KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been meeting with top U.S. military leaders during his first trip to Afghanistan. A U.S. military statement says the Illinois senator also met with troops and the local officials in an eastern province of the country.

UNDATED (AP) Senator Patty Murray says Democrats have a plan to combat record-high Gas Prices, but Republicans are blocking it.

In the party's weekly radio address, she's calling for responsible oil drilling in the 68 million acres of federal land already under lease. In his message, President Bush urges Congress to open the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling.

HOUSTON (AP) Federal investigators are at the site of a deadly crane collapse. The 30-story-tall crane killed four workers and injured seven others at a Houston oil refinery yesterday. The crane was one of the nation's largest, capable of lifting a million pounds.

PITTSBURGH (AP) Authorities in Pennsylvania say a woman linked to a mystery newborn was found bound and cut open, with plastic over the woman's face. The woman's body was found in the apartment of another woman who police say showed up at a Pittsburgh hospital with a newborn she falsely claimed was hers.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) A federal judge has restored endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies. The order will halt plans to hold public wolf hunts in the three states this fall. Representatives of the livestock industry say they're disappointed with the ruling.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 07-19-08 1154CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list