AFP - The launch of a satellite to monitor Earth's gravitational field, scheduled for Wednesday from a base in northern Russia, has been postponed to October 5 because of technical problems, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Monday.

Time.com - The next big hurricane could leave the state not merely damaged but in financial ruin

AP - It has been called an Alice in Wonderland investigation into the makeup of the universe — or dangerous tampering with nature that could spell doomsday.

AP - Next month's shuttle flight to the Hubble Space Telescope faces an increased risk of getting hit by space junk because it will be in a higher, more littered orbit than usual, NASA said Monday.

AFP - US oil giant ConocoPhillips will pay up to 9.6 billion dollars (8.0 billion US dollars) for a half share of a coal seam gas (CSG) venture with Australia's Origin Energy in a deal that could thwart a hostile bid by Britain's BG Group.

Reuters - Hurricane Ike pounded northeastern Cuba with 120 mile per hour (195 kph) winds, torrential rains and massive waves that rolled through coastal towns on Monday on a path toward the Gulf of Mexico oil fields and possibly New Orleans.

AFP - Iran said on Sunday that OPEC members should cut output to the agreed target quotas in the face of falling oil prices, two days before the cartel meets in Vienna, state-run IRNA news agency reported.

AFP - Australian koalas are dying by the thousands as a result of land clearing in the country's northeast, while millions of birds and reptiles are also perishing, conservation group WWF said Sunday.

AP - Ike ripped off roofs, swept away boats and collapsed a bridge on the last road into a flooded Haitian city on Sunday as it roared over the southern Bahamas as a ferocious Category 4 hurricane. The Florida Keys evacuated and Cuba prepared for a direct hit.

AP - President Bush says if Congress doesn't permit offshore drilling to increase U.S. oil supplies and possibly ease gasoline prices, lawmakers should not expect voters to support them in November.