AP - It was swift and chaotic, witnesses said, as the plastics plant worker with a determined look opened fire, killing five co-workers then himself in rural western Kentucky.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday warned Zimbabwe's president against declaring victory in what she said will be an illegitimate run-off election this week.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she expected developments on North Korea's long-delayed nuclear declaration within hours, as she arrived in Japan to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

AP - The Federal Reserve's aggressive period of cutting interest rates to keep the country from falling into a recession is over. That point is in general agreement. The trouble starts when you try to figure out what period the Fed has now entered.

AP - Angry politicians vowed to keep writing laws that condemn child rapists to death, despite a Supreme Court decision saying such punishment is unconstitutional.

AFP - The White House said Wednesday that it could move to take North Korea off a terrorism blacklist "quite soon" after, and if, the North delivers a full accounting of its nuclear programs.

AFP - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called Wednesday for peacekeepers to be sent to Zimbabwe as President Robert Mugabe defied world criticism by vowing to go ahead with this week's run-off election.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush believes the Iran nuclear issue can be solved diplomatically in a process involving allies including Israel, the White House said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court in a major capital punishment decision struck down on Wednesday the death penalty for child rape, its first decision in more than 30 years on whether a crime other than murder can be punished by execution.

Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the nation's worst tanker spill.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's neighbors on Wednesday urged the postponement of Friday's presidential election, saying the re-election of President Robert Mugabe could lack legitimacy in the current violent climate.

Reuters - A new round of storms dumped a half foot or more of rain across parts of the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday, dealing fresh trouble to a region already struggling with billions of dollars in flood damage.

Reuters - Hillary Clinton brushed off suggestions on Wednesday that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, does not seem to share her enthusiasm for campaigning for Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and voiced greater concern about inflation, taking a small step down a road toward higher borrowing costs.