WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Macondo well, which spilled an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, has been secured and no longer constitutes "a threat," a senior US official said Saturday.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - A US drone strike Saturday killed four militants in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border, security officials said.

MONTREAL (AFP) - Earl weakened to a tropical storm after barreling ashore in Nova Scotia Saturday as a hurricane, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said.

KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday announced that he had set up a council to pursue peace talks with the Taliban, who have been waging insurgency in Afghanistan for almost nine years.

MAPUTO (AFP) - Three Mozambican police were injured in clashes with demonstrators in Maputo over food prices on Friday evening, police said Saturday.