Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was mistranslated in a report that he favors Barack Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. troops, an Iraqi spokesman said.

Syria is open to having an embassy in the Lebanese capital of Beirut and a Lebanese embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, a Syrian official said Saturday.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on a surprise visit to Iraq Saturday, was cautiously optimistic on the prospect of further troop draw-downs from Basra.

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus says his country is ready to conduct talks with the United States about hosting elements of a missile defense system.

Florida had more lost jobs during the last year than any other U.S. state with a total of 78,100 jobs, U.S. Department of Labor figures show.

Gazprom will buy a 25 percent stake in Daltransgaz, a part owner of a natural gas pipeline in Russia's Far East, the Russian gas monopoly said Saturday.

An announcement that Qantas Airlines will cut 1,500 jobs did not surprise Australian investors because its stock price barely moved, analysts said.

A former Microsoft program manager who admitted to embezzling nearly $1 million should serve 22 months in prison, a Washington judge has ruled.

The Washington Post Co. has announced it is purchasing the WTVJ-TV in Miami from NBC Universal.

The sluggish housing market and rising gas prices has trimmed the market for riding lawnmowers, industry analysts say.

Ford Motor Co. plans to start producing smaller models now made and sold in Europe in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The British government plans to introduce citizenship training in some Muslim religious schools to show students they can be good citizens and good Muslims.

Gov. Martin O'Malley Friday said Maryland authorities will no longer spy on political issue groups if there is no evidence of wrongdoing.

U.S. President George W. Bush Saturday trumpeted steps his administration took this week on rising energy costs and sagging home values.

Investigators said Saturday they were sifting through the wreckage of a collapsed crane at a Houston refinery, looking for clues to what caused the calamity.

Fifty-one percent of California voters oppose an initiative to reverse a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage, a poll released Friday indicated.

A 13-year-old girl is facing criminal charges after allegedly taking off in a prison transport van while being returned from Indiana to Illinois, police said.

Texas school districts were approved to give high school students the option of taking a Bible class without certain state regulations, school officials said.

Congressional Democrats want the United States to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help bring down oil prices, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said Saturday.