeopardized tens of millions of dollars in foreign aid.

Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari said Thursday authorities have arrested the former chairman and former chief executive at Kabul Bank, the country's biggest private lender.

He refused to share the specific charges but said ex-chairman Sher Khan Farnood and former chief executive Khalilullah Fruzi had embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars.

Nazari said both men were arrested Wednesday and could appear in court for trial in about a month.

The arrests are the first in a scandal that caused Kabul Bank to lose more than $900 million, pushing it to the edge of a collapse before the country's central bank stepped in to rescue it. They come just days after the former governor of Afghanistan's central bank fled to the United States, saying he feared for his life.

Former Central Bank Governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat told VOA his life was in danger from those he tried to prosecute for “stealing millions” from Kabul Bank. Afghan prosecutors contend Fitrat played a role in the Kabul Bank scandal and want him brought back to Afghanistan to faces charges.

The financial fiasco has caused some international donors to question the stability of Afghanistan's financial system, just as the country is trying to take on more responsibility for security and development.

The International Monetary Fund has decided not to renew its support program until the Afghan government takes concrete steps to resolve the Kabul Bank crisis. Tens of millions of dollars in aid from foreign donor nations has been subsequently withheld from Afghanistan.

Deputy Attorney General Nazari said Tuesday an arrest warrant for Fitrat has been sent to Interpol and the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

The scandal has touched some of the country's most powerful families. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brother and Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim's brother are both shareholders in Kabul Bank.

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China opened the world's longest cross-sea bridge Thursday.

The 36-kilometer Jiaozhou Bay Bridge stretches from China's eastern port city of Qingdao to the island district of Huangdao.

Chinese media say the bridge – touted as the longest of its kind – cost more than $2.3 billion.

The official Xinhua news agency says the bridge will cut travel time from about 45 minutes to 20 minutes.

Authorities say the bridge is expected to boost development of an industrial zone in Huangdao and increase the port's capacity.

Separately Thursday, China launched its inaugural run of high-speed train service between Beijing and Shanghai. The bullet train will make the 1,300-kilometer trip in less than five hours at a price of around $85, less than half the plane fare.

Thai voters go to the polls Sunday to choose a new parliament. Here are some key facts about the election:

The Main Candidates:

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva:

The Oxford educated Mr. Abhisit enjoys strong backing from the Thai military and the country's royalist elite. He was appointed prime minister in 2008, following two years of political upheaval triggered by a 2006 military coup that toppled then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Controversial court rulings later disbanded two pro-Thaksin ruling parties accused of electoral fraud, clearing the way for the rise to power of Mr. Abhisit and his Democrat Party.

The Abhisit government faced weeks of major street protests from Thaksin supporters in 2010. Tens-of-thousands of protesters at the so-called “Red Shirt” rallies tried to force Mr. Abhisit and his government from power by occupying Bangkok's main business district. When the military intervened to end the protests, more than 90 people were killed and hundreds of other were injured.

Yingluck Shinawatra:

Yingluck is the younger sister of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin, who faces a two-year prison term at home and currently lives in exile in Dubai. As head of the populist opposition Puea Thai party, the 44-year-old businesswoman — like her exiled brother — enjoys broad support by Thailand's rural and urban lower classes, as well as some “new money” business people.

Critics say Yingluck will be used as a front by her brother, who has said he would like to return to his homeland if his sister Yingluck wins and he is granted an amnesty. Mr. Thaksin told Australian radio in May that he has no ambition to return to political power. However, he said he continues to advise the Puea Thai party and says he taught and trained his sister in politics.

Polls show Yingluck is likely to win the most seats in the 500-seat parliament. But analysts say her party is likely to fall just short of a majority — an outcome that could lead to post-election instability and raise the possibility of further military intervention.

Others:

A total of 29 parties are contesting the election — Thailand's 26th since ending seven centuries of absolute monarchy and becoming a democracy in 1932. Policy debates range from minimum wage issues, inflation, unemployment, education initiatives and health care, to refugee concerns along the Burmese border and tensions with Cambodia over land disputes near that border. However, those issues and others remain largely overshadowed by the broad and simmering class divide separating the country's ruling elites from the populist-leaning opposition.

The Parliament

Voters will fill 375 seats in the 500-seat parliament, with lawmakers serving four-year terms. The remaining 125 seats will be filled by the parties, based on the percentage of votes each party wins.

The Electorate

There are about 47 million voters in the country of 67 million residents, and voter turnout in recent polls has been high. Nearly 75 percent of the electorate voted in 2007 polls.

The Military

Thailand's military has a long history of interfering in politics, having mounted 18 coups or attempted coups since 1932, and its powerful army chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, recently urged the Thai public to elect “good people.”

In comments June 15, the general said security services had found growing evidence of disrespect for the country's revered monarchy. However, he said the military would remain neutral in the polls.

The top Senate Republican has invited the president to Capitol Hill to discuss stalled efforts on cutting the government deficit and raising the U.S. debt ceiling to prevent a default on the nation’s loans.

Mitch McConnell said Thursday that President Barack Obama should hear directly from Republican lawmakers about why the president’s call to eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy will not win congressional approval.

At the White House Wednesday, Mr. Obama challenged Republicans to increase tax revenue from the wealthy to reduce the nation’s $1.4 trillion budget deficit. He said millionaires and billionaires must pay more taxes, and that big oil companies and corporate jet owners should not enjoy special tax breaks.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the Senate is canceling a holiday recess next week to concentrate on the budget talks.

Reid said lawmakers will take a holiday July 4 for Independence Day, and return to work Tuesday, rather than taking the week off as had been scheduled. He said if the U.S. defaults on its loans, it could push the economy into a “full-blown depression.”

President Obama held talks earlier this week with Senators Reid and McConnell, though no progress was made on restarting joint negotiating sessions.

Talks stalled last week after Republican lawmakers walked out of talks chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. They said the White House was using the crisis to push for tax increases.

The United States risks defaulting on its $14.3 trillion national debt unless Congress acts to raise the legal limit on the amount the U.S. government is allowed to borrow by August 2.

Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, say they will not raise the debt ceiling without deep spending cuts. Democrats say Republicans are holding the debt ceiling vote hostage to an ultra-conservative fiscal agenda the Republicans could never enact on their own.