AP - President Bush, beginning a splashy farewell trip to Europe, expressed both concern and confidence Monday about the U.S. economy, shaken by soaring energy prices, rising unemployment and a severe credit crunch.

AP - McDonald's said Monday it has stopped serving sliced tomatoes in its U.S. restaurants over concerns about salmonella food poisoning linked to some uncooked varieties.

AP - The presidential campaign's focus turned sharply to the economy Monday, an inopportune time for Republican John McCain as Americans cope with record-high gasoline prices and a spike in job losses.

AP - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said it was "good to be home" after flying back to Massachusetts on Monday, one week after undergoing an aggressive and delicate surgery to treat a cancerous brain tumor.

AP - Floodwaters washed away three houses and threatened dams in Wisconsin Monday as military crews joined desperate sandbagging operations to stop Indiana streams flooding to record levels.

AFP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has urged Colombia's Marxist rebels to free all their hostages, arguing that the time had come to wind up their decades-old guerrilla insurgency.

AFP - US President George W. Bush heads to Europe Monday to ask leaders already sizing up the rivals to become his successor for more help for Afghanistan, more pressure on Iran, and more cooperation on climate change.

Reuters - Rescuers on Monday brought to the surface alive two miners missing after a gas explosion at a Ukrainian colliery, and tried to push down a ventilation shaft to find 34 of their missing comrades.

Reuters - The U.S. average price for a gallon of regular gasoline topped $4 for the first time, a survey issued on Sunday by the travel group AAA showed.

Reuters - Passers-by prayed and placed flowers on a busy Tokyo shopping street on Monday where seven people were killed the day before in a stabbing rampage, as Japan tried to make sense of the attack and others like it.

Reuters - Chinese officials have sent condolences and payments to parents of children killed in a school that crumpled in the country's huge earthquake, seeking to defuse outrage over shoddy buildings and claimed corruption.

AP - Shuttle Discovery's astronauts breezed through their third and final spacewalk Sunday, replacing an empty gas tank at the international space station and collecting a sample of dusty debris.

AP - A Chicago chef known for his ethereal cooking — as well as the tongue cancer that nearly ended his life — was named the nation's top chef Sunday by the James Beard Foundation.