AP - The federal government will run a near-record deficit of $407 billion this year, according to the latest Capitol Hill estimates.

AP - Repeatedly paying homage to his assassinated wife, new President Asif Ali Zardari declared Tuesday that he has a comprehensive plan to fight terrorism and said Pakistan's people are behind him.

AP - Intelligence officials are watching signs that North Korea's unpredictable dictator Kim Jong Il may be gravely ill.

AP - Hurricane Ike roared across Cuba west of the densely populated capital's aging buildings Tuesday after tearing down the length of the island nation, ravaging homes, killing at least four people and forcing 1.2 million to evacuate.

AP - The Gulf Coast watched anxiously as Hurricane Ike trudged toward areas still cleaning up after Gustav, with disasters pre-declared in much of eastern Texas and Louisianans urged to stock up — again — on supplies.

AP - President Bush announced Tuesday that he will keep the U.S. force strength in Iraq largely intact until the next president takes over, drawing rebukes from Democrats who want the war ended and a bigger boost of troops in troubled Afghanistan.

AFP - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday said further European engagement was needed to resolve his country's dispute with Russia after a pledge by Moscow to pull out troops.

AFP - Asif Ali Zardari was sworn in Tuesday as the 14th president of Pakistan, succeeding the former army general Pervez Musharraf who resigned under threat of impeachment last month.

Reuters - North Korea infiltrated an international taekwondo group, using it as a front to send out spies and plot the killing of a South Korean president who ruled for much of the 1980s, newspapers said on Tuesday.

Reuters - The U.S military said on Tuesday it had targeted the network of veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani during an operation in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan, and detained two suspected militants.

Reuters - Visit a Boeing worker's picket line expecting to find hundreds of workers worried about putting bread on the table because they were driven to strike by an uncaring employer and you might be surprised.

Reuters - Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was sworn in as president on Tuesday, in what allies and investors hoped was a step toward stability after months of uncertainty.

Reuters - North Korea marked the 60th anniversary of its founding on Tuesday with what is expected to be the biggest parade of its military might, just as the hermit state appears to be backing away from a nuclear disarmament deal.

Reuters - Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant is nearing completion and the start-up of its reactor will soon become "irreversible," the Russian state-owned company that is building the power station said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Republican White House nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin would ensure mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were permanently restructured and downsized, the pair wrote in The Wall Street Journal.