RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian navy divers rushed on Wednesday to reach the wreckage of an Air France jet and start the grim job of pulling debris from the Atlantic Ocean, where the plane with 228 people went down in the airline's worst disaster in its 75-year history.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is assembling a missile that could hit U.S. soil and may test-launch it as early as this month, a newspaper reported, as a U.S. envoy on Wednesday urged Pyongyang to cease provocations and return to disarmament talks.

AP - Sergei Gonchar said it once, then repeated it again a few seconds later as he tried pumping some confidence into some discouraged teammates: It's not over.

Reuters - Brazilian navy divers rushed on Wednesday to reach the wreckage of an Air France jet and start the grim job of pulling debris from the Atlantic Ocean, where the plane with 228 people went down in the airline's worst disaster in its 75-year history.

Reuters - North Korea is assembling a missile that could hit U.S. soil and may test-launch it as early as this month, a newspaper reported, as a U.S. envoy on Wednesday urged Pyongyang to cease provocations and return to disarmament talks.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian navy divers rushed on Wednesday to reach the wreckage of an Air France jet and start pulling debris from the Atlantic Ocean, where the plane with 228 people went down in the airline's worst disaster in its 75-year history.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, both bankrupt, will try on Wednesday to ease congressional concern, and in some cases anger, over their plans to slash more than 2,400 dealerships.

LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's North Africa wing said on Wednesday it had carried out its threat to kill a British hostage it was holding the Sahara.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese security forces blanketed Tiananmen Square on Wednesday ahead of the 20th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, a day after Twitter and Hotmail Internet services in China were blocked.

AP - Officials in four Midwestern states badly hurt by the auto industry's woes are lining up to ask the Cabinet secretaries crisscrossing the region for a better deal when it comes to getting funds from the federal recovery act.

AP - The United States, grappling with how to counter the spread of Taliban militants on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, is turning to Saudi Arabia for help. But so far the kingdom seems wary of diving into the thorny conflict.

AP - Just over half of Americans say torture is at least sometimes justified to thwart terrorist attacks and are evenly divided over whether to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, according to a poll that underscores the challenges President Barack Obama faces in selling his terror-fighting policies.

AP - Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is racing through a crucial set of meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, working to reassure Republicans who worry she'd bring ethnic and gender bias to her decisions.

AP - French officials say debris found in the Atlantic is that of missing Air France Flight 447.

Reuters - Brazilian navy divers rushed on Wednesday to reach the wreckage of an Air France jet and start pulling debris from the Atlantic Ocean, where the plane with 228 people went down in the airline's worst disaster in its 75-year history.

Reuters - General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, both bankrupt, will try on Wednesday to ease congressional concern, and in some cases anger, over their plans to slash more than 2,400 dealerships.

Reuters - Al Qaeda's North Africa wing said on Wednesday it had carried out its threat to kill a British hostage it was holding the Sahara.

Reuters - Chinese security forces blanketed Tiananmen Square on Wednesday ahead of the 20th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, a day after Twitter and Hotmail Internet services in China were blocked.

AFP - Navy ships sped toward debris from an Air France plane that fell into the Atlantic with 228 people on board, seeking to recover clues to the jet's mysterious crash.

AFP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said there was 'strong reason to believe' a British hostage had been executed by an Al-Qaeda cell in Mali, calling it a 'barbaric act'.

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's North African wing said Wednesday it had carried out its threat to kill a British hostage it was holding in the Sahara.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Communities Secretary Hazel Blears announced on Wednesday she was resigning, adding to the impression that Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown was losing control of his party.

AP - A French accident investigator says it is unclear whether the chief pilot of Air France Flight 447 was at the controls when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

AP - A senior American diplomat warned North Korea on Wednesday that its nuclear test, barrage of short-range missiles and preparations for a long-range missile launch have put it on the wrong path. He urged the communist regime to return to disarmament talks.

Reuters - Al Qaeda's North African wing said Wednesday it had carried out its threat to kill a British hostage it was holding in the Sahara.

Reuters - British Communities Secretary Hazel Blears announced on Wednesday she was resigning, adding to the impression that Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown was losing control of his party.

RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is set to discuss with King Abdullah the Arab-Israeli conflict, diplomatic overtures toward Iran and oil prices when he starts a tour to the Middle East and Europe in Riyadh on Wednesday.

VIENTIANE (Reuters) - A British woman who became pregnant while awaiting trial in Laos was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison after being found guilty of drug smuggling.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many U.S. companies consider lobbying the government just another cost of doing business. When newspapers want help from Uncle Sam, the cost could be their reputation.

AP - President Barack Obama began his latest bid to open a dialogue with the Muslim world by paying a call Wednesday on Saudi King Abdullah, guardian of Islam's sacred sites in Mecca and Medina.

AP - A bankruptcy judge will rule Wednesday on whether Chrysler can terminate the franchise agreements of 789 of its dealers as part of its ongoing restructuring.

AP - The government accidentally posted on the Internet a list of all civilian nuclear sites and their activities in the United States.

AP - A French accident investigator said Wednesday there were no signs of problems with Air France Flight 447 before takeoff and it was unclear whether the chief pilot was at the controls when the plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.

AP - Foreign journalists were barred from Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Wednesday as police fanned out across the vast plaza on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on 1989 pro-democracy protests.

AP - A rifle-toting convenience store owner said he decided to show mercy on a would-be robber after seeing the man collapse into tears and claim he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.

AFP - President Barack Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday on a Middle East mission featuring a historic address to the Muslim world and a new US drive to invigorate regional peacemaking.

AFP - The French air safety investigation agency said Wednesday it is not optimistic that the black box flight data recorders of an Air France airliner that crashed into the Atlantic would be found.

RIYADH (Reuters) - President Barack Obama met Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on Wednesday ahead of a much-heralded speech in Cairo the U.S. leader hopes will help refurbish America's tarnished image in the Islamic world.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese security forces blanketed Tiananmen Square on Wednesday ahead of the 20th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and a day after Twitter and other Internet services in China were blocked.

PARIS (Reuters) - French officials said on Wednesday they might never discover why an Air France aircraft crashed into the Atlantic killing 228 people and that they might not even find the plane's black boxes on the ocean floor.

LONDON (Reuters) - A second British cabinet minister announced she was resigning Wednesday, undermining Prime Minister Gordon Brown's authority and his future as leader of the increasingly out-of-favor Labor Party.

AP - A Brazilian air force spokesman says more debris from the crashed Air France jet has been spotted.

AP - Foreign journalists were barred from Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Wednesday as an Internet clampdown that blocked Twitter expanded to include more blogs on the eve of the 20th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Reuters - President Barack Obama met Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on Wednesday ahead of a much-heralded speech in Cairo the U.S. leader hopes will help refurbish America's tarnished image in the Islamic world.

Reuters - Chinese security forces blanketed Tiananmen Square on Wednesday ahead of the 20th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and a day after Twitter and other Internet services in China were blocked.

Reuters - French officials said on Wednesday they might never discover why an Air France aircraft crashed into the Atlantic killing 228 people and that they might not even find the plane's black boxes on the ocean floor.

Reuters - A second British cabinet minister announced she was resigning Wednesday, undermining Prime Minister Gordon Brown's authority and his future as leader of the increasingly out-of-favor Labor Party.

AFP - President Barack Obama launched a landmark Middle East trip on Wednesday to reach out to the world's Muslims, but earned a swift rebuke from Osama bin Laden in a stinging new audiotape.

AFP - Investigators said on Wednesday they may never find the black boxes that could explain why an Air France jet crashed into the ocean as naval teams trawled deep Atlantic waters.

AP - A federal appeals court late Tuesday halted Chrysler's sale of the bulk of its assets to Italy's Fiat pending an appeal by a trio of Indiana state pension and construction funds.

AP - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday he shouldn't have called Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist, but said he was still concerned that she would bring bias to her decisions.

AP - Military planes and ships struggled through high seas and heavy winds Wednesday and found more debris from an Air France jet, while an investigator said the black boxes may never be found in the depths of the Atlantic.

AP - Jon Gosselin says there's no truth to reports that his eight children have been hurt by the family's reality TV series.

AP - The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug made specifically to treat cancer in dogs.

AP - One shot by Serena Williams sent Svetlana Kuznetsova to the court in a messy spill that left her covered with clay.

AFP - US President Barack Obama launched a Middle East mission on Wednesday to reach out to Muslims but was greeted by threats from Osama bin Laden who accused him of sowing fresh seeds of hatred.

AFP - Crash investigators said on Wednesday that they may never find black boxes that could explain why an Air France jet plunged into the ocean, as naval teams trawled deep Atlantic waters.

RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will urge Arabs and Israelis to say publicly what they acknowledge in private about Middle East peace moves and Iran when he speaks to the Muslim world on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) - A second British cabinet minister announced she was resigning on Wednesday, undermining Prime Minister Gordon Brown's authority and raising doubts about his political future.

MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities are preparing for the return of residents to Swat's main town but decisive victory will only be won when Taliban leaders are dead, an army commander said on Wednesday.

AP - In his latest push for an open dialogue with the Muslim world, President Barack Obama on Wednesday sought the counsel of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and put the finishing touches on a highly anticipated speech about United States' relationship with followers of Islam.

AP - Fighting to survive, top executives from General Motors and Chrysler on Wednesday defended their decisions to slash dealerships around the country, calling the moves unavoidable despite the pain to many loyal dealers and customers.

AP - Military planes and ships located more debris from an Air France jet on Wednesday, but high seas and heavy winds were slowing the recovery effort and delaying the arrival of crucial deep-water submersibles.

AP - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday he shouldn't have called Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist, but said he was still concerned that she would bring bias to her decisions.

AP - Nancy Reagan watched with delight as a bronze statue of former President Ronald Reagan was unveiled in the U.S. Capitol.

AP - Jon Gosselin says there's no truth to reports that his eight children have been hurt by the family's reality TV series.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama will urge Arabs and Israelis to say publicly what they acknowledge in private about Middle East peace moves and Iran when he speaks to the Muslim world on Thursday.

Reuters - A second British cabinet minister announced she was resigning on Wednesday, undermining Prime Minister Gordon Brown's authority and raising doubts about his political future.

Reuters - Pakistani authorities are preparing for the return of residents to Swat's main town but decisive victory will only be won when Taliban leaders are dead, an army commander said on Wednesday.

AFP - French and Brazilian planes and ships were Wednesday converging on an area in the Atlantic where debris from an Air France jet was spotted, but hopes were low of finding the black boxes that could explain the tragedy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top executives of bankrupt General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC defended slashing their dealer networks, telling Congress on Wednesday that eliminating more than 2,300 dealerships was crucial to saving the companies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. military investigation has uncovered mistakes in air strikes that killed dozens of civilians in western Afghanistan last month, according to a U.S. military official.

AP - In his latest push for an open dialogue with the Muslim world, President Barack Obama on Wednesday sought the counsel of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and put the finishing touches on a highly anticipated speech about United States' relationship with followers of Islam.

AP - Military planes and ships located more debris from an Air France jet on Wednesday, but high seas and heavy winds were slowing the recovery effort and delaying the arrival of crucial deep-water submersibles. Search vessels from several nations pushed toward the floating debris, including a 23-foot (seven-meter) chunk of plane and a 12-mile-long (20-kilometer-long) oil slick that Brazilian pilots spotted from the air.

AP - The main pro-reform candidate in next week's presidential elections accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday of undercutting Iran's international standing by questioning the Holocaust.

AP - Doctors are testing a new kind of obesity surgery without any cuts through the abdomen, snaking a tube as thick as a garden hose down the throat to snap staples into the stomach. The experimental, scar-free procedure creates a narrow passage that slows the food as it moves from the upper stomach into the lower stomach, helping patients feel full more quickly and eat less.

AP - Ten-year-old Hannah Powell-Auslam is trying to remain brave as she battles what was initially diagnosed as breast cancer. 'I feel like a kid inside but sometimes I feel like an adult, when I'm always at the hospital,' Hannah told ABC's 'Good Morning America' in an interview that aired Wednesday. 'I'm a kid fighting an adult disease.'

AP - Authorities said an argument over a pair of shoes led to criminal charges against a southwestern Illinois woman and her dad. Prosecutors charged the 24-year-old woman with criminal property damage, while her 47-year-old dad was accused of aggravated battery.

Reuters - Top executives of bankrupt General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC defended slashing their dealer networks, telling Congress on Wednesday that eliminating more than 2,300 dealerships was crucial to saving the companies.

Reuters - Search crews flying over the Atlantic found debris from a crashed Air France jet spread over more than 90 km (55 miles) of ocean on Wednesday, reinforcing the possibility it broke up in the air.

Reuters - A second British cabinet minister announced she was resigning on Wednesday, undermining Prime Minister Gordon Brown's authority and raising doubts about his political future.

Reuters - A U.S. military investigation has uncovered mistakes in air strikes that killed dozens of civilians in western Afghanistan last month, according to a U.S. military official.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top executives of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC were pressed by angry U.S. senators on Wednesday to rethink plans to slash more than 2,300 dealerships as a key part of their restructuring.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The weak labor market is hurting U.S. cities -- centers of many industries and large housing markets -- with 93 metropolitan areas registering an unemployment rate of at least 10 percent in April, according to Labor Department data released on Wednesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China marks 20 years on Thursday since the bloody June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square, but the day is likely to pass largely peacefully, with troops and police ready to stifle unrest.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown's political future was in doubt on Wednesday with party rebels said to be campaigning for him to quit after a second minister resigned before an expected rout in European and local polls.

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil (Reuters) - Search crews flying over the Atlantic found debris from a crashed Air France jet spread over more than 90 km (55 miles) of ocean on Wednesday, reinforcing the possibility it broke up in the air.

AP - Opening a mission to write a new chapter on Islam and the West, President Barack Obama consulted Wednesday with the Saudi king 'in the place where Islam began,' prelude to a high-stakes speech in Egypt meant to ease long-held Muslim grievances against the United States.

AP - Dick Cheney as vice president conducted secret briefings for lawmakers in 2005 aimed at defending harsh interrogations as their methods were coming under congressional scrutiny, according to current and former government officials.

AP - The White House dispatched first lady Michelle Obama to defend Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday, part of a broad offensive to humanize the judge that came as former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich backed off his harsh criticism of her as a racist.

AP - American troops made substantial errors and did not strictly follow rules for avoiding casualties during an air assault on Taliban fighters last month, a U.S. defense official said, underscoring a central quandary for President Barack Obama's new Afghan counterinsurgency campaign.

AP - Thousands of Gulf Coast hurricane victims who have missed deadline after deadline to leave their federal housing are being offered additional help and the chance to buy trailers for as little as $1 as the government seeks to avoid mass evictions.

AP - The government's inadvertent and red-faced Internet posting of a 266-page list of U.S. nuclear sites provided a one-step guide for anyone wanting details about such sensitive information. Obama administration officials said Wednesday the document contained no classified material about nuclear weapons. They contended the locations and other details already were available from public sources.

AP - Authorities arrested a woman for allegedly trying to kidnap her daughter's boyfriend and haul him away to Northern California. A sheriff's spokeswoman said Tuesday that two women went to the young man's home on Saturday afternoon and tried to tie him up with duct tape.

Reuters - Top executives of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC were pressed by angry U.S. senators on Wednesday to rethink plans to slash more than 2,300 dealerships as a key part of their restructuring.

Reuters - The weak labor market is hurting U.S. cities -- centers of many industries and large housing markets -- with 93 metropolitan areas registering an unemployment rate of at least 10 percent in April, according to Labor Department data released on Wednesday.

Reuters - China marks 20 years on Thursday since the bloody June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square, but the day is likely to pass largely peacefully, with troops and police ready to stifle unrest.

Reuters - Prime Minister Gordon Brown's political future was in doubt on Wednesday with party rebels said to be campaigning for him to quit after a second minister resigned before an expected rout in European and local polls.

AFP - President Barack Obama held intense talks with Saudi King Abdullah on Middle East peace moves Wednesday, but on the eve of a major speech to Muslims, faced a barrage of new threats from Osama bin Laden.

AFP - A first Brazilian navy ship arrived Wednesday in a remote part of the Atlantic to recover debris found from a downed Air France airliner, though hopes were low of finding the black boxes that could explain the tragedy.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China marks 20 years on Thursday since the bloody June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square, but the day is likely to pass largely peacefully, with troops and police ready to stifle unrest.

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil (Reuters) - Search crews flying over the Atlantic found debris from a crashed Air France jet spread over more than 55 miles of ocean on Wednesday, reinforcing the possibility it broke up in the air.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. military investigation has uncovered mistakes in air strikes that killed dozens of civilians in western Afghanistan last month, according to a U.S. military official.

AP - Military planes located new debris from Air France Flight 447 Wednesday while investigators focused on a nightmarish ordeal in which the jetliner broke up over the Atlantic as it flew through a violent storm.

AP - Opening a mission to write a new chapter on Islam and the West, President Barack Obama consulted Wednesday with the Saudi king 'in the place where Islam began,' prelude to a high-stakes speech in Egypt meant to ease long-held Muslim grievances against the United States.

AP - The Organization of American States on Wednesday lifted a decades-old ban on Cuba's participation in the group and cleared the way for the island's return despite initial U.S. objections.

AP - The Braves have acquired All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth from the Pittsburgh Pirates for three prospects, a move to beef up Atlanta's offense in hopes of contending in the NL East.

Reuters - China marks 20 years on Thursday since the bloody June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square, but the day is likely to pass largely peacefully, with troops and police ready to stifle unrest.

Reuters - Search crews flying over the Atlantic found debris from a crashed Air France jet spread over more than 55 miles of ocean on Wednesday, reinforcing the possibility it broke up in the air.

Reuters - A U.S. military investigation has uncovered mistakes in air strikes that killed dozens of civilians in western Afghanistan last month, according to a U.S. military official.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police were out in force on Thursday to stop any commemoration of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square 20 years ago, a day after Washington demanded Beijing account for those killed.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced a new test of his leadership in European and local elections on Thursday, and rebels in his ruling party were reported to be campaigning for him to quit.

AP - A woman who had been arrested and placed in the back of a police cruiser was fatally burned Wednesday when another car slammed into the parked cruiser, igniting both vehicles and another cruiser in front, authorities said.

Reuters - Chinese police were out in force on Thursday to stop any commemoration of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square 20 years ago, a day after Washington demanded Beijing account for those killed.

Reuters - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced a new test of his leadership in European and local elections on Thursday, and rebels in his ruling party were reported to be campaigning for him to quit.

AFP - China imposed a security clampdown to stop any event marking the 20th anniversary of the crushing of the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, as it faced renewed calls to account for the bloodshed.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police were out in force on Thursday to stop any commemoration of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square 20 years ago, a day after Washington demanded Beijing account for those killed.

AP - The government's inadvertent and red-faced Internet posting of a 266-page list of U.S. nuclear sites provided a one-step guide for anyone wanting details about such sensitive information. Obama administration officials said Wednesday the document contained no classified material about nuclear weapons. They contended the locations and other details already were available from public sources.

AP - As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opens about 150 new or expanded stores in the U.S. in 2009, the company expects to hire about 22,000 people for new positions.

AP - Angelina Jolie has dethroned Oprah Winfrey as the world's most powerful celebrity, according to Forbes.

Reuters - Chinese police were out in force on Thursday to stop any commemoration of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square 20 years ago, a day after Washington demanded Beijing account for those killed.