AFP - German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced one of the biggest battles of her time in office Monday after announcing plans to put off the date when Europe's biggest economy abandons nuclear power.

Reuters - World stocks rose on Monday on hopes that the U.S. can avoid slipping back into recession, although the International Monetary Fund's chief economist warned of weak growth in both the United States and Europe.

Reuters - President Barack Obama will announce on Monday a six-year plan to revamp the United States' road, railways and runways with a $50 billion up-front investment to jump-start job creation, the White House said.

AFP - World oil prices diverged on Monday, the end of the traditional peak demand season for motor fuel in the United States.

AP - The Dutchman charged with killing a 21-year-old Peruvian woman and suspected in the disappearance of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway has acknowledged extorting money from Holloway's parents and says he did it to get back at them.

AFP - A Japanese court Monday sentenced two Greenpeace activists to suspended one-year jail terms for stealing a box of whale meat that the group said was proof of embezzlement in state-run "research whaling".

AP - Southeastern Texas was forecast to welcome the Labor Day with unsettled weather activity as a tropical wave in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico approached the Texas and eastern Mexico coast.

Reuters - Australia's top investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd warned investors it would miss profit forecasts after weak markets took a toll on its trading and advisory business, sending its shares to a 15-month low.

AP - Group of 20 leaders should use their November summit to make a serious push for the conclusion of stalled global trade negotiations, the head of the WTO said Monday.

Reuters - A massive landslide buried a crowd trying to dig out a bus from deep mud on Sunday, killing at least 22 people, with dozens more feared dead, as torrential rains battered Guatemala.

Reuters - Shares in Hon Hai Group (2317.TW), maker of Apple's iPhones, fell as much as 4 percent on Monday after its chairman was quoted as saying in a report that the group will halve its long-term sales growth target to 15 percent annually.

Reuters - The U.S. economy appears to be trudging along, neither booming nor busting, growing steadily enough to diminish double-dip recession fears but not quickly enough to bring down unemployment.

AFP - With a key piece of evidence raised from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico and BP's Macondo well ruled a threat no longer, the focus shifts to what went wrong and who is to blame.

AP - Seeking ways to spur economic growth ahead of the November elections, President Barack Obama will ask Congress to increase and permanently extend research and development tax credits for businesses, a White House official said Sunday.

Reuters - The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co in the first offering of the automaker's stock, six people familiar with preparations for the landmark IPO said.

AFP - Oil giant BP has increased to nearly 25 billion pounds the amount it wants to raise from an asset sale programme in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

AFP - Brazil's Petrobras unveiled one of the world's biggest share offerings Friday, a sale of up to 64 billion dollars in new stock to finance oil exploration aimed at turning Brazil into a leading oil exporter of the 21st century.

AP - Summer is rarely a hot sales season for Campbell Soup Co., and this year's sweltering June and July made that even more true, but the company said Friday that cost-cutting and strong drink sales helped its net income climb.