The Pentagon denied reports Saturday that the U.S. military has given up on plans to keep several thousand troops in Iraq after a year-end deadline, saying talks with Baghdad were still underway.

U.S. and Iraq officials have been negotiating a possible American military training mission of about 4,000 troops after 2011, but a dispute over legal protections for the U.S. forces has jeopardized the security agreement.

Militants tried to blast their way into an American base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, striking before dawn with rocket-propelled grenades and a vehicle packed with explosives.

The attackers failed to breach the gate of the base in Panjshir province's Rakha district, though they did hit a security tower with a rocket-propelled grenade, said provincial Police Chief Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh.

An independent British medical watchdog says the first treatment proven to help people with the deadliest form of skin cancer live longer is too expensive.

In draft advice issued Friday, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence said Bristol-Meyers Squibb's Yervoy, "could not be considered a cost-effective use" of health funds. A final decision is expected next month after a public consultation.

Apple fans in Australia on Friday became the first in the world to get their hands on the latest iPhone as the US technology giant unleashed its first device since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

In a party atmosphere, hundreds of people queued outside the technology giant's four-storey flagship Sydney store, filming the experience on their iPhones and iPads as staff inside clapped, cheered and chanted.

Thundering typhoons! Steven Spielberg has won the seal of approval of Tintin's native land — and that's no mean feat.

In Tintin's home city, movie journalists got a sneak preview of "The Adventures of Tintin — The Secret of the Unicorn" this week, and knives were sharpened in case it turned out that some Hollywood mogul had barged in and desecrated perhaps Europe's greatest cartoon character ever.

French director Luc Besson's "The Lady," about Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, will open this year's Rome Film Festival, organizers said Thursday.

The Oct. 27-Nov. 4 festival will feature 15 in-competition films and conclude with a screening of a restored "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to mark the classic's 50th anniversary.

Researchers in South Africa have discovered what may have been the world's earliest artist's studio.

A 100,000-year-old workshop used to mix and store the reddish pigment ochre has been discovered in Blombos Cave on the rugged southern coast near Cape Town. At the same site, scientists have found some of the earliest sharp stone tools, as well as evidence of fishing.

An Amtrak train crashed into another train unloading passengers in an Oakland station late Wednesday, injuring 16 people, authorities said.

The train was traveling an estimated 15 to 20 miles per hour when it struck the stationary Amtrak passenger train about 10 p.m., said Oakland Fire Department battalion chief Emon Usher.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, which has spawned grass-roots activities around the U.S. and prompted comments from President Barack Obama, is now drawing political remarks from overseas.

Iran's top leader said Wednesday that the wave of protests reflects a serious problem that will ultimately topple capitalism in America.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the United States is in a full-blown crisis because its "corrupt foundation has been exposed to the American people."

A gunman opened fire Wednesday in a busy hair salon, killing eight people and critically wounding another while leaving bodies scattered throughout the business in a normally sedate Southern California beach community.

The gunman got into a truck and drove away from Salon Meritage after opening fire. A suspect was stopped by officers about a half-mile away and surrendered without incident while saying he had multiple weapons with him, police Sgt. Steve Bowles said.