AP - Barack Obama's campaign says a satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist is "tasteless and offensive."

AP - Putting pressure on congressional Democrats to back more exploration for oil, President Bush on Monday lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling that his stood since his father was president.

AP - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed genocide charges Monday against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.

AP - The Federal Reserve has adopted rules to give home buyers more protection from the types of shady lending practices that have contributed to the housing crisis and propelled foreclosures to record highs.

AP - The maker of the King of Beers has agreed to go to work for the Belgian brewer InBev SA.

AFP - Pope Benedict XVI was resting in Australia Monday as hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims converged on Sydney for World Youth Day celebrations.

AFP - Nine US soldiers and several militants were killed after rebels stormed a remote outpost in Afghanistan in one of the deadliest attacks on international forces in years, officials said Monday.

Reuters - Afghanistan opposes U.S. use of its territory for launching a possible attack against neighbouring Iran, President Hamid Karzai said in an interview broadcast on Monday.

Reuters - A Taliban attack that killed nine U.S. soldiers, the biggest single American loss in Afghanistan since 2005, was a well-planned, complex assault aimed at overrunning an outpost near the Pakistan border, a NATO spokesman said.

Reuters - U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc accepted a sweetened $52 billion takeover bid from Belgium-based InBev NV to create the world's largest beer maker.

Reuters - A U.S government plan to shore up mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped calm markets on Monday but did little to allay fears about the health of the U.S. financial system.

AP - Baseball is saying goodbye to Yankee Stadium during the All-Star break, a time when the sport's best gather and fans focus on one ballpark. New York general manager Brian Cashman hopes it isn't a final farewell.

AP - Miss Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe 2008 on Monday in a contest marked by the spectacle of Miss USA falling down during the evening gown competition for the second year in a row.

AP - The leaders of 43 nations from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa have launched a Union for the Mediterranean, a brainchild of French President Nicolas Sarkozy that aims to improve cooperation in the region with practical projects that parallel efforts toward Mideast peace.

AP - So how old is John McCain? Six-packs, automatic transmissions and the American Express card were all introduced after he was born, not to mention computers which McCain admits he doesn't use.