Reuters - Seeking to show openness yet desperate to avoid embarrassment at the Olympics, China allowed a first foreign orchestra performance in Tiananmen Square on Sunday but also issued warnings to would-be protesters.

AP - Crowds roared with delight and waved hundreds of Chinese flags in welcome as the Olympic torch began an emotional tour of Sichuan on Sunday, three months after a powerful quake devastated large swaths of the lush, mountainous province.

AP - Hamas forces battled Fatah-linked fighters with mortars and machine guns in a crowded Gaza neighborhood Saturday, leaving at least nine dead in the worst Palestinian infighting in nine months.

AP - She might be known worldwide as the Material Girl, but there's more than a little of the small-town Michigan girl left in Madonna.

AP - The pilot of a huge tanker urged a tug boat pushing a barge to get out of the way of the tanker just before a collision on the Mississippi River, which caused thousands of gallons of fuel oil to spill from the barge into a busy stretch of the inland waterway, Coast Guard radio transmissions showed.

AP - A man accused of kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter during a supervised visit in Boston last weekend was arrested Saturday in Baltimore and the girl was found safe, authorities said.

AP - The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the epidemic.

AP - John McCain's campaign has asked Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor for personal documents as the Republican presidential candidate steps up his search for a running mate, The Associated Press has learned.

AP - In the end, Chad Malmberg put his framed Silver Star on the wall and stowed away his helmet, some old uniforms and the dusty combat boots he had worn in the Iraqi desert.

AP - Iran will not give up "a single iota of its nuclear rights," the country's president said Saturday, rebuffing an informal deadline to stop expanding uranium enrichment or face more sanctions.

AP - Bruce E. Ivins, the late microbiologist suspected in the 2001 anthrax attacks, had attempted to poison people and his therapist said she was "scared to death" of him, according to court testimony that emerged Saturday.

AFP - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic was protected by the United States until a CIA phone bug caught him breaking the terms of his "deal", the Serb newspaper Blic reported Saturday, quoting a US intelligence source.

AFP - The prime ministers of India and Pakistan on Saturday agreed here to push ahead with their peace process, despite escalating tensions sparked by attacks on Indian targets and border clashes in Kashmir.

Reuters - President George W. Bush discussed the collapse of world trade talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday, expressing disappointment over the failure and reaffirming his commitment to reaching agreement, the White House said.

Reuters - The U.S. military has charged two soldiers over the killing of an Iraqi prisoner, military officials said on Saturday.