AP - This city's famed marijuana bars have weathered many challenges over the years and are still smoking. But now they face an unwelcome blast of fresh air: On July 1, the Netherlands will be one of the last European countries to ban smoking in bars and restaurants in compliance with EU law.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted Saturday that U.S. beef is safe to eat and urged South Koreans to accept their government's decision to lift a ban on the products.

AP - Roaming bands of government supporters heckled, harassed or threatened people into voting in a runoff election Friday in which President Robert Mugabe was the only candidate, ensuring he will remain in power despite international condemnation of the balloting as a sham.

AP - A Pakistani official says a military operation is under way against Taliban militants who have been threatening the main city in the country's volatile northwest region.

AP - Thailand's prime minister and seven of his Cabinet ministers held off a parliamentary challenge Friday as street protesters demanded the coalition government's resignation.

AFP - A cargo plane crashed mid-flight in Sudan on Friday, killing seven crew members, including five foreigners, in the third fatal aviation accident to blight the African country in the last two months.

AP - President Alvaro Uribe has thrown Colombia into political turmoil after a Supreme Court decision questioned the legitimacy of his 2006 re-election, asking that voters have an opportunity to redo the vote.

AP - A member of an extremist cell believed to be behind a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people including three U.S. Marines has been arrested, the U.S. military said Friday.

AP - The gray cooling tower crumbled behind billowing dust clouds in seconds Friday, reducing the structure at North Korea's nuclear reactor into a pile of rubble. It was a choreographed show by the communist regime meant to affirm an intention to stop making atomic bombs.

AP - The white short-haired mutt was found dragging his crushed hind legs through rubble-clogged streets after the massive earthquake devastated China's Sichuan province.

AP - Widespread voter intimidation and low turnout marked Zimbabwe's one-candidate presidential runoff Friday, further damaging the vote designed to bolster longtime President Robert Mugabe's credibility.

AP - Baghdad hasn't been this quiet in years. But the respite from bloodshed comes at a high price.

AP - It took years of talks, coddling and concessions to prod North Korea to step back from its decades-long effort to make atomic weapons, leading to Friday's dramatic destruction of its nuclear reactor cooling tower.