AP - Pakistan banned the Taliban on Monday after the militants claimed responsibility for one of the country's worst-ever attacks and a string of other suicide bombings — a move likely to please the U.S. one week after close ally Pervez Musharraf was ousted from power.

AP - The pilot of a small plane carrying humanitarian workers called in engine trouble about 45 minutes before crashing in a field in eastern Guatemala, killing 10 people, including five Americans.

AP - A Russian general suggested that U.S. ships in the Black Sea loaded with humanitarian aid would worsen tensions already driven to a post-Cold War high by a short but intense war between Russia and Georgia.

AP - A passenger jet carrying 90 people, including a Kyrgyz high school sports team, crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday near the Kyrgyz capital, killing 65, government officials said.

AP - Nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners freed Monday by Israel walked into Palestinian-controlled territory to cheers and applause, just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive on her latest peace mission.

AFP - Investors were sitting on the sidelines as they waited for the world's largest mining company BHP Billiton to overcome regulatory hurdles in its hostile takeover of rival Rio Tinto, BHP said Sunday.

AP - Tropical Storm Julio bore down on the resort-dotted tip of the Baja California peninsula on Sunday, prompting more than 2,500 families who live along river beds to evacuate.

AP - The United States said Sunday it was disappointed the Olympics had not brought more "openness and tolerance" in China and pressed for the immediate release of eight American protesters as the games ended.

AP - The U.S. military has announced the arrest of an al-Qaida figure who allegedly planned the 2006 kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll.

AP - A U.S. Navy warship carrying humanitarian aid anchored at the Georgian port of Batumi on Sunday, sending a strong signal of support to an embattled ally as Russian forces built up around two separatist regions.