WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Tuesday said automakers should be required to produce energy-efficient vehicles in exchange for federal bailout funds. During a teleconference with Iowa reporters from Washington, Grassley praised U.S. President Barack Obama for saying his administration wouldn't walk away from the auto industry. Both General Motors and Chrysler have sought federal help to avert bankruptcy. They have already received $17.4 billion in bailout money and are seeking more. "As American ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - Snowy weather was blamed for the cancellation of a news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. President Barack Obama, officials said. The joint media availability in the White House Rose Garden was dropped Monday because the nation's capital was blanketed in snow, but administration officials didn't explain why the event was not moved inside, The Times of London reported Tuesday. Instead, the meeting Tuesday in the Oval Office is to ... [full story]

LONDON - British authorities say a Spiritualist minister who claimed psychic powers was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for killing his wife. David Chenery-Wickens, 52, was sentenced in Lewes Crown Court for the death of his wife Diane, 48, a make-up artist for the BBC, The Daily Telegraph reported. Her remains were found in woods in East Sussex four months after she disappeared last January. Police said she may have been strangled. Chenery-Wickens claimed ... [full story]

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma investigators say they had "specific information" on where to look before digging up the remains of an infant tied to an incest case. "Investigators had specific information on where to look," Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, told The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman. The Kansas City (Mo.) Star said Tuesday the remains found over the weekend are believed to one of three children born to a Missouri ... [full story]

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The man accused of beheading a fellow Greyhound bus passenger in Manitoba, Canada, last July entered a plea of innocent in a packed Winnipeg courtroom Tuesday. Vincent Li, 40, spoke for himself when the provincial judge asked for his plea to second-degree murder charges, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said. Timothy McLean, a 22-year-old carnival worker, was attacked suddenly on the bus and was stabbed repeatedly with a machete. The bus driver stopped ... [full story]

MANCHESTER, England - Prosecutors say a British man faked his own death after selling more than $35,000 worth of products he didn't have to customers on eBay. Jason Hart, 33, was sentenced Monday in Bolton Crown Court to two years in jail for perjury and conspiracy to defraud, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday. Hart faked his death after failing to produce watches, cell phones, computers and tickets to concerts and sporting events he had advertised ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, trying to hang on to his Senate seat, is being subjected to an effort to "sully his good name" and race is involved, his office says. Delmarie Cobb, Burris's newly hired media and political consultant, told Politico there has been a coordinated effort to "weaken Roland and sully his good name" and "race has something to do with" how the 71-year-old African-American has been treated. Faced with controversy surrounding ... [full story]

ST. LOUIS - Federal inspectors say they're investigating the death of an 8-year-old gorilla that apparently strangled himself at the St. Louis Zoo. Muchana, one of the zoo's four gorillas, was found dead Saturday, his neck entangled in strands of a braided rope that hung in his cage, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday. Inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture visited the zoo Monday to check for compliance with the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, ... [full story]

MELBOURNE - Much-needed rain fell across the Australian state of Victoria Tuesday, easing the danger of more deadly bush fires, officials said. Fire authorities, however, cautioned residents to stay vigilant for fires, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. Meteorologists said the rain falling on fire-prone areas was especially welcome because the precipitation was steady rather than coming in severe storms. "There's no storms around, so no lightning activity which is a good thing … it won't ... [full story]

KIEV, Ukraine - The Ukrainian parliament sacked the nation's foreign minister Tuesday, saying he strained ties with Russia and botched a territorial dispute with Romania. In all, 250 lawmakers in the 450-seat Supreme Rada voted to dismiss Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko for unprofessional conduct, RIA Novosti reported. Many in parliament blamed Ohryzko for last month's decision by the International Court of Justice to award Romania the largest share of a disputed seabed in the Black ... [full story]