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Reuters - President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday and promised recession-weary Americans "my central responsibility" now is to repair the U.S. economy.

AP - A doctor involved in an "on-again, off-again" relationship apparently tried to force her way into her boyfriend's home by sliding down the chimney, police said Tuesday. Her decomposing body was found there three days later.

AP - Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer and Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher also went deep for the Yankees, who beat up on Oakland again in a 9-3 win over the Athletics on Tuesday night.

Reuters - Mexico paraded one of its most violent drug lords on Tuesday after a police raid that President Felipe Calderon's government hopes will mark a breakthrough in its campaign against powerful cartels.

AP - A Pakistani man detained during an investigation of a botched car bombing in New York City's Times Square says he knew the plotter years ago as a partying college student — not as the radical Muslim who later said he received explosives training from the Pakistani Taliban.

AP - Michael Douglas says he faces an "eight-week struggle" against throat cancer but is optimistic about his chances for recovery.

AP - Cuba on Tuesday released pictures of Fidel Castro with an American magazine correspondent and a Washington-based policy expert, while a Mexican newspaper published an interview in which the gray-bearded revolutionary expressed regret for past persecution of homosexuals.

AP - Palestinian gunmen opened fire Tuesday on an Israeli car in the West Bank and killed four passengers on the eve of a new round of Mideast peace talks in Washington. The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility.

AP - Despite President Barack Obama's declaration Tuesday of an end to the combat mission in Iraq, combat almost certainly lies ahead.

Reuters - Amazon.com Inc has approached media companies with a proposal for a subscription service that gives users unlimited access to some television shows and movies over the Internet in a bid to rival Netflix Inc, two people familiar with the talks said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Powerful Hurricane Earl churned toward the eastern U.S. seaboard on Tuesday and looked to sideswipe the densely populated coast from North Carolina to New England, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Reuters - The Obama administration asked a federal judge on Tuesday to lift an injunction halting human embryonic stem cell research, saying it would irreparably harm research and cost more than 1,300 jobs.

Reuters - Dutch authorities have detained two Yemeni men at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on suspicion of terrorist conspiracy, though a U.S. official on Tuesday cast doubt that they were part of a terrorism plot.

Reuters - France has sent detailed proposals to the European Commission calling for common action to regulate volatile commodities markets before it is due to head the Group of 20 economic powers, ministry officials said.

AP - Hurricane Earl, now a powerful Category 4 storm, barreled toward the U.S. coast early Wednesday after battering tiny islands across the northeastern Caribbean with heavy rain and winds that damaged homes and toppled power lines.

Reuters - President Barack Obama must walk a fine line in a speech on Tuesday night as he highlights progress toward winding down the war in Iraq while trying to avoid any perception of a "Mission Accomplished" moment.

AP - Paris Hilton had an explanation for police: The rolling papers, $1,300 in cash and several credit cards were hers, but not the purse they were in.

Reuters - Mexico captured major drug trafficker Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez on Monday in a new victory for President Felipe Calderon's high-stakes war on murderous cartels that threatens the country's image among investors and tourists.

AFP - Dutch police have arrested two men on a US flight who officials fear may have been staging a terror attack "dry run" after box cutters and a cellphone taped to a bottle were reportedly found in their bags.

AP - Federal police on Monday captured a long-sought, alleged Texas-born gang kingpin who faces drug trafficking charges in the U.S. and has been blamed for a vicious turf war that has included bodies hung from bridges and shootouts in central Mexico.