WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) -- U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said Thursday he thinks he will be able to order further U.S. troop reductions in Iraq come September.

Petraeus, testifying before the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee, which is considering his nomination to head us the U.S. Central Command, said his recommendation will be determined by the situation once the summer reduction is completed.

"My sense is that I will be able to make a recommendation at that time for some further reductions," Petraeus said, who earlier noted the situation in Iraq has improved markedly. "I don't want to imply that that means a BCT (brigade combat team) or major combat formation, although it could, but I do believe that there will be certain assets that, as we are already looking at the picture right now, we'll be able to recommend can be either redeployed or not deployed to the theater in the fall."

The hearing also will consider the nomination of U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno to replace Petraeus as head of the Multinational Force-Iraq.

China quake death toll surges to 51,151

BEIJING, May 22 (UPI) -- The soaring death toll from southwestern China's devastating earthquake jumped nearly 10,000 to 51,151 Thursday, government officials reported.

The official count raised the injury total from the 7.9-magnitude quake to 288,431 with another 29,328 people missing.

CNN reported that domestic and international donations to help quake recovery, as of midday Thursday, had reached a reported $3 billion.

Meanwhile, China announced it would cut government spending by 5 percent this year so it can set aside $10.14 billion for reconstruction in the nation's quake-devastated regions.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who has been directing the massive relief program since the May 12 disaster in Sichuan province and surrounding areas, promised to provide more in the next two years, Xinhua reported.

McCain aide's lobbying past under scrutiny

WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) -- Lobbyist Charles Black, a friend and key adviser to U.S. Sen. John McCain, has come under fire for his representing foreign interests, including dictators.

U.S. Justice Department Foreign Agents Registration Act records submitted by Black's firm describe lobbying efforts during the 1980s on behalf of brutal Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi, who was fighting the country's Marxist government, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported Thursday.

Black's firm also represented other U.S.-backed leaders with dismal human rights records, including Philippine's Ferdinand Marcos, Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, Nigerian Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre.

Democrats say they want the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to fire Black because of his client list.

McCain, R-Ariz., "portrays himself as Mr. Clean, and then he has all these lobbyists around him who are connected to a lot of not-so-clean people," said Paul Light, a public service professor at New York University.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., can paint McCain as a Washington insider, Light told the Post, "and what could be more Washington-esque than having a dictator as a client?"

Republicans counter that Obama's hands aren't clean. They note that while Obama doesn't accept donations from lobbyists, the senator has had lobbyists informally advising him.

Obama's position on Israel concerns Jews

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., May 22 (UPI) -- American Jews, one constituency on which Democrats rely for support, say they're conflicted about Sen. Barack Obama as a potential presidential candidate.

Younger members of this key voting bloc support Obama, D-Ill., who won 45 percent of the Jewish vote in primaries, but in recent presidential elections, Jews have moved more to the right, The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported Thursday.

Resistance to Obama seems to be grounded in his commitment to Israel, dozens of Jews living in Florida told the Times.

"The people here, liberal people, will not vote for Obama because of his attitude towards Israel," Shirley Weitz, 83, of Boynton Beach, Fla., said.

If he becomes the party's nominee, Obama needs the Jewish vote, particularly in Florida where Jews are about 5 percent of voters.

Jews view Obama two ways, said Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington. When viewed as a scholar, Obama is seen as social justice advocate and a defender of Israel, Saperstein said.

The other view, however, is tempered by the controversy surrounding his vitriolic former pastor, raising questions about his support for Israel.

"It's too early to know how they will play out," Rabbi Saperstein said.

Suicide bombing at Gaza crossing kills one

GAZA, May 22 (UPI) -- A Palestinian suicide bomber apparently was the only casualty when an explosives-laden truck detonated Thursday on the Gaza-Israel border, officials said.

Islamic Jihad and the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the latest attack on Gaza border crossings in recent weeks, The New York Times reported.

Islamic Jihad said the truck carried hundreds of pounds of explosives.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said two other militants in the truck escaped before the explosion.

Israeli air force planes attacked a second vehicle heading out of northern Gaza, reported DEBKAfile.com, a military intelligence Web site based in Jerusalem. The areas around the bomb site were declared a closed military area.

The bombing occurred at the Erez crossing, once the main thoroughfare for Palestinian day laborers working in Israel but now used for humanitarian purposes, the Times said.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops and militants exchanged mortar fire and gunfire at the Sufa crossing to the south, DEBKAfile.com reported. Israel has closed the crossing through which the Gaza residents received basic supplies.