BAGHDAD The words are as simple as they are profound.

Sarah Palin, the Republican Alaska governor who captivated the nation with a combative brand of folksy politics, announced her resignation yesterday in characteristic fashion: She stood on her back lawn in Wasilla, speaking into a single microphone, accompanied by friends and neighbors in baseball...

If it had only taken a few moments more to herd seven wet children into the silver Toyota Sienna minivan. If one of the girls had announced that her sandal was missing and a couple of minutes had been spent retrieving it. If the summer storm that hit Connecticut Avenue had managed to gum up traffic...

Sarah Palin demonstrated once again yesterday that she is one of America's most unconventional politicians, following an unpredictable path to an uncertain future.

WARREN, Mich. -- Big, burly and a "car guy" since high school, Tom Persinger worked for years at General Motors. Now he's a nurse's aide.

President Obama, strategizing yesterday with congressional leaders about health-care reform, complained that liberal advocacy groups ought to drop their attacks on Democratic lawmakers and devote their energy to promoting passage of comprehensive legislation.

LOS ANGELES, July 3 -- A Missouri mother said she never should have been prosecuted for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old girl who ended up committing suicide.

-- A listing in the July 3 Weekend section about area fireworks included the incorrect phone number for the Manassas fireworks. The correct number should be Historic Manassas, 703-361-6599.

Urban gardens were key to helping New Orleans's Vietnamese population return and reestablish their close-knit community just weeks after Hurricane Katrina.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 3 -- Honduran officials said Friday that they will not restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya to power, rebuffing a last-ditch appeal by the top diplomat for the Organization of American States in face-to-face meetings.

BAGHDAD, July 3 -- Vice President Biden warned Iraqi officials Friday that the American commitment to Iraq could end if the country again descended into ethnic and sectarian violence.

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan, July 3 -- Taliban insurgents stepped up attacks Friday against U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan's Helmand River valley, forcing troops in some areas to spend the day fighting instead of carrying out plans to meet with residents and local leaders.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 3 -- The followers of one of Pakistan's most feared Taliban commanders, Baitullah Mehsud, came under a fresh round of U.S. drone attacks Friday in bombings that killed at least six people, according to Pakistani government officials.

PARIS, July 3 -- France, which was an important weapons supplier to Saddam Hussein, has set out to revive its once-flourishing arms sales and training relationship with the new Iraqi government put in place by the United States.

IRAN A powerful cleric said Friday that Iran will put British Embassy staffers on trial for fomenting post-election turmoil.

AUTOMOTIVE Volkswagen hopes to introduce its first electric cars on the market in 2013, the German automaker's chief executive said. In a speech, Martin Winterkorn criticized the German auto industry for failing to invest sufficiently in research and development of electric technology and said VW...