Reuters - Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including an Islamic Jihad commander, in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday in the first fatal raid since a ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip last week.

Reuters - Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said on Tuesday that Germany planned to increase the number of troops it can send to Afghanistan by 1,000 later this year.

Reuters - Levees held on the Mississippi River on Monday in the worst Midwest floods in 15 years as residents tackled a slow, smelly recovery from multibillion-dollar losses that may boost world food prices.

Reuters - Divers found ghostly white bodies floating head up inside a sunken passenger ferry in the central Philippines on Tuesday raising fears of a mass grave below the waves.

Reuters - India's government and its communist allies meet on Wednesday over a civilian nuclear deal with the United States, in talks that could decide if the controversial energy pact or the ruling coalition survives.

Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is defending his decision to switch position in favor of U.S. offshore oil drilling as he seeks votes in environmentally conscious California.

Reuters - The U.N. Security Council has for the first time unanimously condemned violence against opposition supporters in Zimbabwe and said a free and fair presidential election is impossible now.

AP - Felix Hernandez hit the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in 37 years, then departed with a sprained ankle before he could qualify for a win in the Seattle Mariners' 5-2 victory over the New York Mets on Monday night.

AP - Oil prices steadied near $137 a barrel Tuesday, supported by concerns over supply disruptions out of Nigeria and new European Union sanctions against Iran.

AP - As towns upriver watched the Mississippi River slowly begin to recede, a few farther south focused on holding on for a few more days — furiously filling sandbags and keeping watch over saturated levees struggling to hold back the flooded river.

AP - Months after returning to the radio with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by his comments about a women's basketball team, Don Imus is once again defending on-air remarks regarding race.

AP - Firefighters from neighboring states arrived to help Monday after an "unprecedented" lightning storm sparked more than 800 wildfires, from Big Sur to wine country to Humboldt County.

AP - The choice for John McCain's running mate is such a mystery that few people even know who is helping in that search. The Republican is leaning on a consummate behind-the-scenes player in Washington — attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. — for this maximum-discretion, minimal-disclosure assignment.