AP - The U.S. energy secretary said Saturday that insufficient oil production, not financial speculation, was driving soaring crude prices.

AFP - Australian Aborigines threatened Saturday to close one of the country's top tourist destinations, Uluru, in protest at what they described as "racist" government policies in remote communities.

AFP - Flash floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Fengshen have left at least 14 people dead and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands in the Philippines, officials said Saturday.

AFP - Zimbabwe's veteran leader Robert Mugabe has said opposition claims of violence ahead of next week's presidential run-off election are aimed at tarring the crunch vote, state media reported Saturday.

AP - President Hugo Chavez says the United States is trying to bring him before an international court.

AP - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief urged Syria on Friday to show "transparency" and cooperate with inspectors from the world agency visiting the Mideast country this weekend.

AFP - About 30,000 people gathered in the rain by the mysterious standing stones of England's Stonehenge Saturday to mark the Summer Solstice, as dawn broke on the longest day of the year.

AP - Pakistan's new ambassador to the United States is urging patience for those in Washington frustrated with his government's pursuit of peace deals with tribes along the lawless Pakistani-Afghan border.

AP - Panicked youths rushed for the exits during a police raid on a Mexico City nightclub on Friday, leaving at least 12 people dead in the crush of bodies, the capital's police chief said.

AP - All U.S. beef exported to South Korea will come from cattle less than 30 months old, officials said Saturday, in a deal made to placate South Korean protesters worried about mad cow disease.

AP - A bomb killed four troops from the U.S.-led coalition in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, one of the deadliest attacks on foreign forces this year.

AP - The Olympic torch was paraded through the streets of Tibet's capital Saturday, the site of bloody riots in March that triggered demonstrations along the flame's international relay stops.

AP - India's leaders considered pushing ahead with a landmark U.S.-India nuclear energy deal Friday, a move that could bring down the government and lead to early elections, two people involved in the deliberations said.

AFP - President Robert Mugabe said Friday that "only God" could remove him from office, as Zimbabwe's opposition considered pulling out of next week's run-off election amid escalating violence.