AFP - Iran's opposition will go ahead with a planned rally in Tehran despite a government warning against new protests, an aide to defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi told AFP.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A protest rally against a disputed presidential election will go ahead on Saturday, an aide of defeated candidate Mehdi Karoubi said, a day after Iran's top authority demanded an end to such demonstrations.

AP - Iran's supreme leader sought to end the deepening crisis over disputed elections with one decisive speech — declaring the vote will almost certainly stand and sternly warning opposition leaders to end street protests or be held responsible for any 'bloodshed and chaos' to come.

AP - Barack Obama got a basketball, his first name and ambition from his father. Little else.

AP - A Canadian National freight train derailed, triggering an explosion Friday night that left at least two people critically injured and prompted officials to evacuate the area northwest of Chicago amid concerns more of the train's cars might catch fire.

AP - Pakistani officials say troops backed by jet fighters and artillery have killed about 50 militants in a volatile northwestern tribal region near Afghanistan where Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud is believed to be entrenched with thousands of his fighters.

AP - Medicare beneficiaries would receive better drug coverage and a portion of President Barack Obama's health care legislation would be paid for under an emerging agreement involving the pharmaceutical industry, the White House and key lawmakers.

AP - A judge should not delay Bernard Madoff's sentencing even though investigators have yet to determine how much money investors lost in the disgraced financier's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said.

AP - The now-shuttered Kansas clinic run by slain abortion provider George Tiller is the focus of the issue again, with a vigil and counter-demonstrations planned Saturday.

AP - Sen. John Ensign is pushing back against the husband of his former mistress, saying the man made 'exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits.'

AP - The United States accidentally killed an estimated 26 Afghan civilians last month when a warplane did not strictly adhere to rules for bombing, the U.S. military concluded in a report that recommends even tighter controls to limit deaths that risk turning Afghans against the U.S war effort.

AP - Darkness had fallen on Bethpage Black, and Phil Mickelson was still raring to play more golf.

Reuters - A protest rally against a disputed presidential election will go ahead on Saturday, an aide of defeated candidate Mehdi Karoubi said, a day after Iran's top authority demanded an end to such demonstrations.

AFP - Iran's opposition vowed to defy an order by the supreme leader to halt street protests over last week's election as US President Barack Obama said the world was watching.

AFP - Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan came under pressure to resign immediately over allegations that he and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd abused their power and misled parliament.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday he is 'ready to fight' for a tough new agency to protect consumers from risky loans and other financial products and lashed out at groups that might stand in the way.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's leader declared victory Saturday as the country began to end a foreign occupation with the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities, and told Iraqis not to lose faith if the pullback resulted in attacks.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States will order all its troops in Afghanistan to undergo new training after concluding that pilots violated orders in air strikes last month that it accepts may have killed as many as 86 civilians.

AP - Iran's opposition leader received another stern warning Saturday not to encourage his supporters to take to the streets a day after the country's top leader sought to end the deepening election crisis by effectively declaring President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

AP - President Barack Obama is warning critics of his vast financial overhaul plan that he has no patience for debate from hard-line defenders of a system that has exploited bewildered consumers. Pushing for a law this year, Obama said: 'While I'm not spoiling for a fight, I'm ready for one.'

AP - One person was killed and a few others were severely injured when a Canadian National freight train derailed Friday night, triggering an explosion and fire involving 12 ethanol-filled tanker cars that continued to burn early Saturday.

AP - The golden age of ancient Athens comes to life Saturday as Greece opens its new Acropolis Museum with a lavish party, bolstering its long campaign for the return of 2,500-year-old sculptures stripped from the citadel more than two centuries ago.

AP - Nokia Siemens Networks said Saturday it will buy Canadian-based Nortel Networks in a $650 million (euro465 million) deal.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said on Saturday he is 'ready to fight' for a tough new agency to protect consumers from risky loans and other financial products and lashed out at groups that might stand in the way.

Reuters - Iraq's leader declared victory Saturday as the country began to end a foreign occupation with the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities, and told Iraqis not to lose faith if the pullback resulted in attacks.

Reuters - EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Reuters - The United States will order all its troops in Afghanistan to undergo new training after concluding that pilots violated orders in air strikes last month that it accepts may have killed as many as 86 civilians.

AFP - An Iranian group that had planned to organise a rally on Saturday backed down after authorities warned of consequences if they went ahead in defiance of the supreme leader's call for a halt to protest.

AFP - Russia is ready to significantly reduce its nuclear arms, President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday ahead of scheduled talks on the topic with US President Barack Obama.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's highest legislative body said on Saturday it was ready to recount a tenth of the votes in a disputed presidential election and one reformist party said it was calling off a protest rally planned for later in the day.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Russia is ready to dramatically cut its nuclear stockpiles in a new arms pact with the United States if Washington meets Russia's concerns over missile defense, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Kashmir valley closed down Saturday in the latest protest over the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women that has triggered massive anti-India demonstrations in the disputed Himalayan region.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's jet made a 'quick, steep, but safe' emergency landing in Los Angeles on Friday after the pilot reported smoke coming from the cockpit's instrument panel, his office said.

AP - Iran's government threatened harsh action Saturday if opposition supporters take to the streets again to demand a new election in open defiance of the country's supreme leader.

AP - A truck bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq following prayers, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens, police said. The attack highlighted fears of more violence as U.S. troops face a June 30 deadline to withdraw from urban areas.

AP - Tank cars loaded with thousands of gallons of highly flammable ethanol exploded in flames as a freight train derailed, killing one person and forcing evacuations of hundreds of nearby homes.

AP - Nokia Siemens Networks said Saturday it will buy the wireless operations of Canadian-based Nortel Networks in a $650 million (euro465 million) deal to strengthen its position in North American markets.

Reuters - Iran's highest legislative body said on Saturday it was ready to recount a tenth of the votes in a disputed presidential election and one reformist party said it was calling off a protest rally planned for later in the day.

Reuters - Russia is ready to dramatically cut its nuclear stockpiles in a new arms pact with the United States if Washington meets Russia's concerns over missile defense, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.

Reuters - Kashmir valley closed down Saturday in the latest protest over the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women that has triggered massive anti-India demonstrations in the disputed Himalayan region.

Reuters - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's jet made a 'quick, steep, but safe' emergency landing in Los Angeles on Friday after the pilot reported smoke coming from the cockpit's instrument panel, his office said.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's highest legislative body said on Saturday it was ready to recount a tenth of the votes in a disputed presidential election and riot police were deployed in force to foil another planned protest rally in Tehran.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed at least 34 people leaving a mosque on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pullback resulted in more insurgent attacks.

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani warplanes resumed strikes against militant hideouts in South Waziristan on Saturday, security officials said, with more than 30 insurgents killed in the Afghan border tribal region in the past 24 hours.

AP - Witnesses said police beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied in Tehran Saturday in open defiance of Iran's clerical government, sharply escalating the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

AP - A truck bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq following prayers, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens, police said.

AP - President Barack Obama said Saturday that current financial rules exploit consumers and he put critics of his proposed overhaul on notice: 'While I'm not spoiling for a fight, I'm ready for one.'

AP - Barack Obama got a basketball, his first name and ambition from his father. Little else.

AP - Madonna's new daughter has flown out of her native Malawi on a private jet headed for London, an airport employee and a person familiar with Madonna's adoption proceedings in this southern African country said Saturday.

AP - When the FBI investigated the landmark 1972 porno movie 'Deep Throat,' the case touched the highest levels of the FBI, even its second-in-command W. Mark Felt, the shadowy Watergate informant whose 'Deep Throat' alias was taken from the movie's title.

AP - Ricky Barnes has set the U.S. Open 36-hole scoring record, finishing two trips around Bethpage Black in 8-under 132.

Reuters - Iran's highest legislative body said on Saturday it was ready to recount a tenth of the votes in a disputed presidential election and riot police were deployed in force to foil another planned protest rally in Tehran.

Reuters - A suicide truck bomb killed at least 34 people leaving a mosque on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pullback resulted in more insurgent attacks.

Reuters - Pakistani warplanes resumed strikes against militant hideouts in South Waziristan on Saturday, security officials said, with more than 30 insurgents killed in the Afghan border tribal region in the past 24 hours.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at the mausoleum of the father of Iran's revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, state media said Saturday, in an attack coinciding with more unrest over a disputed presidential vote.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug manufacturers have agreed to offer up to $80 billion in prescription drug discounts to government programs like Medicare, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing an unidentified source close to the talks.

AP - Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave for undisclosed reasons since January, received a liver transplant two months ago in Tennessee but is recovering well, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

AP - Connecticut officials were repeatedly warned about the dangers posed by a chimpanzee who later mauled and blinded a woman and were urged — more than three years before the attack — to take action, but failed to do so, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

Reuters - A suicide bomber blew himself up at the mausoleum of the father of Iran's revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, state media said Saturday, in an attack coinciding with more unrest over a disputed presidential vote.

Reuters - Drug manufacturers have agreed to offer up to $80 billion in prescription drug discounts to government programs like Medicare, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing an unidentified source close to the talks.

AFP - Thousands of Iranians took to the streets on Saturday in defiance of an ultimatum from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for an end to protests over last week's disputed presidential election.

AFP - Forty-six people were killed and 166 wounded on Saturday in a lunchtime suicide truck bombing near the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the bloodiest attack to hit Iraq in nearly two months.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi said on Saturday he was 'ready for martyrdom' in leading protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic and brought warnings of bloodshed from Iran's Supreme Leader.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomber killed 56 people as they left a mosque on Saturday, after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pull-back sparked more attacks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New York Times reporter has escaped from his Taliban captors after being held for seven months in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the newspaper reported on its website on Saturday.

AP - Police beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied Saturday in open defiance of Iran's clerical government, sharply escalating the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

AP - A truck bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq following prayers, killing at least 55 people and wounding nearly 200, police said, making it the deadliest blast in nearly two months.

AP - Like the house across the street gone missing and the one at the corner stripped of its front door, the weathered brown bungalow at 1430 Jane Ave. bided its time, edging nearer to a meeting with a wrecking crew.

AP - Barack Obama got a basketball, his first name and ambition from his father. Little else.

AP - A New York Times reporter known for making investigative trips deep inside dangerous conflict zones escaped from militant captors after more than seven months in captivity by climbing over a wall, the newspaper said Saturday.

Reuters - Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said he was 'ready for martyrdom,' according to an ally, in leading protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic and brought warnings of bloodshed from Iran's Supreme Leader.

Reuters - A suicide truck bomber killed 56 people as they left a mosque on Saturday, after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pull-back sparked more attacks.

Reuters - A New York Times reporter has escaped from his Taliban captors after being held for seven months in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the newspaper reported on its website on Saturday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said he was 'ready for martyrdom,' according to an ally, in leading protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic and brought warnings of bloodshed from Iran's Supreme Leader.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 67 people on Saturday as they left a mosque, shortly after the prime minister urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pull-back sparked more violence.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs underwent a liver transplant operation about two months ago and is expected to return to work by the end of June, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

AP - Thousands of protesters defied Iran's highest authority Saturday and marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons as the crisis over disputed elections lurched into volatile new ground.

AP - President Barack Obama on Saturday challenged Iran's government to halt a 'violent and unjust' crackdown on dissenters, using his bluntest language yet to condemn Tehran's postelection response.

AP - A truck bomb exploded as worshippers left a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing at least 63 people and wounding nearly 200 in the deadliest bombing in nearly two months.

AP - Apple Inc. co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, whose recovery from pancreatic cancer appeared less certain when he had to take medical leave in January, received a liver transplant two months ago but is recovering well, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

AP - Nortel Networks, once a technology giant, has decided to sell itself off in pieces rather than attempt to emerge from bankruptcy as a restructured company.

AP - It's a spelling mantra that generations of schoolchildren have learned — 'i before e, except after c.'

Reuters - A suicide bomber killed 67 people on Saturday as they left a mosque, shortly after the prime minister urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pull-back sparked more violence.

Reuters - Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs underwent a liver transplant operation about two months ago and is expected to return to work by the end of June, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

AFP - Thousands of Iranians clashed with police on Saturday as they defied an ultimatum from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for an end to protests over last week's disputed presidential election.

AFP - A truck bomb killed 64 people near the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk on Saturday, the country's bloodiest attack in 15 months just 10 days before US troops are due to quit urban areas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New York Times reporter has escaped from his Taliban captors after being held for seven months in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the newspaper reported on its website on Saturday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Two Britons taken hostage in Iraq in 2007 were feared dead after bodies were handed to British officials in Iraq and three others still missing were in 'grave danger,' the British government said on Saturday.

AP - A truck bomb exploded as worshippers left a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing more than 70 people and wounding nearly 200 in the deadliest bombing this year.

AP - When the FBI investigated the landmark 1972 porno movie 'Deep Throat,' the case touched the highest levels of the FBI, even its second-in-command W. Mark Felt, the shadowy Watergate informant whose 'Deep Throat' alias was taken from the movie's title.

AP - With a record-setting show, Ricky Barnes became the leader at the halfway point of the rain-plagued U.S. Open.

Reuters - A New York Times reporter has escaped from his Taliban captors after being held for seven months in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the newspaper reported on its website on Saturday.

Reuters - Two Britons taken hostage in Iraq in 2007 were feared dead after bodies were handed to British officials in Iraq and three others still missing were in 'grave danger,' the British government said on Saturday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said the Islamic Republic must be purged of what he called lies and dishonesty, sending out a direct challenge to conservative rulers after a day of unrest across Tehran.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug manufacturers will offer some $80 billion in prescription discounts for Medicare recipients under a deal unveiled on Saturday, which could boost President Barack Obama as he pushes to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

AP - Ricky Barnes had the best day of anyone at Bethpage Black.

Reuters - Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said the Islamic Republic must be purged of what he called lies and dishonesty, sending out a direct challenge to conservative rulers after a day of unrest across Tehran.

Reuters - Drug manufacturers will offer some $80 billion in prescription discounts for Medicare recipients under a deal unveiled on Saturday, which could boost President Barack Obama as he pushes to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

AP - Another day at the U.S. Open ended with a familiar drill. Players dodged puddles in the parking lot as they headed to their cars, a round left incomplete for the third straight day. The maintenance crew grabbed squeegees and pumps as they headed out to Bethpage Black to wage a losing battle against the rain.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore will take action against a North Korean ship that the United States is monitoring, if the vessel heads to its port with a cargo of weapons, the government said on Saturday.