Ariel Sharon's plan to pull 9,000 Israeli settlers out of the Gaza Strip are only parts of a more complex transformation of the Israeli-Palestinian landscape.
AP - Black smoke streamed from the Sistine Chapel's chimney Monday to signal that cardinals failed to select a new pope in their first round of voting, held just hours after they began their historic task: finding a leader capable of building on John Paul II's spiritual energy while keeping modern rifts from tearing deeper into the church.
AP - With prescription drugs Vioxx and Bextra already pulled from the market, a study has raised disturbing questions about the heart safety of long-term use of over-the-counter pain relievers such as Advil, Motrin and Aleve.
AP - Hundreds of Iraqi security forces launched an operation Monday to root out Sunni insurgents at the tip of Iraq's "Triangle of Death," finding weapons and car bombs but no hostages despite reports that up to 100 Shiites may have been seized.
Flights from Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport were temporarily grounded for several hours by the discovery of fuel that did not meet international standards, Israeli media reported. No immediate explanation was given for what caused the polluted fuel. Ben Gurion is the country's only international airport and the busiest civil airport in the Middle East.
The mother of Michael Jackson's teenage accuser testified under cross-examination from the singer's lead attorney Monday that she showed "poor judgment" by letting her children stay at his Neverland Ranch. Jackson denies molesting the boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive.