US takes over key mortgage firms
The US government announces plans for the takeover of failing mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Caribbean lashed by Hurricane Ike
Thousands of people hunker down across the Caribbean as Hurricane Ike pounds the region, on course for Cuba.

Flood fears ease as rains lighten
Flood fears are easing as showers replace persistent rain across England and Wales and river levels stabilise.

Israeli PM 'should be indicted'
Israeli police formally recommend to prosecutors that PM Ehud Olmert be indicted in a corruption investigation.

Canadian PM calls snap election
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls an early election in a bid to strengthen his minority government.

German foreign minister picked to challenge Merkel
Social Democrats were thrown into turmoil Sunday after their leader, Kurt Beck, said he would step down as party chairman and Frank-Walter Steinmeier was chosen to challenge Angela Merkel.

Cheney warns Russia to reverse course
Vice President Dick Cheney denounced Russia's war against Georgia as evidence of a pattern of "troublesome and unhelpful actions" that threatened peace from Central Asia to the Middle East to Europe.

Fuel is added to French debate over separation of religion and state
A decision by a French court to postpone a robbery trial involving a Muslim defendant until the end of the holy month of Ramadan has raised questions about whether France's secularist institutions are bending to religious demands.

A hardening of hearts in South Ossetia
Ireya Alborova, whose family is part Georgian and part Ossetian, has encountered the worsening ethnic divide in Tskhinvali, the war-torn capital of South Ossetia.

Coming to grips with Russia's new nerve
There's all the difference in the world between an enfeebled and defensive empire, and a nation emboldened by vast wealth and brimming with resentment at past humiliations. This Russia does not look so very containable.

Moussaoui Juror Falls Ill; Deliberations to Resume Friday
Jurors in the Zacarias Moussaoui case headed into a fourth day of deliberations Thursday but talks halted when one juror fell ill; deliberations to resume Friday

Iran Test-Fires Another 'Top Secret' Missile
Iran's state-run television says it successfully test-fired a "top secret" missile, the third in a week.

Duke Lacrosse Coach Resigns Amid Rape Flap
University cancels remainder of season after allegations that three players raped an exotic dancer at a party.

100 Homes Threatened by Weakened Dam in Northern California
About 100 homes were being evacuated Wednesday morning as a small earthen dam in Calaveras County in northern California weakened by an overnight thunderstorm threatened to break.

Video Claims to Show Insurgents Dragging Burning Body of U.S
A poor-quality video posted on the Internet Wednesday in the name of an extremist group claimed to show Iraqi insurgents dragging the burning body of a U.S. pilot on the ground after the crash of an Apache helicopter.