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AP - Roadside bombs killed eight members of the international force in Afghanistan — including seven U.S. troops — raising to more than a dozen the number who have died in the previous three days, NATO said Tuesday.

AP - A resurgence of bedbugs across the U.S. has homeowners and apartment dwellers taking desperate measures to eradicate the tenacious bloodsuckers, with some relying on dangerous outdoor pesticides and fly-by-night exterminators.

AP - Firmly and finally ending the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, President Barack Obama will have but a moment before trying to hasten peace nearby between Israelis and Palestinians. Left unclear is whether winding down the war that inflamed Arab passions will do anything to help long-shot Mideast talks.

AP - Two men on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Amsterdam were questioned by Dutch authorities after U.S. officials found a cell phone taped to a Pepto Bismol bottle and a knife and box cutter in checked luggage connected with the men, a law enforcement official said.

AFP - The US government slapped sanctions on four people and eight organizations accused of aiding North Korea's government through illicit trade, the Treasury Department said.

AP - Roger Clemens put his right hand on the lectern, leaned down toward the microphone and made what might be the most important pitch of his life: "Not guilty, your honor."

AP - An enormous drill began preliminary work Monday on carving a half-mile chimney through solid rock to free the 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine, their ordeal now having equaled the longest known survival in an underground disaster.

AP - An emerald so large it's being compared with the crown jewels of Russian empress Catherine the Great was pulled from a pit near corn rows at a North Carolina farm.

Reuters - Two men have been detained in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, because of "suspicious items" found in their luggage on a flight from the United States, U.S. television networks reported on Monday.

Reuters - Hurricane Earl strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm on Monday after lashing the northeast Caribbean islands, and was expected to swipe the U.S. East Coast in the next few days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Reuters - Two Iowa egg farms linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened thousands failed to follow their own safety plans, allowing rodents and other animals into poultry houses, U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors found.

Reuters - President Barack Obama broadened financial sanctions on North Korea on Monday and froze the U.S. assets of four North Korean citizens and eight firms in part to punish it for the sinking of a South Korean warship.

Reuters - A U.S. debate over plans for an Islamic center near New York's World Trade Center site has been politicized ahead of the congressional election, the Muslim cleric heading the project and other city imams say.

Reuters - The U.S. government will have unmanned surveillance aircraft monitoring the whole southwest border with Mexico from September 1, as it ramps up border security in this election year, a top official said on Monday.

AP - A fire broke out early Monday at a Russian nursing home, killing nine people, and emergency officials said the blaze may have been started by a resident setting himself on fire.

AFP - An Indonesian volcano spewed a vast cloud of smoke and ash high into the air on Monday, disrupting flights and sending thousands more people into temporary shelters, officials said.

AP - President Hamid Karzai has again criticized coalition strategy in fighting Afghanistan's stubborn insurgency, saying it has thus far produced nothing but civilian deaths.

AP - Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford homered to back James Shields and help Tampa Bay retain a share of first place in the AL East with a 5-3 victory over Boston on Sunday night.

AP - Emergency room visits for school-age athletes with concussions has skyrocketed in recent years, suggesting the intensity of kids' sports has increased along with awareness of head injuries.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said on Sunday the U.S. economy was expanding, but not quickly enough, and there was no "magic bullet" that will fix its problems.