AP - QUNU, South Africa — Songs, laughter, teasing and tender words marked Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration Saturday as presidents, village elders and African royalty joined him for a festive luncheon on his rural homestead.

AP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has a message for future U.S. and European leaders: Treat Latin America with respect.

AP - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible," according to a magazine report, and he called presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal."

AP - Some pre-negotiation jabbing turned into a potentially damaging diplomatic incident Saturday when Brazil's foreign minister said rich countries' deception in trade talks reminded him of tactics used by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

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.

AP - Gordon Brown has arrived in Israel for his first official visit as Britain's prime minister.

AP - Beijing started its most drastic pollution-control plan Sunday, restricting car use and limiting factory emissions in a last-minute push to clear smog-choked skies for the August Olympics.

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.