Reuters - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought the government's go-ahead on Sunday for a prisoner swap with Hezbollah to recover two soldiers whose abduction by the Iranian-backed guerrillas triggered the 2006 Lebanon war.

Reuters - Pakistani security forces have secured an area in the Khyber region, where a key supply route passes into Afghanistan, a day after launching an offensive to push back militants threatening Peshawar.

Reuters - Iraqi officials have expressed outrage over a U.S. raid near the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, which they said should have been approved by local authorities since security for the area is under Iraqi control.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, under pressure to raise human rights and Tibet with Chinese officials, emphasized friendship over friction during a visit to China on Sunday.

Reuters - U.S. congressional leaders agreed late last year to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's one-candidate presidential election was not free and fair and it should be held again, African observers said on Sunday.

AP - Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama on Saturday vied for the support of Hispanics, beginning a four-month courtship of a pivotal voting constituency by vowing to revamp immigration policy.

AP - A Chinese investment fund manager won the chance to have lunch with billionaire Warren Buffett by bidding $2.1 million in the most expensive charity auction ever held on eBay.

AP - A makeshift barrier holding back the Mississippi River failed early Saturday, swamping the low-lying part of the small community of Winfield and ending a valiant but ultimately doomed battle against the surging river.

AP - Hundreds of lightning-sparked wildfires have turned the air of Northern California into an unhealthy stew of smoke and ash, forcing the cancellation of athletic events and other outdoor activities.

AP - Beef bested bombs.

AP - Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night — and it still wasn't good enough for the Los Angeles Angels.

AP - Paramilitary troops returned Sunday to posts they had been forced to abandon and Pakistani forces widened their offensive against militants operating in a volatile tribal area along the Afghan border, an official said.

AP - A European Vogue cover model fell to her death from her Manhattan apartment building Saturday in an apparent suicide, published reports said.

AP - Police began an investigation Sunday into an allegation that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim sodomized his male aide, sparking speculation he could be sent back to prison on the same charge that led to his ouster from Malaysia's government a decade ago.