WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked Congress to approve more than $1 billion in additional funds for Pakistan's war against the Taliban. Gates wants lawmakers to appropriate $400 million this year for a new Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund and an additional $700 million for 2010, The Washington Post reported Friday. The fund would be controlled by the Pentagon's Central Command and would be targeted for counterinsurgency training and equipment such as night-vision goggles, helicopters ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- It could take another week for Pakistani government forces to push back Taliban insurgents in the country's northwest, a military spokesman says. Major Gen. Athar Abbas says government forces secured mountain passes to the west and south of the Buner district Thursday while helicopter gunships hit Taliban positions to the north, The New York Times reports. Abbas said it would take another week to clear Buner since government forces have to proceed slowly to ... [full story]

MEXICO CITY -- Forty more people have tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus in Mexico, bringing confirmed cases to 300 with 12 deaths, authorities say. Schools, businesses and non-essential government offices will be closed for five days in an effort to contain the outbreak. President Felipe Calderon urged people to stay home during the Cinco de Mayo holiday, the Voice of America reported. Meanwhile, the United States announced plans to purchase an additional 13 million ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- After 103 days in office, it appears President Barack Obama will have an opportunity to fill a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court. Word has leaked that Justice David Souter, 69, intends to retire at the end of the court's term in June leading to speculation about who will fill his seat, SCOTUSblog reported Friday. The last Democratic president to appoint a Supreme Court justice was Bill Clinton in 1994. There has been a ... [full story]

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia -- A wind-driven wildfire burned almost 1,000 acres in Halifax, Nova Scotia, early Friday, forcing some 1,200 people from their homes, authorities said. No injuries had been reported as the Canadian Red Cross mobilized to set up shelters and communications facilities. Late Thursday, Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly said eight homes had been destroyed and an untold number of others badly damaged, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. "The fire is not under control," Kelly said. "We ... [full story]

BAGHDAD -- Two Marines and a sailor were killed in Iraq Thursday, running the U.S Iraqi military death toll to 18, making April the deadliest month of 2009, CNN reported. Sixteen of those troops died in combat. In March there were nine reported fatalities, the lowest monthly count of the year. April was also the deadliest month this year for Iraqi civilians. At least 290 Iraqi civilians died that month, compared to 185 in March, an Interior ... [full story]

ST. MEINRAD, Ind. -- Father Theodore Heck, known as the world's oldest Benedictine monk, died Friday at St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Ind. He was 108. Heck, a native of Charlton, Iowa, died in the monastery's infirmary, the Evansville (Ind) Courier said. Born Jan. 16, 1901, Heck was ordained to the priesthood May 21, 1929, and earned a Ph.D in education at The Catholic University of America in 1935. For more than 50 years he taught in ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Washington, D.C., and more than two dozen states are not adequately prepared if the outbreak of swine flu becomes a full-blown crisis, federal records indicate. The federal effort to combat a possible pandemic includes emergency supplies of ant-iviral medications, a stockpiling system now being tested as cases of the H1N1 strain of the influenza virus continue to spread. The Washington Post says 27 states and the nation's capital are 10 million dosages short of the ... [full story]

OTTAWA -- Canadian health officials say they have nearly 22 million more H1N1 flu vaccines than the country has people, as confirmed cases grew to 34. Nationally, 15 new cases of what was first called swine flu were reported Thursday for a total of 34, but various health officials said they suspect the number is much higher, the Globe and Mail reported. The World Health Organization renamed the flu suspected to have originated in Mexico to its ... [full story]

OAXACA, Mexico -- The woman who became Mexico's first swine flu fatality spent more than a week in bed before seeking medical attention, health officials say. By the time Adela Maria Gutierrez arrived at Oaxaca's General Hospital she was barely able to breath and her extremities were blue from lack of oxygen, The New York Times reported Friday. "People wait too long to go to doctors," says Dr. Marcelo Noguera, Mexico's undersecretary of health for the state ... [full story]