Top Stories - AFP

DUBAI (AFP) - Taliban leader Mullah Omar said the NATO-led coalition is losing the war in Afghanistan, calling on Afghans to redouble their struggle and pressing the United States to withdraw. Full Story »

GAINESVILLE, Florida (AFP) - A small Florida church has shrugged off global outrage and vowed to go ahead with a Koran burning ceremony amid growing fears it will ignite a wave of Islamic rage. Full Story »

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine investigators admitted for the first time Thursday that police may have shot some of the tourists in a bungled operation that left eight Hong Kong residents dead on a bus in Manila. Full Story »

BEIJING (AFP) - The most senior Chinese diplomat at the United Nations delivered a drunken rant last week against his boss, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and Americans at a retreat in Austria, a report said Thursday. Full Story »

CHICAGO (AFP) - BP sought to spread the blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster Wednesday, setting off a battle of oil industry giants with tens of billions of dollars in potential fines and legal liabilities at stake. Full Story »

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AFP) - US President Barack Obama Wednesday admitted some of his policies were unpopular and had not revived the economy quickly enough, but sought to rekindle his frayed bond with American voters. Full Story »

KIGALI (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon met Rwanda's president here Wednesday in a bid to defuse his government's anger over allegations contained in a UN report that Rwandan forces committed war crimes in DR Congo. Full Story »

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Internet powerhouse Google is giving Web searchers the thrill of speed with a turbocharged engine that displays suggested Web links as fast as a person can type. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US economic recovery is showing "widespread" signs of slowing, the US Federal Reserve warned Wednesday, as it gears up for a key policy meeting later this month. Full Story »

NEW YORK (AFP) - Hewlett-Packard's interim chief executive said Wednesday a spat with Oracle over its hiring of HP's former CEO will not have a long-term impact on the relationship between the two business giants. Full Story »