AP - The old shore road to Totope is now under the sea, and when developers began carving out another one, it was washed away so often they abandoned it. Now the road to this village is just a track across the sand.

AP - Forecasters say tropical storm Julio has weakened to a tropical depression after drenching the central section of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

AP - A police official says a bomb planted in a parked car has killed four people and wounded six — including three policemen — in the city of Tikrit north of Baghdad.

AFP - Former James Bond star Sean Connery has attributed the success in his life to being Scottish at the launch of his new book in Edinburgh.

AP - Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying the top U.S. diplomat in the main city in Pakistan's volatile northwest Tuesday morning, but no one was killed or wounded, officials said.

AP - Gustav became a hurricane early Tuesday as it approached Haiti's southern coast.

AP - Amid allegations that large numbers of civilians have died in recent raids and airstrikes by foreign forces, President Hamid Karzai's government has demanded a review of the presence of U.S. and NATO troops in the country.

AP - With hopes fading for brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by year's end, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered few signs of progress Tuesday, saying only that talks are "serious" and again chiding Israel for continuing settlement construction.

AFP - Pakistan's ruling coalition split Monday after former premier Nawaz Sharif withdrew over differences on the restoration of judges sacked by ex-president Pervez Musharraf.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's main opposition party won the vote for parliament speaker on Monday, dealing a blow to President Robert Mugabe in a post-election power struggle.

AP - Tropical Storm Julio drenched the central section of Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Monday, but was expected to weaken to a tropical depression as it moved over the Gulf of California.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Monday that a broad peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians is a long shot before President Bush leaves office, but she rejected the idea of a half-measure now.

AFP - Some 850,000 revellers packed the streets of west London over the weekend as masquerade floats entertained party-goers at the Notting Hill Carnival, Europe's biggest street festival.

AP - Russia's parliament voted unanimously Monday to urge the president to recognize the independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions, stoking further tensions between Moscow and the small Caucasus nation's Western allies.