Unable to move beyond his ultra-liberal image and far behind his rival in fundraising, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped his bid to become governor, leaving former governor Jerry Brown as the only Democrat in the race to succeed Gov.
Talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah have broken down, and Abdullah is likely to pull out of next week's presidential runoff, a person with knowledge of the talks said Friday.
President Barack Obama on Friday discussed a commander's request for more troops for Afghanistan with the Pentagon top brass in a sign his lengthy strategy review was getting closer to the end.
