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Officials scramble to save boy, 6, who floated away in homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A 6-year-old boy climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away Thursday, forcing officials to scramble to figure out how to rescue the boy as the balloon hurtled through the air. The bizarre scene played out live on television and prompted fears that the flying saucer-shaped balloon would crash with the young child inside. The balloon rotated slowly in the wind, tipping precariously at times.

6-year-old boy floats away in homemade balloon aircraft in northern Colorado

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A 6-year-old boy climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away Thursday, forcing officials to scramble to figure out how to rescue the boy as the balloon hurtled through the air.

Obama won’t pull US out of Afghanistan, White House says, as president faces major decisions

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates appealed Monday for calm amid intense administration debate over the flagging war in Afghanistan, asking for time and privacy for the president to come to a decision — an apparent message to the commanding U.S. general there who has pressed publicly for more American troops.

Asked if Sen. John Ensign can be effective amid sex scandal, a top Republican stays silent

WASHINGTON — The second-ranking Senate Republican offered no support Sunday for embattled Sen. John Ensign, facing renewed criticism over an extramarital affair with an aide and the actions he took on behalf of her husband.

Winter’s approach means narrow window for any Afghan runoff vote, official warns

KABUL — An election official warned Thursday that Afghanistan has a narrow two-week window in October to hold any presidential runoff before winter snows arrive — a somber reminder of how minor delays could leave a power vacuum well into next year.

Damaged by deficits, US seeks G-20 commitment to combat global imbalances at Pittsburgh summit

WASHINGTON — With trillion-dollar deficits and a weakening dollar, the United States doesn’t have the clout it once had at economic summits. Now Germany, France and all the new kids at the table — countries like China and Brazil — are pushing their own issues.

Security forces capture top spokesman for Pakistani Taliban, who acknowledges death of leader

ISLAMABAD — The back-to-back arrests of two top Pakistani Taliban members are another blow to a militant network reeling from the apparent killing of its chief in a CIA missile strike and could be a fresh sign of infighting over a possible successor.

Jaswant calls Jinnah ‘great Indian’, blames Nehru for partition

NEW DELHI - Walking in the footsteps of party senior L.K. Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh has called Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah “a great Indian”, saying he was “demonized”.

Honduras imposes border curfew, blocks crossings as ousted leader nears border

LAS MANOS, Nicaragua — Honduran security forces clashed with supporters of the country’s ousted president on Friday as the government ordered everyone along the border off the streets in an attempt to block his return.

Fighting the Taliban with a remote control

NEW DELHI - Every morning Major Morgan Andrews of the US Army leaves his suburban Las Vegas home and finds himself deep in battle, killing insurgents on the other side of the world, within half an hour.

Obama says US should teach lessons of slavery, compares it to Holocaust during trip to Africa

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says slavery is a terrible part of the United States’ history and should be taught in a way that connects that past cruelty to current events, such as the genocide in Darfur.

Pakistan seeks US concessions on India to play broker with Taliban

WASHINGTON - Pakistan’s military has offered to play a broker between the US and the Taliban, but in return it wants concessions from Washington over Islamabad’s concerns with India, according to CNN.

Mehsud buying, selling children to use them as suicide bombers: Pak Army

LONDON - Pakistan, for the first time has admitted that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud is virtually running a factory of suicide bombers, and using small children for the purpose.

1.6 million Michael Jackson fans wait to learn if they won tickets to Tuesday memorial in LA

LOS ANGELES — The more than 1.6 million fans who registered to attend Michael Jackson’s memorial service waited to learn Sunday whether they were among the lucky few to win tickets for the Tuesday ceremony.

How did Sanford think he could get away with it? Arrogance and hubris perhaps

NEW YORK — How did he think he could get away with it?

DC transit train crashes into rear of another train, killing 6, wounding scores of others

WASHINGTON — One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of the capital city’s Monday evening rush hour, killing at least six people and injuring scores of others as the front end of the trailing train jackknifed violently into the air and fell atop the first.

UPA barely ahead of NDA in photo finish: Exit polls

NEW DELHI - Election 2009 will deliver a fractured verdict, with the Congress-led UPA finishing barely ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA, exit polls conducted by various TV news channels predicted Wednesday night.

American friends welcome to help better ties with India: Zardari

WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari says he hopes to build better relations with India after its parliamentary elections and ‘if our American friends can help us, they’re welcome to.’

Zardari says Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are safe

WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has claimed that his country’s nuclear weapons are safe, rejecting US concerns that some of these weapons are at risk of being acquired by members of the Taliban.

Islamic appellate court formed in Pakistan; attack on security post leaves 18 dead

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has announced the creation of an Islamic appellate court for a segment of its northwest as part of a peace deal aimed at ending fighting between security forces and Taliban militants.

Rahul Gandhi has all qualities of good PM: Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday reiterated that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has all the qualities to be a good prime minister and said he would prefer ‘at some stage’ in his possible second term to hand over power to someone younger than himself.

WHO calls top-level emergency swine flu meeting; pandemic alert level to be discussed

GENEVA — The World Health Organization called a third emergency meeting in response to a spike in swine flu cases and said the expert panel will discuss Wednesday whether to raise the worldwide flu alert level.

US says Pak Taliban picked up arms after Swat peace deal

WASHINGTON - US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen is frustrated particularly by the Pakistani political leadership’s inability to confront the extremist threat, and remains “very alarmed by the growing Taliban threat in the country,” his spokesman has said.

Fox decides against pre-empting schedule for Obama

NEW YORK — Fox became the first broadcast network to turn down a request by President Barack Obama for time, opting to show its drama “Lie to Me” on Wednesday instead of the president’s prime-time news conference.

Professor suspected in US university shooting

WASHINGTON - The University of Georgia has issued an alert that one of its professors was a suspect in a shooting off campus that took the lives of three people.

Danger looms large over Islamabad due to Swat deal : Holbrooke

LAHORE - The US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said that there is an increased risk of Islamabad being affected by the Swat deal inked between the Taliban and the government of Pakistan.

Does Susan Boyle need a makeover?

NEW YORK - After British singing sensation Susan Boyle won hearts on ‘Britain’s Got talent’, people are wondering if she should go in for an image makeover or remain the way she is.

US taxpayers protest bailouts with Boston-style tea party

WASHINGTON - Borrowing a leaf from the famed Boston Tea Party, tens of thousands of Americans greeted the deadline for filing income tax with a nationwide ‘tea party’, protesting what some view as excessive government spending and bailouts.