AP - Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and he challenged young people to shed the greed and cynicism of their time to create a new age of hope for humankind.

AP - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama shared Sunday breakfast with American troops in Kabul ahead of an expected meeting with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, a man Obama has criticized for not doing enough to rebuild his war-torn country.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI apologized Saturday for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, keeping up efforts begun in the United States to publicly atone for what he called evil acts by priests.

AFP - Several thousand protesters thronged Istanbul Saturday to demonstrate against government prosecution of a hardline secularist network uniting military, media and business figures, local media reported.

AFP - Egypt on Saturday revealed a unique way of viewing a wooden boat entombed 4,500 years ago next to Giza's Great Pyramid where exposure to the atmosphere had threatened its destruction.

AP - After intense U.S. assaults, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday.

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party has fallen more than 20 percentage points behind the main opposition Conservatives, a poll released Saturday showed.

AP - A U.S. decision to bend policy and sit down with Iran at nuclear talks fizzled Saturday, with Iran stonewalling Washington and five other world powers on their call to freeze uranium enrichment.

AP - Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc ended a nearly yearlong boycott of the Shiite-led government Saturday in another step toward healing the sectarian rifts that once brought almost daily bloodshed.

AP - In the depths of despair, Suzan doused herself and her 14-year-old daughter with gasoline and prepared to set them both on fire.

AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Saturday with officials of a region of Afghanistan that has been a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida activity, offering his support for reconstruction and security there and throughout the country, an official said.

AFP - Pope Benedict XVI offered a historic full apology for child sex abuse by predatory priests Saturday, saying he was "deeply sorry" and calling for those guilty of the "evil" to be punished.

AP - Tropical storm Kalmaegi churned along the Chinese coast Saturday, after leaving 13 dead in heavily populated Taiwan and its president scrambling to explain the island's apparent lack of preparedness in the face of the devastation.