AP - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama held a breakfast meeting Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the first event in a day packed with meetings and travel across Israel and the Palestinian territories.

AFP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted Monday the EU will not force Ireland to vote again after its shock rejection of the bloc's new treaty, as he faced protests in Dublin.

AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Tuesday that security in Iraq has improved and that the United States urgently needs to turn its attention to Afghanistan.

AP - Europe is about to give Barack Obama one of the grandest of stages for statesmanship.

AP - Jordan, Israel and Germany aren't normally known as swing states in a White House campaign. But Barack Obama's off to a fast start in his attempt to change that with an election-season tour designed to show him as a potential commander in chief, equally comfortable sitting down — presidential style — with kings and other foreign leaders.

AP - Yet another town-hall meeting isn't doing the trick. Neither is dropping in on a former Republican president. So just what can John McCain do to draw attention away from his showy Democratic rival?

AP - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama stepped into the thicket of Mideast politics Wednesday, declaring that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are strong enough internally to make the bold concessions necessary for peace.

AP - Tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells behind the wheel that led to deadly crashes on highways. Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press.

AP - Democrats and Republicans queasy about a federal rescue of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are coalescing around the idea of letting the government slap limits on the multimillion-dollar pay packages of their executives.