Britain's Brown demands end to Israel settlements

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded Sunday that Israel cease settlement construction and promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy.

Dream of gas tax holiday falters over job losses

The political vision of a summer gas tax holiday died a quick death in Congress, losing to a view that federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel will have to go up if they go anywhere.

• American Road & Transportation Builders Association

US general: al-Qaida may be easing effort in Iraq

After intense U.S. assaults, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday.

Bush: Congress could take steps to ease gas prices

Responding to Americans' anger over gas prices and the housing bust, President Bush is stepping up pressure on Congress to open up offshore oil exploration and work to restore confidence in the housing finance industry.

NATO: 4 Afghans accidentally killed

NATO said Sunday that its forces accidentally killed at least four civilians in eastern Afghanistan, while an official in the nation's west said foreign troops used airstrikes on Afghan police, killing nine.

Pope urges Australian youths to spurn materialism

Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and he challenged young people to shed the greed and cynicism of their time to create a new age of hope for humankind.

Obama breakfasts with troops in Kabul

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama shared Sunday breakfast with American troops in Kabul ahead of an expected meeting with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, a man Obama has criticized for not doing enough to rebuild his war-torn country.

• Guessing game: Who will be the next Republican vice presidential candidate?
• More election coverage from McClatchy's D.C. bureau

Investigation of Houston crane collapse begins

Federal investigators on Saturday began trying to figure out why one of the world's largest mobile cranes toppled over, killing four contract workers and injuring seven others.

Lawsuit exposes growing rift among King children

For years, they were the picture of solidarity: the four children of Martin Luther King Jr. carrying on the legacy of the civil rights icon.

Peace, not indictment of president, stirs Sudanese

For years, Mohammed Ali has been hearing relatives and friends tell how government-backed militiamen torched villages in his native Darfur, raped women and shot fleeing civilians.

Most Calif. fires contained; stubborn blazes left

Cooler weather has allowed fire crews to corral most of the wildfires across California, but a handful of stubborn, hard-to-reach mountain blazes Saturday were still keeping residents from their homes.

Tropical Storm Cristobal forms off Southeast coast

Tropical Storm Cristobal churned off the Southeast seaboard after it formed Saturday, the first storm to threaten the U.S. this hurricane season, forecasters said.

Gore pushes environment with activist bloggers

Last year it was about the candidates. This year it's the climate.

Iran nuclear talks stall, even with US at table

A U.S. decision to bend policy and sit down with Iran at nuclear talks fizzled Saturday, with Iran stonewalling Washington and five other world powers on their call to freeze uranium enrichment.

• Iraq crackdown focuses on arms smuggling from Iran
• Rice: US still puts conditions on talks with Iran
• International Atomic Energy Agency

Woman in W.Pa. baby mystery partially eviscerated

An autopsy on a woman's body found in an apartment linked to a mystery newborn baby found that the woman was partially eviscerated and her uterus was cut open, authorities said Saturday.

Investigators begin work at site of crane collapse

Federal officials started their investigation Saturday in the collapse of one of the nation's largest mobile cranes, which toppled at a Houston oil refinery, killing four workers and injuring seven others.

British prime minister meets with Iraqi leaders

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown held talks Saturday with Iraqi leaders less than a week after the announcement of expected British troop cuts in southern Iraq.

Beijing begins massive Olympic shutdown

Beijing's Olympic shutdown begins Sunday, a drastic plan to lift the Chinese capital's gray shroud of pollution just three weeks ahead of the games.

• Beijing 2008
• United States Olympic Commitee
• The Road to Beijing

Pope apologizes for clergy sex abuse in Australia

Pope Benedict XVI used some of the strongest language yet in his apology Saturday for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, but his words were just more of the same for the victims.

Bush agrees to time 'horizon' on Iraq troop cuts

President Bush and Iraq's prime minister have agreed to set a "general time horizon" for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war, a dramatic shift from the administration's once-ironclad unwillingness to talk about any kind of deadline or timetable.

• Iraq crackdown focuses on arms smuggling from Iran
• Group says displacement of Iraqis has slowed
• List of coalition deaths