Top Stories - AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama's signature drive to remake US health care barely cleared a key Senate hurdle in a narrow party-line vote the White House immediately hailed as an "historic" victory. Full Story »

HALIFAX, Canada (AFP) - Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts on Saturday decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban. Full Story »

COCKERMOUTH, England (AFP) - Britain's flood-hit northwest braced Saturday for more devastation after river levels rose again and forecasters warned of more rain following unprecedented torrential deluges. Full Story »

PARIS (AFP) - Swine flu vaccines are still effective despite reported cases of mutations in the A(H1N1) virus, health experts in Europe and North America said Saturday. Full Story »

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams sought to ease tensions between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches at "cordial" talks at the Vatican on Saturday. Full Story »

SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday strongly backed President Dmitry Medvedev's call for economic modernisation, moving to smother talk of differences between the two leaders. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Back from an Asia tour, President Barack Obama called Saturday for the United States to produce more goods to sell across the Pacific, touting trade as a way to revive the troubled US economy. Full Story »

UDINE, Italy (AFP) - South Africa coach Peter de Villiers and captain John Smit agreed that the world champions were back on track following their 32-10 win over Italy here. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The New England Patriots did it in 2007 with a magnificent 16-0 season so why not the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts in 2009? Full Story »

NEW YORK (AFP) - The rhinestone-encrusted glove worn by pop icon Michael Jackson for his first "moonwalk" dance in 1983 sold Saturday for 350,000 dollars at a frenzied auction in New York. Full Story »