AP - An American woman lost an appeal Monday of her conviction in a Hong Kong court for the beating death of her husband in a sensational case widely known as the "milkshake murder" trial.

AP - Suspected militants fired rockets at the home of the top provincial official in northwestern Pakistan, the latest in a surge of attacks that have rocked the lawless region bordering Afghanistan.

AP - A suspected rebel suicide bomber blew himself up Monday inside a crowded opposition party office in northern Sri Lanka, killing a former army general and 26 others.

AFP - Australians who sound like crocodile hunter Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee actor Paul Hogan could soon be a relic of the past, a report said on Sunday.

AP - The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Norbert is strengthening off Mexico's southern Pacific coast and could become a hurricane in the next 24 hours.

AP - Israeli Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni warned Sunday that time is running out for a peace agreement with the Palestinians, with extremists gaining strength as negotiations stumble.

AFP - Damien Duff stopped the rot for Newcastle as his second half equaliser earned a 2-2 draw at Everton on Sunday.

AP - U.S. efforts to build closer ties to this energy-rich former Soviet republic are not meant to undermine Russian influence in Central Asia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.

AP - Germany became the newest European country to allay fears about the financial meltdown, guaranteeing private bank accounts as governments scrambled on their own to save failing banks.

AP - Egypt sent its foreign minister to Iraq Sunday for the first time in nearly two decades in a sign of growing Arab acceptance of the country's Shiite-led government.

AP - Russian troops on Sunday began dismantling positions in the so-called security zones inside Georgia that they have occupied since August's war, Georgian and EU officials said, a sign Russia will fulfill its pledged pullback.

AP - The Taliban are furious about the latest apparent U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, indicating a senior militant may be among two dozen people killed, officials and residents said Sunday.