Reuters - U.S. General David McKiernan took command of around 50,000 troops in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan on Tuesday, pledging that anyone who stood in the way of security would be dealt with.

Reuters - Top Chinese officials considered on Tuesday a plan to rebuild earthquake-ravaged parts of the country's southwest while protests by grieving parents and dangerous quake lakes cast a shadow over relief efforts.

Reuters - Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts is "recuperating well" from brain surgery and should be released within a week from Duke University Medical Center, his office said on Tuesday.

Reuters - General Motors Corp on Tuesday said it is closing four truck plants employing 10,000 workers and could sell its Hummer brand in a rushed response to higher gasoline prices that the largest U.S. automaker now sees as a permanent threat to its business.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made clear on Tuesday Washington will press for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal this year despite the corruption scandal dogging Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Reuters - Barack Obama edged closer to capturing the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday amid speculation that Hillary Clinton will soon drop her historic White House bid.

AP - Five rounds into the French Open, king of clay Rafael Nadal still awaits a serious challenge. Novak Djokovic hopes to provide it in the semifinals. Three-time defending champion Nadal matched the most lopsided Grand Slam victory of his career Tuesday, defeating fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. The drubbing equaled the standard Nadal set in his previous victory, when he lost three games against another Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco.

AP - Stephen Colbert, the host of his own Comedy Central show, Emmy winner, faux presidential candidate and best-selling author, added to that esteemed collection an award from Princeton University: "The Great Princeton Class of 2008 Understandable Vanity Award."

AP - Tatum O'Neal told a newspaper columnist she is grateful to the New York City police officers who busted her for cocaine and saved her from herself.

AP - Orders for manufactured goods posted a surprisingly strong increase in April as demand rose across a number of industries.

AP - Spacewalking astronauts floated outside the international space station Tuesday to help install the orbiting outpost's newest room, a bus-sized Japanese laboratory.

AP - Parents awaiting the release of children taken into state custody during a raid of a polygamist group's ranch may need to wait a few days because so many parents are showing up at foster homes simultaneously, a sect leader said Tuesday.

AP - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy enjoyed "a restful night's sleep" and was walking hospital hallways on Tuesday, one day after undergoing an aggressive brain surgery aimed at slicing away at a cancerous tumor to give chemotherapy and radiation treatments a chance to work.

AP - General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, affecting 10,000 workers, as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.

AP - Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation's first female president.