Top Stories - AP

LONDON - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama brushed aside Republican criticism of his overseas trip on Saturday and stood outside the famed 10 Downing Street to say that both President Bush and Sen. John McCain were moving his way on the key issues of Iraq and Afghanistan.

AHMADABAD, India - At least 29 people were killed and 88 wounded when a series of small explosions hit the western Indian city of Ahmadabad on Saturday, a top official said, a day after seven similar blasts struck a southern city.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's president said Saturday his country now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in its nuclear program that is certain to further rankle the United States and others who fear Tehran is intent on developing weapons.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Jack Reed says America can't afford the Republican strategy of continuing to write blank checks for the Iraq war.

NEWARK, Texas - Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper.

WASHINGTON - Republicans on Saturday blocked the Senate from considering a bill next week that would nearly double federal aid to help the poor pay heating and air-conditioning bills.

CLEVELAND - "The Price Is Right" host Drew Carey is ready to showcase his Shakespearean side in a concert appearance with the Cleveland Orchestra.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Two banks operating in Nevada, Arizona and California — 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank N.A. — were closed Friday by federal regulators.

TORONTO - Alex Rios homered twice, David Purcey earned his first major league win and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Seattle 8-3 on Saturday, handing the Mariners their seventh consecutive defeat.

INDIANAPOLIS - Two-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson won the pole Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, giving him the top starting spot in a race that has consistently vexed him.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - To police, Steven Hirschfield was violent and out of control when he clambered aboard a patrol boat sent to rescue him in the San Diego Bay during a gay pride party.

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday he's eager to sign legislation that triples money to fight AIDS and other diseases around the world — an initiative that has won him praise from some of his harshest critics.

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage against an Islamic civil rights group over its use of a portion of his show in which he called the Quran a "book of hate."

MANILA, Philippines - Australian investigators on Saturday began examining a Qantas jumbo jet which had to make an emergency landing after a large hole opened on its fuselage, a Philippine aviation official said.

WASHINGTON - Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s $3.3 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will mean millions of subscribers will be able to receive programming from both services, while executives say it will create huge cost savings for the industry.

BEIJING - Polluted Beijing is usually shrouded in gray, so for the Olympics, Beijing city officials have tried to add some color.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California on Friday became the first state to ban trans fats from restaurant food, following several cities and major fast-food chains in erasing the notorious artery-clogger from menus.

OAKVILLE, Ontario - Chez Reavie picked up a stroke before he even got to Glen Abbey for the third round of the Canadian Open.

Joba Chamberlain and the New York Yankees picked up a big win against the Boston Red Sox and then got some help for the pennant race.

LOS ANGELES - The reality is, there won't be an Emmy host this year — there will be five.

LOS ANGELES - About two months ago, Dr. Kevin Antario Brown was hobnobbing with guests at a celebrity poker tournament at the Playboy Mansion, his disaster-relief medical charity the beneficiary of the lavish event.

BOSTON - Joba Chamberlain dominated the Boston Red Sox with his best major league start and the surging New York Yankees moved two games behind their longtime rivals with a 1-0 victory Friday night.

LOS ANGELES - Halle Berry said a paparazzi went too far to get a shot of her infant daughter, alleging that the shooter trespassed on her private property and snapped them hanging out in the backyard.

DAKAR, Senegal - To compete in the Francophone World Scrabble Championship, 32-year-old Elisee Poka spent five days in a bus traversing Africa's potholed roads. His competitors from France arrived by plane.

PARIS - An aide to Sen. Barack Obama said Friday the Democratic presidential contender believed he could visit wounded troops at a military hospital in Germany without involving them in a campaign controversy and scrapped his plans after the Pentagon raised concerns.

WASHINGTON - Only jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico are implicated in the nationwide salmonella outbreak, the government announced Friday in clearing the U.S. crop.

DENVER - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, ridiculing Barack Obama for "the audacity of hopelessness" in his policies on Iraq, said Friday that the entire Middle East could have plunged into war had U.S. troops been withdrawn as his rival advocated.

DAYTON, Ohio - A minor league pitcher accused of throwing a ball that hit a fan in the forehead during a bench-clearing brawl was charged with felonious assault, ordered held on $50,000 bond and directed to surrender his passport.