AFP - Barack Obama's wife Michelle on Monday pledged allegiance to the "blessing" of the American dream, as the historic Democratic convention opened in a pageant of political symbolism.

Reuters - California's large-scale tobacco control campaign has saved $86 billion in health care costs in its first 15 years, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Reuters - World stocks fell to their lowest in almost two years on Tuesday as fresh concerns about the financial sector and growth outlook prompted investors to dump risky assets.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel on Tuesday to avoid undermining peace efforts with the Palestinians after a report that it had nearly doubled construction in Jewish settlements.

Reuters - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev convened security chiefs on Tuesday to consider a plea from parliament to recognize two separatist regions of Georgia as independent, a move Washington says would be unacceptable.

Reuters - Prospects for political stability in Pakistan faded on Tuesday, a day after a split in the ruling coalition, with a battle looming over who will become the next president of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally.

Reuters - North Korea said on Tuesday it will stop disabling its nuclear facilities and consider restoring the Yongbyon reactor that can make material for atomic bombs, accusing the United States of violating a disarmament deal.

Reuters - Hillary Clinton will grab the spotlight at the Democratic convention on Tuesday in a speech designed to mend a lingering party rift and rally her frustrated supporters to Barack Obama's White House bid.

AP - The New York Giants are interested in luring Michael Strahan out of retirement after losing Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora to a season-ending knee injury Saturday night.

AP - Scooching in between Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson sounds intimidating, if not a little scary.

AP - A wildfire that started in a field of sagebrush and cheatgrass spread quickly up a ridge and burned as many as 10 homes in Boise neighborhood Monday night.

AP - Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying the top U.S. diplomat in the main city in Pakistan's volatile northwest Tuesday morning, but no one was killed or wounded, officials said.

AP - Federal authorities are looking into reports that a man arrested with rifles, ammunition and drugs in his truck may have made threats against Barack Obama, officials said Monday.

AP - Amid allegations that large numbers of civilians have died in recent raids and airstrikes by foreign forces, President Hamid Karzai's government has demanded a review of the presence of U.S. and NATO troops in the country.