AFP - Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott told three minority MPs who will decide if he should become prime minister that he was offering a "fresh start" in an 11th-hour plea for their support.

AP - The powerful earthquake that smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted rail lines around the New Zealand city of Christchurch also ripped a new 11-foot (3.5 meter) wide fault line in the earth's surface, a geologist said Sunday.

AP - Gaza security officials say an Israeli airstrike targeting a smuggling tunnel has killed one Palestinian, wounded a second and left three more missing.

AP - Protests in Pakistan, al-Qaida warnings, skittish Muslim tourists: France's plan to do away with burqa-style veils is already reverberating far beyond its borders.

AP - A coalition service member was killed in fighting in Afghanistan's turbulent south Sunday, one day after President Hamid Karzai moved a step closer to opening talks with Taliban who might be having doubts about the ongoing insurgency.

AP - Paul Conrad used his pencil like a weapon. His long lines and jagged angles seemed to point directly at the leaders he deemed charlatans and fools in need of deflating.

AP - American Muslims are boosting security at mosques, seeking help from leaders of other faiths and airing ads underscoring their loyalty to the United States — all ahead of a 9/11 anniversary they fear could bring more trouble for their communities.

AP - In the end, Earl's worst damage in New England was to seasonal businesses hoping to end their summer on a high note.

AP - Sometimes there's no going back.

AP - Craigslist appears to have surrendered in a legal fight over erotic ads posted on its website, shutting down its adult services section Saturday and replacing it with a black bar that simply says "censored."

AP - A crane hoisted a key piece of oil spill evidence to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, giving investigators their first chance to personally scrutinize the blowout preventer, the massive piece of equipment that failed to stop the gusher four months ago.

AP - Investigators expressed confidence Sunday that they will learn why an airplane carrying skydivers crashed in flames near a popular tourist spot in New Zealand's Southern Alps, killing four Europeans and five New Zealanders.

Reuters - The world economy is recovering moderately but still faces challenges such as the need for medium-term fiscal consolidation, the IMF's First Managing Director, John Lipsky, said on Sunday.

AP - For more than two hours on the night of May 16, 2007, Shane Maggi terrorized a Native American couple at their home on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, pistol whipping them and firing bullets above the husband's head.

AP - Abdoulaye Ba, 10, looked right, then left, before timidly approaching the taxi and holding out his hand.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, previewing a big push on the U.S. economy next week, on Saturday defended policies that he said "have stopped the bleeding" and put the middle class on the road to recovery.

AP - Police in El Salvador have found two buried oil drums stuffed with millions of dollars in cash possibly linked to the illegal drug trade, authorities said Saturday.

AP - Sarah Palin can take down the fence. Palin's neighbor of three months on Wasilla's Lake Lucille, author Joe McGinniss, is packing his bags and notebooks and leaving Sunday for his home in Massachusetts to write the book he has been researching on the former governor and GOP vice presidential candidate.

AFP - The US Treasury Department denied media reports Saturday that American taxpayer funds would be put towards bailing out Afghanistan's beleaguered Kabul Bank.

AP - A strong economy needs bustling Main Streets and a thriving middle class, not just a healthy stock market, President Barack Obama said in paying tribute to the American worker.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said on Friday he would outline new measures next week to boost the U.S. economy, but analysts were skeptical he would be able to deliver a big enough package to lift growth significantly.

AFP - Wall Street heads into next week with strong tailwind from recent days' rally and brighter outlook as traders keenly await President Barack Obama to unveil new plans for boosting the shaky US economy.

AP - Despite the smells of fried dough and roasted meat wafting from the Minnesota State Fair, Salim and Zuleyha Ozonder were focused on the people who were leaving, not the food or festivities beckoning from across the street.

AP - Kara DioGuardi is following Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell out the door at "American Idol."

AP - Authorities searched a Northern California landfill Friday for signs of a missing man authorities said might be a fifth murder victim linked to a suspect who was shot and killed by police after a high-speed chase.