Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Washington’s closest ally in Afghanistan, toughened his tone Friday with this harsh message for the Afghan leadership: Clean up your act – for real this time – or risk a cutoff of support.

The political crisis in Honduras deepened Friday after ousted President Manuel Zelaya declared “totally dead” a U.S.-brokered agreement that he believed would restore him to power.

After two years of tough U.N. climate talks often pitting the world’s rich against the poor, negotiators said Friday a new global agreement now rides on industrial nations pledging profound emissions cuts next month in Copenhagen.