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.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy resigned Saturday after "breaking the public trust," Gov. Dave Heineman said.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As a gay Mexican immigrant living in the United States illegally, Alex Aldana acutely understands his double-minority status. Not only does he fear deportation, he can't seek citizenship by marrying a partner because the federal government doesn't recognize same-sex marriages.

Authorities said Saturday that they still have an open line of communication with an Alabama man accused of abducting a 5-year-old boy and holding him hostage in a bunker, and they thanked the suspect for taking care of the child as the standoff marked its fifth day.