AFP - The world's largest reinsurance group Swiss Re on Tuesday said it expected net claims for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike to reach about 300 million dollars (203 million euros).
AP - An Afghan journalist detained for 11 months at the U.S. military base at Bagram alleged on Monday that his captors kicked him, forced him to stand barefoot in the snow and didn't allow him to sleep for days.
AP - The stock price of a company at the center of China's tainted milk product scandal plunged Tuesday as the government pledged to crack down on an "out of control" milk-gathering system.
AP - The U.S. military scheduled the first family visits at its Afghanistan detention center Tuesday, allowing the international Red Cross to transport the relatives of prisoners to the main American base at Bagram. -- read full article
AP - African leaders warned Monday that a lingering global financial crisis coupled with the collapse of talks on a world trade agreement could significantly harm the U.N. campaign to improve life for hundreds of millions of the world's poorest.
AP - Security forces killed 10 suspected insurgents Tuesday as part of an ongoing offensive near the Afghan border aimed at denying al-Qaida and Taliban militants safe havens there.
AFP - Australian scientists said Monday they had discovered in an outback mountain range a reef that was under water 650 million years ago and could provide fresh insight into early life on earth.
AFP - Pakistan's top leaders were due to have dinner at Islamabad's Marriott hotel on the night it was bombed but cheated death after switching venue at the last minute, a senior official said Monday.
AP - Thirteen members of the same family, including a two-week-old infant, have been found dead in their home after apparently taking herbal medicine, the South African Press Association said Monday. -- read full article
AP - A Sept. 11 defendant refused to leave his Guantanamo prison cell Monday and join four other alleged coconspirators in court, delaying the start of a pretrial hearing.
AP - An Iraqi magazine cartoon depicting a female suicide bomber in a pose like the Statue of Liberty, arm raised with a lit bomb fuse instead of a torch in her hand, has angered lawmakers who voted to sue the publication for allegedly damaging the image of Muslim women. -- read full article
AFP - Lewis Hamilton will have to wait until Tuesday to find out if his win at the Belgian Grand Prix is to be reinstated, according to the FIA on Monday.
AP - Somalia's warring sides pounded the capital with mortar rounds and gunfire Monday, killing 30 people — including a family of seven — as Islamic insurgents who want to topple the government gain significant power.
AP - The head of the Chinese agency that monitors food and product safety has resigned, state media announced Monday, pushed out by a scandal over tainted baby formula that killed four babies and sickened nearly 53,000.
