BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed on Sunday to meet leaders of an anti-government protest movement in a move to defuse growing tensions and avert possible confrontation.

AP - Weeping, angry relatives of 46 crew members missing after a mysterious explosion sank a South Korean navy ship sailed around the site Sunday as rescue teams took to the air and sea still hoping to find survivors.

AP - In an abrupt reversal that played out on national television, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed Sunday to talk face-to-face with protesters growing increasingly confrontational in their demands for new elections.

Reuters - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed on Sunday to meet leaders of an anti-government protest movement in a move to defuse growing tensions and avert possible confrontation.

AFP - Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and anti-government protesters on Sunday edged closer to landmark talks aimed at ending two weeks of mass rallies.

AFP - UN inspectors and intelligence specialists in western countries believe Iran may be preparing to build at least two additional secret nuclear sites despite demands that it open up its nuclear program, The New York Times reported.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed on Sunday to meet leaders of an anti-government protest movement in a move to defuse growing tensions and avert possible confrontation but is unlikely to make major concessions.

AP - Weeping, angry relatives of 46 crew members missing after a mysterious explosion sank a South Korean navy ship sailed around the site Sunday as rescue teams took to the air and sea still hoping to find survivors.

AP - Mechanics and engineers hoped to right a crane that was poised precariously Sunday after it tilted and hit a 25-story building near Wall Street the day before, showering debris to the ground, rerouting traffic and causing evacuations.

Reuters - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed on Sunday to meet leaders of an anti-government protest movement in a move to defuse growing tensions and avert possible confrontation but is unlikely to make major concessions.

AFP - Thailand's government and red-shirted protesters loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra said they would hold talks on Sunday aimed at ending two weeks of demonstrations.

AFP - South Korean ships and aircraft resumed the hunt Sunday for 46 sailors still missing after a warship sank in choppy waters near the border with North Korea following a still-unexplained explosion.

AP - More than seven years ago, a suspected Afghan militant was brought to a dimly lit CIA compound northeast of the airport in Kabul. The CIA called it the Salt Pit. Inmates knew it as the dark prison. Inside a chilly cell, the man was shackled and left half-naked. He was found dead, exposed to the cold, in the early hours of Nov. 20, 2002.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI opened Holy Week on Sunday amid one of the most serious crises facing the church in decades, with questions about his handling of cases of pedophile priests and the Vatican acknowledging its 'moral credibility' was on the line.

AP - Thailand's prime minister has opened negotiations with leaders of anti-government protests to defuse growing tensions, agreeing to their demand that the talks be broadcast live on national television.

AP - Philippine troops, backed by artillery and helicopter fire, have captured a key jungle camp of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group and may have killed several militants during a two-day assault, military officials said Sunday.

AFP - Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday began landmark talks with anti-government protesters, aimed at ending two weeks of street demonstrations.

AFP - Ships and aircraft searched Sunday for 46 sailors missing after a mystery explosion tore a South Korean warship apart, as tearful relatives urged the military to work faster.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday announced he would make 15 recess appointments held up by Republicans, including two top Treasury Department positions and two on the National Labor Relations Board that have been vacant for more than a year.

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A series of explosions in western Iraq killed six people on Sunday, including an official of a political faction in former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's electoral coalition, police said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned militants on Sunday that Israel would respond to any attacks from the Gaza Strip that harmed Israelis, making the pledge after clashes along the Hamas-run enclave's border.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, facing one of the gravest crises of his pontificate as a sexual abuse scandal sweeps the Church, indicated on Sunday that his faith would give him the courage not to be intimidated by critics.

AP - Israel's leader tried to play down tensions with the U.S. on Sunday after a rocky meeting at the White House last week, saying that relations with Washington remain solid.

AP - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held direct talks Sunday with leaders of anti-government protests to defuse deepening tensions, agreeing to their demand that the meeting be broadcast live on national television.

AP - An official says at least 152 people are trapped after a coal mine flood in northern China.

AP - Issa Salomi's first call home was to his 27-year-old son Roger. He said memories of the birth of the oldest of his four boys and his son's childhood sustained him after he was kidnapped in Baghdad in January. A few hours later, the Iraqi-American contractor called his wife of 30 years, Muna, and asked for her homemade tabbouleh when he arrived home.

AP - Several bombs exploded Sunday near a house linked to a prominent Sunni figure who ran in this month's parliamentary elections in Iraq, killing five people and wounding 26 others, a police official said.

AP - The school that never celebrates midnight madness to kick off the basketball season finally held a late-night campus party. Sunday morning's March Madness bash was even better. About eight hours after Butler beat second-seeded Kansas State 63-56 to reach the first Final Four in school history, the Bulldogs returned home to a large crowd and loud cheers.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Saturday announced he would make 15 recess appointments held up by Republicans, including two top Treasury Department positions and two on the National Labor Relations Board that have been vacant for more than a year.

Reuters - A series of explosions in western Iraq killed six people on Sunday, including an official of a political faction in former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's electoral coalition, police said.

Reuters - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned militants on Sunday that Israel would respond to any attacks from the Gaza Strip that harmed Israelis, making the pledge after clashes along the Hamas-run enclave's border.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held talks with protest leaders on Sunday in an effort to defuse growing tension and avert possible confrontation after protesters intensified their drive to topple the government.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, facing one of the gravest crises of his pontificate as a sexual abuse scandal sweeps the Church, indicated on Sunday that his faith would give him the courage not to be intimidated by critics.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama did not give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the cold shoulder when they met in the White House last week, a top Obama aide said on Sunday.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The United Nations must boost peacekeeping forces in areas of Africa where Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels operate to stop massacres such as one that killed more than 300 people in December, a rights group said.

KABUL (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Sunday of conniving with Afghanistan's drug producers by refusing to destroy opium crops, the second time in a week Moscow has taken a swipe at the West over drug policy.

AP - More than seven years ago, a suspected Afghan militant was brought to a dimly lit CIA compound northeast of the airport in Kabul. The CIA called it the Salt Pit. Inmates knew it as the dark prison.

AP - Better beat the crowd and find a doctor.

AP - At least 123 people were trapped underground Sunday after water gushed into a coal mine in northern China, a government agency said.

Reuters - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held talks with protest leaders on Sunday in an effort to defuse growing tension and avert possible confrontation after protesters intensified their drive to topple the government.

Reuters - Pope Benedict, facing one of the gravest crises of his pontificate as a sexual abuse scandal sweeps the Church, indicated on Sunday that his faith would give him the courage not to be intimidated by critics.

Reuters - President Barack Obama did not give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the cold shoulder when they met in the White House last week, a top Obama aide said on Sunday.

KABUL (Reuters) - President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday on an unannounced visit during which he will press President Hamid Karzai to crack down on corruption and battle drug traffic.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Powerful groups in the United States appear to be blocking efforts to stem the flow of assault weapons fueling Mexico's drug war, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will press the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations to tighten United Nations sanctions on Iran when it hosts a meeting of foreign ministers from the grouping on Monday and Tuesday.

ARKHANGELSK, Russia (Reuters) - Thousands of angry people demonstrated in a northwestern Russian city on Sunday against the high cost of living and demanded that the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin quits.

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - 'Retou ala Vi. Ayiti Pap Peri' (Back to life, Haiti will not die) reads the banner in Creole stretched up beside a crowded camp of earthquake survivors in the heart of the wrecked capital Port-au-Prince.

AP - President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Sunday for a firsthand look at the 8-year-old war he inherited and dramatically escalated.

AP - Pakistani troops repulsed a Taliban attack Sunday on an army base and bombed two militant hide-outs close to the Afghan border, killing 22 insurgents in a region where the army is pressing an offensive, a government official said.

AP - 'How to Train Your Dragon' has breathed a bit of box-office fire with a $43.3 million opening weekend and a No. 1 debut.

Reuters - President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday on an unannounced visit during which he will press President Hamid Karzai to crack down on corruption and battle drug traffic.

Reuters - Powerful groups in the United States appear to be blocking efforts to stem the flow of assault weapons fueling Mexico's drug war, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Reuters - Canada will press the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations to tighten United Nations sanctions on Iran when it hosts a meeting of foreign ministers from the grouping on Monday and Tuesday.

Reuters - Thousands of angry people demonstrated in a northwestern Russian city on Sunday against the high cost of living and demanded that the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin quits.

Reuters - 'Retou ala Vi. Ayiti Pap Peri' (Back to life, Haiti will not die) reads the banner in Creole stretched up beside a crowded camp of earthquake survivors in the heart of the wrecked capital Port-au-Prince.

Reuters - Russia accused the United States on Sunday of conniving with Afghanistan's drug producers by refusing to destroy opium crops, the second time in a week Moscow has taken a swipe at the West over drug policy.

KABUL (Reuters) - Barack Obama arrived unannounced in Afghanistan on Sunday, his first visit to the war zone that could define his presidency since his election as U.S. commander-in-chief.

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's economics minister said on Sunday he was hopeful that a review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could be completed within weeks, potentially releasing crucial aid for the crisis-hit nation.

RABAT/ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Rescuers on Sunday were searching a Moroccan hillside lake for the boss of the world's largest sovereign fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), two days after his plane crashed into it.

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Arab leaders failed to agree Sunday whether to back indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, making it unlikely the talks aimed at reviving the stalled peace process will happen any time soon.

AP - In a surprise visit, President Barack Obama pressed Afghan leaders on Sunday to do more to rein in rampant corruption and improve their government as he got a firsthand look at the 8-year-old war he inherited and dramatically escalated.

AP - How much difference is there between a good season and a great one? Try 12 points.

Reuters - President Barack Obama made the first trip of his presidency to Afghanistan on Sunday, where he said the military campaign had made progress but President Hamid Karzai still had to tackle corruption.

Reuters - Iceland's economics minister said on Sunday he was hopeful that a review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could be completed within weeks, potentially releasing crucial aid for the crisis-hit nation.

Reuters - Rescuers on Sunday were searching a Moroccan hillside lake for the boss of the world's largest sovereign fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), two days after his plane crashed into it.

Reuters - Arab leaders failed to agree Sunday whether to back indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, making it unlikely the talks aimed at reviving the stalled peace process will happen any time soon.

AFP - President Barack Obama landed in Afghanistan Sunday for a surprise first visit as US commander-in-chief and as his huge surge of 30,000 troops, designed to end the eight-year war, gathers pace.

AFP - Live televised talks between Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and anti-government protesters ended Sunday without resolution, failing to end two weeks of street demonstrations.

KABUL (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made the first trip of his presidency to Afghanistan on Sunday, where he said the military campaign had made progress but President Hamid Karzai still had to tackle corruption.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - It looks like U.S. customers who preordered Apple Inc's new iPad tablet computer may have to wait a bit longer to get the device, as the company appears to be having a hard time keeping up with demand.

AP - Better beat the crowd and find a doctor.

AP - Police in a northern California town thought they had an open-and-shut case when they seized more than two pounds of marijuana from a couple's home, even though doctors authorized the pair to use pot for medical purposes.

AP - Well, that's embarrassing.

Reuters - Barack Obama made his first trip to Afghanistan as U.S. president on Sunday, delivering a rousing speech to troops and telling Afghan President Hamid Karzai that progress on fighting corruption should match military gains.

Reuters - It looks like U.S. customers who preordered Apple Inc's new iPad tablet computer may have to wait a bit longer to get the device, as the company appears to be having a hard time keeping up with demand.

AFP - US President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan Sunday, his first as commander-in-chief, to assess his surge of 30,000 troops designed to end the bloody eight-year-old war on the Taliban.

AFP - Talks between embattled Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and anti-government 'Red Shirt' protesters failed to end two weeks of street demonstrations on Sunday.

KABUL (Reuters) - Barack Obama made his first trip to Afghanistan as president on Sunday, delivering a rousing speech to troops and telling Afghan President Hamid Karzai that progress on fighting corruption should match military gains.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - It looks like some U.S. customers who preorder Apple Inc's new iPad tablet computer now may have to wait a bit longer to get the device, as the company appears to be having a hard time keeping up with demand.

AP - Jeff Anderson has filed thousands of lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests and won tens of millions of dollars for his clients, but he has had a bigger goal in mind for nearly two decades. He wants to bring his career-long legal crusade against misconduct in the Roman Catholic Church right to the top.

AP - More than 7,000 people have gathered in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey to protest a wave of violence that has affected the country's third largest city in recent weeks.

AP - West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said that injured guard Darryl Bryant, who broke his foot in practice earlier in the week, is getting fit for a shoe that is supposed to take pressure off it. If all goes well, Bryant might be able to play next weekend in the Final Four.

Reuters - It looks like some U.S. customers who preorder Apple Inc's new iPad tablet computer now may have to wait a bit longer to get the device, as the company appears to be having a hard time keeping up with demand.

AP - Under elaborate secrecy, President Barack Obama slipped into Afghanistan on Sunday near the front lines of the increasingly bloody 8-year-old war he is expanding and affirmed America's commitment to destroying al-Qaida and its extremist allies in the land where the 9-11 plot was hatched.

AP - The FBI said Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader in Michigan said the target of at least one of the raids was a Christian militia group.

AP - Four teams are left on the road to the national championship.

AFP - US President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan Sunday, his first since taking office, to press Afghan leaders to end corruption and rally American troops in the war on the Taliban.

AP - North Korea warned the U.S. and South Korea of 'unpredictable incidents' Monday after it says the allied nations have been disturbing security at a buffer zone bisecting the peninsula.

AP - Rescuers were scrambling Monday to save 153 workers trapped after a flood swept through a coal mine in northern China, the country's work safety agency said.

AP - A handful of people were reported injured by violent storms that ripped the metal roof off at least one building, damaged dozens of homes and knocked down countless trees in central North Carolina Sunday night, officials said.

AFP - Rescuers worked frantically Monday to try to find more than 150 workers trapped in a flooded coal mine being built in northern China, the latest disaster to hit the dangerous mining sector.

AFP - At least 15 people were killed on Monday in an explosion on Moscow's metro system, the RIA Novosti and ITAR-TASS news agencies reported.