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Violence in Afghanistan is at a six-year high, according to top U.S. commanders there. The officers spoke to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also met with NATO commanders and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Gates is on the latest stop on a whirlwind tour through Europe and the Middle East.

Thousands of people have visited the U.S. Capitol to pay their respects to former President Gerald Ford, who's lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The public viewing at the Capitol ends Monday.

Palestinians in Gaza mourn 18 civilians killed Wednesday by an Israeli shell in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Israeli officials have expressed regret for the killings. Palestinian militant groups are threatening revenge.

Celebratory gunfire was heard in Shiite neighborhoods on the news that Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death. But in Sunni areas, angry pro-Saddam demonstrators attacked U.S. forces. In the north of the country, Kurds were relatively quiet.

Getting Republican voters to the polls is one tactic the GOP is using to try to turn the political tide that's running against the party. In Iowa, as in other states, the Republicans are targeting voters that the party thinks would vote for their candidates. The Democrats are doing the same thing, but with less discipline.

Increasing numbers of voters are taking to the mailbox instead of their local polling station. What does a rise in the absentee vote mean in overall voter participation?

California-born Adam Gadahn is the first American to be charged with treason since the World War II era. The indictment follows his appearance in five al-Qaida videos, in which he makes threats against the United Sates.

In the Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan, some residents recently woke to find their neighborhoods inundated with hundreds of tons of toxic sludge. Tony Cox talks with New York Times Africa correspondent Lydia Polgreen about the incident and the company suspected of flooding the capital.

China, India and parts of Latin America have made headway recently in fighting poverty, disease and illiteracy. But social progress in Africa has lagged, hampered by persistent wars across the continent.

German-born Pope Benedict the 16th returns to his native Bavaria and delivers an open-air Mass in Munich. His journey is more than a nostalgic homecoming -- it's intended to bring Germans raised in the Catholic Church back into the fold.