AP - Canada's Conservative prime minister appeared poised to retain his job in Tuesday's national election but he faced a greater challenge in winning a parliamentary marjority to bolster his power.

AP - North Korea planned to resume dismantling its nuclear program Tuesday for the first time in two months, days after the United States removed the communist regime from a terrorism blacklist as a reward under a disarmament pact.

AP - Two huge wildfires driven by strong Santa Ana winds burned into neighborhoods near Los Angeles on Monday, forcing frantic evacuations on smoke- and traffic-choked highways, destroying homes and causing at least two deaths.

AP - Asian markets soared for a second day Tuesday, led by a record 14 percent jump in Tokyo, after Wall Street rallied from its worst week ever on optimism that government rescue efforts will heal the crippled global financial system.

AP - The Bush administration will spend $250 billion this year to purchase stock in banks and take a number of other bold steps in an effort to combat a global credit crisis that is threatening to push the country into a deep recession, industry and government officials say.

AFP - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe swore in two vice presidents Monday, a senior official said, casting doubt on a new mediation effort to save a power-sharing deal with the opposition.

AFP - Governments around the globe launched a multi-pronged attack on the finance crisis Monday, with markets enjoying record one-day rises as Europe approved more than a trillion dollars in loans.

Reuters - U.S. economist Paul Krugman, a fierce critic of the Bush administration for policies that he argues led to the current financial crisis, won the 2008 Nobel prize for economics on Monday.

Reuters - Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Monday sought to assure supporters he can come back to defeat Democrat Barack Obama in the face of drooping poll numbers and doubts in his own party.

Reuters - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) completed its $9 billion investment in Morgan Stanley on Monday as U.S. government support helped nail down a critical deal many investors had feared could fall apart.

Reuters - North Korea on Monday restored U.N. monitors' access to its atom bomb complex and will resume disabling its nuclear reactor on Tuesday, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said, after a deal with Washington to save the process.

Reuters - The world bet solidly on recapitalizing ailing banks as the fastest way out of the financial crisis in a clear new direction on Monday that reinvigorated stock markets after their worst week in history.

Reuters - Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama on Monday proposed four steps to create jobs and to cushion Americans against the effects of the economic downturn as he campaigned in an area hit hard by the slowdown.

Reuters - Stocks surged on Monday, following their worst week ever, as global efforts to recapitalize banks sparked a rally in financial shares, while credit markets showed some signs of loosening up.