A health care speech by Mitt Romney and a formal announcement that Newt Gingrich is running mark a turn toward the substantive in the Republican presidential race.
The change can't happen too soon for the GOP after a series of events that did little to suggest the party is ready to take on President Barack Obama, who is now benefiting politically from the U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
German-born photographer Gunter Sachs, best known for his playboy lifestyle and brief marriage to French actress Brigitte Bardot, has committed suicide. He was 78.
In a statement released Sunday by his family at his request, Sachs said he chose to end his life after concluding that he was suffering from an incurable degenerative disease affecting his memory and ability to communicate.
"I have always stood up to big challenges," the statement said. It provided no details on the timing or circumstances of his death, but German weekly Focus reported that Sachs shot himself Saturday at his home in the exclusive Swiss Alpine resort of Gstaad.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Ten ballot questions devised by leftist President Rafael Correa in what his opponents call a blatant power grab all appeared headed for victory Sunday, albeit by modest and even slim margins.
Some ballot questions were simple, such as those that would ban bullfighting and gambling. Others were complex. Two of the most controversial would bar owners of news media from having other commercial interests and create a government media oversight panel.
Many who voted "yes" for the measures said they did so out of esteem for Correa's government.
"We Ecuadoreans should be committed and help out if we want things to change," said Maria Lourdes Silva, a 43-year-old cosmetics saleswoman.
SAO PAULO (AP) -- A crime gang allegedly led by Serbians was swept up by Brazilian police, shedding light on a growing problem for South America's largest nation - foreign cartels increasingly using it as a corridor to export the continent's cocaine to Europe and elsewhere.
Security experts also said the existence of such criminal organizations across Latin America not only destabilizes the region, but could be dangerous for the U.S. and other nations because of suspicions that groups financing terror can use trafficking in the lawless areas to raise funds.
Sixteen suspected members of the Serbian gang were arrested between Sunday and Thursday across the country, federal police confirmed on Friday. Some were captured along Brazil's remote Amazon border near Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, and others in international transportation hubs such as Sao Paulo.
PARIS (AP) -- Alcatel-Lucent SA said Friday its net loss narrowed sharply in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, when a components shortage caused the telecommunications gear maker's losses to balloon.
Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent said in a statement that rising demand for broadband networks across the globe that lifted sales at the end of last year has continued into 2011.
It reported a net loss of euro10 million ($14.8 million), down from euro515 million a year earlier, and confirmed its financial guidance for this year.