MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - Efforts to free a 5-year-old boy from a gunman in an underground bunker, where the man took him after killing the boy's school bus driver, were shrouded in secrecy on Saturday as the standoff in rural Alabama dragged into a fifth straight day. Police sources said the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team was leading negotiations aimed at securing the boy's safe release. But FBI officials have declined to comment, referring calls to local authorities who have been extremely tight-lipped, providing few official updates on the situation. ...

The U.S. government and Mexican tomato growers reached a tentative agreement on Saturday that reduces the threat of a costly trade war stemming from a U.S. decision last year to pull out of a 1996 bilateral tomato trade pact. "I am pleased that we were able to come to an agreement on fresh tomato imports from Mexico that restores stability and confidence to the U.S. tomato market and meets the requirements of U.S. law,"€ U.S. Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sanchez said in a statement. ...

A charter bus carrying high school students from Pennsylvania crashed when it attempted to pass under a bridge in Boston on Saturday night, injuring more than 30 people, several seriously, and leaving some trapped inside for hours, authorities said.

As standoff drags on in Alabama, nearby town grieves for bus driver who was shot to death

Authorities say a charter bus heading from Harvard University to Pennsylvania has struck a bridge in Boston, injuring 33 people. Several passengers were trapped on the bus for hours. Firefighters stood on top of the bus using boards to extract them.

Bill Parcells was a winner everywhere he coached. Time and time again, he took over struggling franchises and showed them what it takes to be a success, including a pair of Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants.

A plan developed last summer by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then-CIA Director David Petraeus to arm and train Syrian rebels was rebuffed by the White House, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The United States has sent humanitarian aid to Syria but has declined requests for weapons by rebels fighting to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ...

Bill Parcells was a winner everywhere he coached. Time and time again, he took over struggling franchises and showed them what it takes to be a success, including a pair of Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants.

The ad calls on lawmakers to pass rules requiring background checks on guns. It is narrated by children, with "America the Beautiful" playing in the background.

Two days after a stunning series of errors allowed a convicted murderer to walk out of a Chicago jail where he did not need to be in the first place, police recaptured the man at a northern Illinois home where he was found watching TV.

A New York City woman who went missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul was found dead on Saturday, and police detained nine people for questioning in connection with the case, Turkey's state-run news agency said.

Egypt's Interior Minister vowed Saturday to investigate the beating of a naked man by riot police that threatened to further inflame popular anger against security forces, but suggested that initial results absolve the police of direct abuse.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday took on the job of forming a new government and said its most important task would be to ensure that Iran does not gain nuclear arms. President Shimon Peres formally called on Netanyahu to assemble a new coalition following the January 22 general election in which Netanyahu's rightist Likud-Beitenu emerged as the biggest party. It controls 31 seats in the 120-seat parliament. ...

CHULA VISTA, California (Reuters) - Thousands of spectators turned out along San Diego Bay on Saturday to watch as demolition crews consigned an aging and decommissioned Dynegy Inc power plant to the dustbin of history. Forty rapid-fire blasts from strategically placed explosives toppled the 165-foot structure, as onlookers cheered and shock waves set off car alarms across a widespread area. Most of the estimated 5,000 spectators gathered in Marina View Park in Chula Vista, about 1,000-feet north of the plant, for the early morning spectacle. ...

Andre Cassagnes, the inventor of the Etch A Sketch toy that generations of children drew on, shook up and started over, has died in France, the toy's maker said.