Reuters - Sri Lanka on Monday said it would offer new oil exploration blocks in an area off the northern coast where the initial flare-up of a quarter-century war with the Tamil Tiger separatists ended the hunt for oil.
Reuters - The Federal Reserve should not announce a limit on its actions if it resumes purchases of Treasury securities to stimulate the U.S. economy, the former vice chairman of the central bank said.
AP - European Union finance ministers are set to discuss the possibility of introducing a levy on banks and whether a tax on financial transactions can deal with another banking crisis, as they gather Tuesday in an atmosphere more benign than when they last met in July.
AFP - Fabio Capello confirmed he will pick Wayne Rooney to play for England against Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier here Tuesday despite revelations over the striker?s private life.
Reuters - World stocks rose on Monday on hopes the U.S. economy can avoid slipping back into recession, although the International Monetary Fund's chief economist warned of weak growth in both the United States and Europe.
AP - Mexican authorities opened shelters and warned people to watch out for mudslides Monday as Tropical Storm Hermine approached the northeastern border with Texas, the second major storm to hit the area this season.
AP - A judge in the Bahamas dismissed charges Monday against two people accused of trying to extort money from John Travolta after the actor decided he no longer wanted to face the pain of a new trial stemming from the death of his teenage son on the island chain.
AFP - Four people were killed Monday when Indian security forces opened fire on stone-throwing protesters during fresh demonstrations against Indian rule in Kashmir, police said.
AFP - US President Barack Obama unveiled plans Monday to spend at least 50 billion dollars to expand and renew US roads, railways and airports, in a fresh bid to fire up sluggish economic growth.
AP - President Barack Obama is asking Congress to approve at least $50 billion in long-term spending in the nation's roads, railways and runways in a pre-election effort to show he's trying to stimulate the sputtering economy.
Reuters - President Barack Obama will announce on Monday a six-year plan to revamp the United States' aging roads, railways and runways with a $50 billion up-front investment to jump-start job creation.
AP - Delta Air Lines Inc. has launched a new flight from the U.S. to Liberia, becoming the first American carrier to serve the West African nation that is recovering from more than a decade of civil war.
AP - In an unusually blunt warning, the U.N. atomic agency said Monday that its monitoring of Iran's nuclear activities is being hampered because Tehran objects to giving some agency inspectors access to its program.
Time.com - The government insists there is no reason for anxiety but the depositors outside Afghanistan's largest bank are implacable. They want their money back
Time.com - As the scandal surrounding the L'OrÉal billions further entwines Eric Woerth, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's support for his labor minister could cost him the next election
AP - Eleven culture officials from Egypt's government have been formally charged in last month's theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting from a Cairo museum that had no functioning security alarms.
AP - An Iranian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery is now facing a new punishment of 99 lashes because a British newspaper ran a picture of an unveiled woman mistakenly identified as her, the woman's son said Monday.
Reuters - Oil and natural gas producers in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico were carefully watching Tropical Storm Hermine on Monday, though no cutbacks in production have been announced.
CQPolitics.com - The dynamics in the Alaska Senate race were changed dramatically when Sen. Lisa Murkowski was upset in the Aug. 24 GOP primary by Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller. While we're not convinced that national Democrats will commit the level of resources needed to make the race competitive, CQ Politics is moving the rating of the race from Safe Republican to Likely Republican to reflect the new uncertainty of the open-seat contest.
AP - A Taliban suicide bomber detonated a car in an alley behind a police station in a strategically important town in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least 17 police and civilians in an explosion that shattered the station and neighboring homes.
AP - Israel's hard-line foreign minister said Monday that his party will try to block any extension of Israel's settlement slowdown, a move that could derail the recently launched Mideast peace negotiations.
The Atlantic Wire - As the job market and housing sector
continue to suffer, the White House is seeking initiatives meant to
re-stimulate the economy, following the first stimulus efforts of 2009.
According
to Time magazine, "most nonpartisan economists agree" that the first
stimulus was successful in the short-term but did not go far enough.
The "second stimulus" proposals are a $100 billion tax credit for businesses and $50 billion on infrastructure spending.
Any such measures must still be improved by an increasingly partisan
Congress that is expected to shift heavily Republican in November.
AP - The Dutchman charged with killing a 21-year-old Peruvian woman and suspected in the disappearance of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway has acknowledged extorting money from Holloway's parents and says he did it to get back at them.
AP - The USS Olympia, a one-of-a-kind steel cruiser that returned home to a hero's welcome after a history-changing victory in the Spanish-American War, is a proud veteran fighting what may be its final battle.
AP - The Black Widow of eating contests gobbled up nearly 181 chicken wings in 12 minutes, devouring the national championship record in Buffalo on Sunday.
AP - Group of 20 leaders should use their November summit to make a serious push for the conclusion of stalled global trade negotiations, the head of the WTO said Monday.
Reuters - Australian Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard will know on Tuesday if she can form a new minority government with the support of three independents, ending more than two weeks of uncertainty after the August 21 elections.
AP - In the turbulent year of the tea party, Republican Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware set out to jangle no nerves as he ran for a Senate seat long held by Vice President Joseph Biden. It's the way Republican strategists originally envisioned 2010, a roster of seasoned politicians pointing the party toward significant gains in the Senate.
AP - The yellow-green streaks of fireflies that bring a magical air to summer nights, inspire camp songs and often end up in jars in children's bedrooms may be flickering out in the nation's backyards as suburban sprawl encroaches on their habitats.
AP - Craiglist's "adult services" section has been shut down in the U.S., but prostitution on the Internet is alive and well — even, quite possibly, on Craigslist.
AP - A flight attendant who captured America's attention when he told off a plane full of passengers and then slid down an emergency chute resigned from his job last week and wasn't fired, his lawyer said Sunday.
OneWorld.net - JOHANNESBURG, Sep 3 (PlusNews) - A new, accurate, easy-to-use test can
diagnose tuberculosis (TB) - including drug-resistant strains of the
disease - in less than two hours. It has the potential to save thousands
of lives in developing countries, where current tests are often
unreliable, take weeks to process, or are simply unavailable.