Nation/World briefs

Nation

Astronauts complete final spacewalk

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Astronauts completed the last spacewalk of their shared shuttle and station mission Monday, breezing through some rewiring, camera setups and other outdoor chores. Christopher Cassidy and Thomas Marshburn got so far ahead on the flight's fifth spacewalk that they even took on extra work. The spacewalk ended up lasting just under five hours and set the stage for shuttle Endeavour's scheduled departure today.

Bunning will not seek re-election

Washington-- Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky said Monday he will not run for a third term in 2010, citing a lack of campaign money and interference from Senate Republicans who were pushing for him to exit the race. In a statement issued by his office, Bunning said his GOP colleagues had done "everything in their power to dry up my fundraising."

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Audit finds need for Iraq oversight

Washington-- The government has kept a closer eye on U.S. contractors in Iraq since a deadly 2007 shooting by Blackwater guards, but it still needs to do a better job tracking and investigating when private security guards fire their guns, two new Pentagon audits have found. The reports were released today by the Pentagon's special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

In other headlines

• Penn St. takes top party school title in survey: An annual survey says Penn State University is the nation's No. 1 party school. It snatched the title away from last year's winner, the University of Florida, which finished second in the 2009 Princeton Review survey.

• Judge orders guardian for octuplets' finances: A California judge has appointed a guardian to oversee the estate of Nadya Suleman's octuplets.

• Kalamazoo gets $2M for police: The city of Kalamazoo will get nearly $2 million for 10 officer positions from a $1 billion federal economic stimulus program to help cities avoid laying off police officers, officials told the Associated Press on Monday.

• Michigan firm recalls tea: Fireside Coffee Co. of Swartz Creek, Mich., is recalling some packages of Fireside chai tea because it may be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported.

World

U.K.: Afghanistan mission a success

London -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared Monday that a mission to oust Taliban fighters from an Afghan stronghold has been a major success, despite a mounting death toll and public skepticism over the campaign.

• U.S. military stops publicizing Taliban body count: The U.S. military in Afghanistan has stopped releasing body counts of insurgents believed killed in operations because the tolls distract from the U.S. objective of protecting Afghans, a spokesman said Monday. Nearly 3,800 insurgents were killed in 2008.

In other headlines

• Karzai: Afghans want rules for troops changed: A confident President Hamid Karzai on Monday offered peace talks to Taliban militants if they renounce violence and called for a new relationship with the West if he wins a second term in next month's presidential election. Karzai is considered the favorite in the Aug. 20 vote

• Sarkozy out of the hospital: French President Nicolas Sarkozy left a military hospital Monday after overnight observation for a fainting spell.

From Detroit News wire services