Top Stories - AFP

LONDON (AFP) - White House hopeful Barack Obama wrapped up his adulation-soaked foreign tour Saturday, denying it was a premature victory lap, but admitting he could take a short-term hit in popularity back home.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Hamas-run security forces stormed across Gaza on Saturday, clashing with rival Palestinian gunmen and arresting dozens of people after a bomb killed five of its senior militants and a little girl.

BELGRADE (AFP) - Radovan Karadzic's bid to dodge trial for war crimes was reportedly in the mail Saturday after his lawyers sent off an appeal at the last possible minute against his transfer to a UN tribunal.

NAIROBI (AFP) - More than 14 million people across east Africa are facing a humanitarian disaster because of a "lethal mix" of soaring food prices, drought and conflict, aid agencies say.

GENEVA (AFP) - Ministers battled to nail down the last portion of a new global free trade pact Saturday, as delegates voiced optimism but some emerging economies threatened to dash fragile hopes of a breakthrough.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate on Saturday approved an elaborate housing rescue plan designed to help thousands of homeowners avert foreclosure and bolster mortgage finance giants that have struggled amid a volatile housing market.

SAINT-AMAND-MONTROND, France (AFP) - Spaniard Carlos Sastre virtually wrapped up the Tour de France yellow jersey here Saturday after stunning victory favourite Cadel Evans in the penultimate stage time trial.

LONDON (AFP) - Jamaica's Usain Bolt ran the second-fastest 200 metres in the world this year as he won the London Super Grand Prix event in a time of 19.76 seconds at Crystal Palace here Saturday.

RHODES, Greece (AFP) - Dozens of families from around the world gathered Saturday on the Greek island of Rhodes to pay tribute to the man who in 1944 saved 40 Jews from being deported to a Nazi concentration camps.

LONDON (AFP) - US presidential hopeful Barack Obama arrived in London Friday, the last scheduled stop on a world tour aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials before elections later this year.

BELGRADE (AFP) - A deadline for Radovan Karadzic to appeal his transfer to the UN war crimes tribunal expired Saturday, but it remained unclear whether his lawyer has lodged a complaint.

NICOSIA (AFP) - Rival Cypriot leaders on Friday set September 3 as the date when they will begin direct negotiations on ending the island's 34-year-old division.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Mississippi River reopened to limited traffic on Friday, two days after a barge collided with a tanker spilling hundreds of gallons of fuel oil, the US Coast Guard said.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new law Friday that will see artificial trans fats outlawed in restaurants across the most populous US state from 2010.

GENEVA (AFP) - World trade powers strode forward towards a new global pact on Friday amid real hopes of a breakthrough after seven years of deadlock, but several emerging nations threatened to torpedo a deal.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - New US home sales ticked down in June, government data showed Friday, but the better-than-expected figures sparked a glint of hope that the worst housing slump in decades may be scraping bottom.

MONTLUCON, France (AFP) - Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel finally handed his Cofidis team a well-deserved leaving gift by winning the 19th stage of the Tour de France between Roanne and Montlucon here Friday.

LONDON (AFP) - Former world record holder Asafa Powell grabbed a second pre-Olympics 100m win in three days on Friday when he cruised to victory at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.

BUDAPEST (AFP) - Budapest's highbrow Museum of Fine Arts has staged its first-ever photography exhibition, causing a sensation with a novel show paying tribute to some of the best artists of the genre.

BERLIN (AFP) - Barack Obama Thursday told a vast crowd of 200,000 people in Berlin that Americans and Europeans must tear down walls between estranged allies, races and faiths, in a soaring challenge to a new political generation.

PRETORIA (AFP) - Talks began in earnest Thursday on resolving Zimbabwe's political crisis after President Robert Mugabe gave his senior lieutenants the final go-ahead to negotiate power-sharing with the opposition.

KABUL (AFP) - The NATO chief called Thursday for Pakistan to be more involved in tackling extremist bases on its soil, as Afghanistan was hit by new attacks with at least 34 Taliban bodies found after one battle.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Explosions of magnetic energy between Earth and the moon are behind the sparkles and wavy glows of the Northern Lights that color the night sky, NASA said Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Internet security researchers on Thursday warned that hackers have caught on to a "critical" flaw that lets them control traffic on the Internet.

GENEVA (AFP) - Crucial WTO talks hung in the balance Thursday, with top negotiators stressing that progress was needed in the next 24 hours to avert another ignominious collapse.

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York state officials Thursday filed civil fraud charges against UBS, accusing the Swiss banking giant of marketing certain kinds of adjustable bonds as "safe" investments.

ST ETIENNE, France (AFP) - Spaniard Carlos Sastre of the CSC team retained the Tour de France yellow jersey here Thursday as German Marcus Burghardt handed his Columbia team their fifth victory of the race.

LONDON (AFP) - Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell has warned his Olympic rivals that he is back to his best after the shoulder injury that threatened to wreck his Beijing gold medal challenge.