AP - Pilgrims cheered, sang and wept as a giant wooden cross serving as the symbol of a Roman Catholic youth festival that will be led by Pope Benedict XVI sailed into Sydney Harbor on Monday, the culmination of a yearlong journey through Australia.

AP - Violent thunderstorms brought rain bursts that modestly helped firefighting efforts Sunday, but the downpours also triggered mudslides that complicated California's unfolding wildfire disaster.

AP - An International Criminal Court prosecutor is expected to seek an arrest warrant charging Sudan's president with genocide and crimes against humanity on Monday when he reveals details of his investigation into war crimes in Darfur.

AP - Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light, has agreed to a takeover by a giant Belgian brewer, a union that creates a global beer leader and brings to an end one of the most iconic names in American business.

AP - More than 100 militants firing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars fought their way into a remote base built last week, killing nine American soldiers in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years.

AP - Scrambling to bolster eroding investor confidence, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department announced steps to brace slumping mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

AFP - Sudan vowed on Sunday to guarantee foreigners' safety as around 1,000 protesters slammed the United States and International Criminal Court for an expected indictment of their head of state.

AFP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and more than 40 leaders on Sunday launched a new Union for the Mediterranean, hoping to inject momentum in Middle East peace efforts.

Reuters - A Turkish court on Sunday ordered a man to be held in custody over an attack on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul in which six people were killed, the state-run Anatolian news agency reported.

Reuters - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Sunday the Bush administration did not believe it should do anything about global warming and that any last-minute action before leaving office would be "bogus."

Reuters - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said on Sunday he used "poor phrasing" in a speech supporting Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.

Reuters - Iraqi security forces are poised to launch a major crackdown in volatile Diyala province, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday, the latest in a series of operations aimed at stabilizing the country.

Reuters - When accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed grumbled to the U.S. military war tribunal he couldn't get paper or file legal motions with the court, he was told to put his complaints in legal papers and file them with the court.

Reuters - Insurgents killed nine U.S. soldiers in an assault on an Afghan army and NATO outpost in northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, making it one of the worst days for foreign troops casualties in the country since 2001.