AFP - Australian fashion and farming figures Tuesday hit back at animal rights activists' claims that wool production was cruel to sheep, saying bans on wool exports were misguided and hurting farmers.

AFP - Torrents of water finally began gushing out of China's quake lake Tuesday in a controlled drainage operation aimed at heading off a flood disaster for more than a million people.

AFP - Suspected ruling party militants stoned an opposition senator's home and torched his car on Tuesday as election-related violence gathered pace in Zimbabwe ahead of a run-off election, the party said.

AP - Thousands of demonstrators marched on the U.S. Embassy Monday to demand that Washington extradite a former Bolivian defense minister who directed a military crackdown on riots that killed at least 60 people in 2003.

AP - Israel's top leaders will debate Tuesday whether to pursue a truce with Hamas' Gaza rulers or embark on a broad military operation against Palestinian militants who torment southern Israel with rocket and mortar barrages.

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown suffered a fresh blow Tuesday as a new opinion poll showed the Labour Party falling close to its all-time lows.

AP - South Korea's prime minister and the entire Cabinet offered their resignations to President Lee Myung-bak following widespread protests over the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports.

AP - The U.S. military says it's captured two alleged al-Qaida in Iraq leaders and three other men in Baghdad.

AP - Water poured from a brimming lake formed by China's massive earthquake down a manmade spillway Tuesday, as towns downstream went on alert for possible flooding should the unstable dam burst.

AP - President Bush opened his last summit with the European Union on Tuesday with a long list of trans-Atlantic issues on his plate — Iran's nuclear ambitions, Afghanistan's woes, climate change, Mideast peace and perhaps even the U.S.-Europe flap over chickens.

AFP - Australia's former conservative leader John Howard was Monday awarded the country's highest honour in the Queen's birthday awards list, in recognition of his services to the nation.

AP - As mourners, some weeping, piled Japanese comics, flowers and other mementoes at the scene of a deadly stabbing rampage, the government Monday sought to impose tighter controls over large knives and provide better security in public places.