AP - Half of Beijing's drivers left their cars at home and took public transportation instead on Monday, the first workday under new restrictions meant to clear this city's notoriously polluted skies before next month's Olympics.

AP - A last-minute plea deal could halt the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay on Monday, but military lawyers and observers say that appears extremely unlikely at this late stage.

AP - Barack Obama began Monday his first on-the-ground inspection of Iraq since launching his bid for the White House, with U.S. commanders ready to brief him on progress in a war he has long opposed and Iraqi leaders wanting more details of his proposals for troop withdrawals.

AFP - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged hundreds of thousands of young Catholics to beat back a "spiritual desert" spreading through the modern world as he closed Catholic World Youth Day in Australia.

AFP - KJ Choi was left heartbroken after his dream of becoming the first Asian to win a major was shattered by a final round 79 at the British Open.

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded Sunday that Israel cease settlement construction and promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy.

AFP - Lewis Hamilton delivered another massive endorsement of his great potential Sunday when he opened a clear lead in this year's drivers' championship by winning the German Grand Prix in thrilling style.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI ended his farthest pilgrimage Sunday, one intended to inspire a new generation of faithful while trying to overcome a dark chapter for his church from a clerical sex abuse scandal.

AP - U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces killed nine Afghan police Sunday, calling in airstrikes and fighting on the ground for four hours after both sides mistook the other for militants, Afghan officials said.

AP - With the Olympics less than three weeks away, Beijing began restricting car use and limiting factory emissions on Sunday in a final drastic effort to clear its smog-choked skies.

AP - A provincial vote intended to satisfy Sunni Arab demands for more influence must be delayed, election officials said Sunday, proposing to hold the vote in December rather than October.

AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to Afghanistan in talks Sunday with its Western-backed leader and vowed to pursue the war on terror "with vigor" if elected, an Afghan official said.

AFP - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged hundreds of thousands of young Catholics to beat back a "spiritual desert" spreading through the modern world as he closed Catholic World Youth Day in Australia.