GENEVA Some pre-negotiation jabbing turned into a potentially damaging diplomatic incident Saturday when Brazil's foreign minister said rich countries' deception in trade talks reminded him of tactics used by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. (More)

KABUL, Afghanistan Barack Obama visited Saturday with U.S. troops and Afghan officials in this war-weary nation, which is the focal point of his proposed strategy for dealing with threats to the U.S. if elected president. (More)

LONDON A Shiite militia that has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of five Britons in Iraq more than a year ago said one of the hostages committed suicide, a British newspaper reported. (More)

KHARTOUM, Sudan 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. (More)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia One of five feet that have mysteriously washed up on the shores of British Columbia over the past year has been linked to a depressed man who disappeared a year ago, police said Saturday. (More)

QUNU, South Africa QUNU, South Africa - Songs, laughter, teasing and tender words marked Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration Saturday as presidents, village elders and African royalty joined him for a festive luncheon on his rural homestead. (More)

BAGHDAD Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc returned to the government fold Saturday after calling off a nearly one-year boycott of the Shiite-dominated leadership - another critical stride toward healing sectarian rifts. (More)

BAGHDAD 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. (More)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents attacking a supply convoy for NATO troops, killing nine militants, officials said Saturday. Roadside bombs killed a NATO soldier in a separate convoy and four policemen. (More)

BERLIN More than 1.5 million revelers danced through the streets of the western German city of Dortmund on Saturday at the annual Love Parade techno music festival. (More)

GENEVA 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. (More)

MUMBAI, India That one time, hanging out the open door of the crowded train was lucky for Mahendra Pitale. Had he been sitting inside the train car, the 34-year-old sculptor almost certainly would have been killed when the bomb exploded. (More)

SYDNEY, Australia Pope Benedict XVI apologized Saturday for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, keeping up efforts begun in the United States to publicly atone for what he called evil acts by priests. (More)

SAMUT SONGKRAM, Thailand Rushing across a temple parking lot, British angler Rick Humphreys yells, "We've got a fish." (More)

ISTANBUL, Turkey In the depths of despair, Suzan doused herself and her 14-year-old daughter with gasoline and prepared to set them both on fire. (More)

Comments by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, in an Associated Press interview Saturday in Baghdad: (More)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa Zimbabwe's beaten down opposition may end up being forced to accept what it swears is unacceptable - a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe. (More)

SEOUL, South Korea A helicopter carrying the Rev. Sun Myung Moon crashed into a mountainside Saturday as it attempted an emergency landing, injuring the founder of the Unification Church and 15 others, officials said. (More)

BAGHDAD Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc ended a nearly yearlong boycott of the Shiite-led government Saturday in another step toward healing the sectarian rifts that once brought almost daily bloodshed. (More)

CAIRO, Egypt Archaeologists will excavate hundreds of fragments of an ancient Egyptian wooden boat entombed in an underground chamber next to Giza's Great Pyramid and try to reassemble the craft, Egyptologists announced Saturday. (More)

JERUSALEM A former Israeli defense official says the Israeli military used cluster bombs for two weeks during the 2006 Lebanon war without telling the Israeli government. (More)

BAGHDAD Iraqi officials say they have approved plans to build a five-star hotel in the Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone. (More)

BAGHDAD 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. (More)

VIENNA, Austria Austrian authorities have ordered a new round of medical and psychiatric tests to determine whether a suspected Nazi is healthy enough to be extradited to Croatia to stand trial for alleged atrocities. (More)

BEIJING 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. (More)