SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. official charged with enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea sought South Korea's support during talks in Seoul on Monday even as Pyongyang makes conciliatory moves after months of military grandstanding.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has recommended reopening nearly a dozen prisoner-abuse cases, which could expose CIA employees and contractors to prosecution for their treatment of terrorism suspects, The New York Times said on Monday.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has downplayed media reports of a plot to attack an Asia-Pacific summit in the city-state in November, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Monday.

SUNGAI SIPUT, Malaysia (Reuters) - Religious authorities in Malaysia on Monday freed a Muslim woman who had been sentenced to be caned for drinking beer, although she and her family demanded to know whether her ordeal was over.

AP - Hurricane Bill was hundreds of miles from shore and weakening as East Coast wave watchers and surfers came out to meet the storm on Sunday, but it still was blamed in two deaths.

AP - Calls to poison control centers about teens abusing attention-deficit drugs soared 76 percent over eight years, sobering evidence about the dangerous consequences of prescription misuse, a study shows.

AP - Derek Jeter needed one pitch to reach a milestone and get the Yankees going again.

Reuters - The U.S. Justice Department has recommended reopening nearly a dozen prisoner-abuse cases, which could expose CIA employees and contractors to prosecution for their treatment of terrorism suspects, The New York Times said on Monday.

AFP - US and South Korean officials stressed Monday that North Korea must give up its nuclear weapons, one day after its leader Kim Jong-Il made a rare peace overture to his Seoul counterpart.

SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. official charged with enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea sought South Korea's continued support during talks on Monday even as Pyongyang makes conciliatory moves after months of military grandstanding.

SUNGAI SIPUT, Malaysia (Reuters) - Religious authorities in Malaysia are to cane a Muslim woman convicted of drinking alcohol once the fasting month of Ramadan is over, scotching hopes that she could escape punishment.

(Reuters) - Online social networking site Facebook is looking to expand its staff by as much as 50 percent this year, its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told Bloomberg news agency in an interview dated August 20.

AP - With the nation's top military officer calling the situation in Afghanistan dire, President Barack Obama soon may face two equally unattractive choices: increase U.S. troops to beat back a resilient enemy, or stick with the 68,000 already committed and risk the political fallout if that's not enough.

AP - Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Britain on Monday as a leader walking a tightrope.

AP - Officials say the caning of a Muslim model who was apprehended for drinking beer has been postponed until after the Islamic fasting month.

AP - A publicist for Lindsay Lohan says the 'Mean Girls' actress's home in the Hollywood Hills has been burglarized.

AP - Pedro Martinez was anxiously watching the Phillies lead dwindle on a television in the clubhouse when Eric Bruntlett put an end to his worries with an unassisted triple play.

Reuters - A U.S. official charged with enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea sought South Korea's continued support during talks on Monday even as Pyongyang makes conciliatory moves after months of military grandstanding.

Reuters - Religious authorities in Malaysia are to cane a Muslim woman convicted of drinking alcohol once the fasting month of Ramadan is over, scotching hopes that she could escape punishment.

Reuters - Online social networking site Facebook is looking to expand its staff by as much as 50 percent this year, its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told Bloomberg news agency in an interview dated August 20.

AFP - Firefighters on Monday mounted a desperate battle for a third day to save hundreds of homes in greater Athens from a massive wildfire that destroyed over 12,000 hectares of forest and gutted scores of properties over the weekend.

AFP - South Korea and the United States will not be swayed by North Korea's peace overtures unless it gives up its nuclear weapons, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Fire-fighters battled wildfires on Monday that swept through homes and huge swathes of forest near Athens, forcing thousands to flee, and were beating back the main front of the inferno on its fourth day.

AP - Reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins' life ended in a way that could have been scripted for TV: as police investigated the murder suspect's suicide at a secluded Canadian motel, word came Monday that a mysterious young woman had checked him in there.

AP - President Barack Obama still may push through an overhaul of the American health care system, but political indicators point to a needed overhaul of his own tactics for selling reform.

AP - The remnants of Hurricane Bill lost the characteristics of a tropical cyclone as it moved farther north in the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said Monday, a day after the storm's powerful winds churned up waves that were blamed in the deaths of at least two people on the East Coast.

Reuters - Fire-fighters were beating back wildfires on Monday that have swept through homes and huge swathes of forest near Athens for three days, forcing thousands to flee.

AFP - Firefighters and waterbombers stepped up the battle Monday against wind-whipped wildfires tearing towards Athens as terrified residents begged to be rescued.

ST JOHN'S, Newfoundland (Reuters) - Hurricane Bill weakened to post-tropical storm status on Monday after lashing Eastern Canada with heavy winds and rain and pounding the U.S. East Coast with heavy seas that killed two people.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Fire-fighters were beating back wildfires on Monday that have swept through homes and huge swathes of forest near Athens for three days, forcing thousands to flee.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects no breakthroughs in a meeting this week with a U.S. peace envoy, though he hopes talks with the Palestinians can resume within two months, a spokesman said on Monday.

AP - President Barack Obama has moved more forcefully than ever to abandon Bush administration interrogation policies, approving creation of a special White House unit for questioning terrorism suspects, as Attorney General Eric Holder weigh a Justice Department recommendation to reopen and pursue prisoner abuse cases.

AP - For Ryan Jenkins, life ended in a suicide in a remote Canadian motel room, and police who had sought the reality show contestant in the killing of his ex-wife hunted Monday for someone new: the mysterious woman who accompanied him to his lodgings.

AP - Major Shiite groups have formed a new alliance that will exclude the Iraqi prime minister, lawmakers said Monday, a move likely to stoke fears of increasing Iranian influence and shake up the political landscape ahead of January parliamentary elections.

AP - Scottish legislators gathered Monday for an emergency meeting on the government's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber as critics claimed the act could severely damage relations with the United States.

AP - Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman has a message for actor Alec Baldwin, who is reportedly considering a move to Connecticut to challenge Lieberman in 2012: 'Make my day.'

AP - It was a race to the finish for dealers and customers alike as the government's Cash for Clunkers program headed into its final lap on Monday.

AP - Stock futures were rising Monday, pointing to a moderately higher open as investors look to build on last week's momentum that sent major indexes to their highest levels of the year.

Reuters - Hurricane Bill weakened to post-tropical storm status on Monday after lashing Eastern Canada with heavy winds and rain and pounding the U.S. East Coast with heavy seas that killed two people.

Reuters - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects no breakthroughs in a meeting this week with a U.S. peace envoy, though he hopes talks with the Palestinians can resume within two months, a spokesman said on Monday.

AFP - Afghanistan prepared Monday to roll out partial results from a hotly contested election marred by allegations of massive fraud, with President Hamid Karzai and his chief rival both claiming the lead.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Justice Department ethics office has recommended reopening some prisoner-abuse cases involving the CIA during the Bush administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

KABUL (Reuters) - The United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan urged candidates and voters on Monday to remain patient while complaints surrounding last week's disputed presidential election are being considered.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff, convicted of swindling $65 billion through the biggest-ever Ponzi scheme, has told fellow prison inmates that he is dying of cancer, the New York Post reported on Monday, citing unnamed prison sources.

AP - Scottish legislators held an emergency debate Monday on the government's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber as critics claimed the act could severely damage relations with the United States.

AP - Investors held on to their optimism about an economic recovery, extending the stock market's latest rally.

Reuters - A U.S. Justice Department ethics office has recommended reopening some prisoner-abuse cases involving the CIA during the Bush administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Reuters - The United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan urged candidates and voters on Monday to remain patient while complaints surrounding last week's disputed presidential election are being considered.

Reuters - Bernard Madoff, convicted of swindling $65 billion through the biggest-ever Ponzi scheme, has told fellow prison inmates that he is dying of cancer, the New York Post reported on Monday, citing unnamed prison sources.

AFP - Afghanistan prepared Monday to roll out partial results from a hotly contested election marred by allegations of massive fraud and tensions as President Hamid Karzai and his top rival claimed the lead.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department officials have urged President Barack Obama to reinvestigate CIA prisoner abuse cases, raising the prospect of a damaging political sideshow as Obama seeks to focus on healthcare and climate change.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombs planted on two minibuses killed 20 people and wounded 10 near the usually quiet southern Iraqi town of Kut on Monday, police sources in Baghdad said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday released a detainee from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to his home in Afghanistan, the latest departure from the controversial prison which is set to close in five months.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff has told fellow prison inmates that he is dying of cancer, the New York Post reported Monday, citing unnamed prison sources.

AP - President Barack Obama has approved creation of a new, special terrorism-era interrogation unit to be supervised by the White House, a top aide said Monday, further distancing his administration from President George W. Bush's detainee policies.

AP - An Iraqi police official says bombs attached to two minibuses have exploded southeast of Baghdad, killing at least 11 people.

AP - Scotland's justice minister on Monday doggedly defended his much-criticized decision to free the Lockerbie bomber but said Libya had broken a promise by giving the convicted terrorist a hero's welcome.

AP - The first woman in Muslim-majority Malaysia to face caning for drinking beer was reprieved Monday because of the holy month of Ramadan. Her family said she would rather get the thrashing with a rattan cane now and put the ordeal behind her.

Reuters - U.S. Justice Department officials have urged President Barack Obama to reinvestigate CIA prisoner abuse cases, raising the prospect of a damaging political sideshow as Obama seeks to focus on healthcare and climate change.

Reuters - Bombs planted on two minibuses killed 20 people and wounded 10 near the usually quiet southern Iraqi town of Kut on Monday, police sources in Baghdad said.

Reuters - The Obama administration on Monday released a detainee from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent him home to Afghanistan, the latest departure from the controversial prison that is set to close in five months.

AFP - Exhausted firefighters said Monday they had managed to contain wildfires which had been bearing down on Athens and threatened ancient Greek landmarks after a round-the-clock rescue effort.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department officials have urged prosecutors to reopen probes into CIA prisoner abuse cases, which could distract President Barack Obama from his efforts to enact healthcare reform.

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Scotland's justice secretary on Monday defended his decision to free the Lockerbie bomber on humanitarian grounds in the face of severe criticism from the United States government and relatives of U.S. victims.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombs planted on two minibuses killed at least 11 people and wounded 12 near the usually quiet southern town of Kut on Monday, officials said.

OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (Reuters) - The H1N1 flu poses a serious health threat to the United States, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said in a report released on Monday.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai won last week's presidential election in a single round with about 68 percent of the vote, Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal said on Monday.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Helped by a lull in winds, fire fighters on Monday beat back wildfires that swept through suburbs of Athens and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff has told fellow prison inmates that he is dying of cancer, the New York Post reported on Monday, citing unnamed prison sources.

AP - President Barack Obama has approved creation of a new, special terrorism-era interrogation unit to be supervised by the White House, a top aide said Monday, further distancing his administration from President George W. Bush's detainee policies.

AP - A spokesman for Alec Baldwin says the actor has no plans to challenge Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman in the 2012 election.

AP - Police in northeast Tennessee say Scott Gibson isn't the deputy director of the CIA — and he'd have to pay his $75 speeding fine even if he were.

AP - Billy Wagner wants to be a closer next season, regardless of which team he's on. That's why the New York Mets reliever says Boston must guarantee it will decline his contract option for 2010 before he would approve a potential trade this week to the Red Sox, who already have an All-Star closer in Jonathan Papelbon.

Reuters - Scotland's justice secretary on Monday defended his decision to free the Lockerbie bomber on humanitarian grounds in the face of severe criticism from the United States government and relatives of U.S. victims.

Reuters - Bombs planted on two minibuses killed at least 11 people and wounded 12 near the usually quiet southern town of Kut on Monday, officials said.

Reuters - The H1N1 flu poses a serious health threat to the United States, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said in a report released on Monday.

Reuters - Afghan President Hamid Karzai won last week's presidential election in a single round with about 68 percent of the vote, Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal said on Monday.

Reuters - Helped by a lull in winds, fire fighters on Monday beat back wildfires that swept through suburbs of Athens and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department officials have urged prosecutors to reopen probes into CIA prisoner abuse cases, which could distract President Barack Obama from his efforts to enact healthcare reform.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's finance minister claimed victory on Monday for President Hamid Karzai in last week's presidential election but, with no official figures released, the claim was rejected by his main rival's camp.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff has not been diagnosed with cancer, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said on Monday, in response to a report that Madoff had told fellow prison inmates he was dying of the disease.

AP - CIA interrogators threatened to kill the children of one detainee at the height of the Bush administration's war on terror and implied that another's mother would be sexually assaulted, newly declassified documents revealed Monday as the government launched a criminal investigation into the spy agency's 'unauthorized, improvised, inhumane' practices.

AP - This is the new formula for methamphetamine: a two-liter soda bottle, a few handfuls of cold pills and some noxious chemicals. Shake the bottle and the volatile reaction produces one of the world's most addictive drugs.

AP - A search warrant affidavit says Michael Jackson had lethal levels of the powerful anesthetic propofol in his system when he died.

AP - Women with more testosterone tend to behave more like men when taking financial risks, according to a new study. 'Women with higher levels of testosterone turn out to be less risk averse, more willing to take risks,' Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago said in a telephone interview.

AP - ABC says LaToya Jackson will be a guest co-host on 'The View' Sept. 16 and 18. Having previously co-hosted the ABC daytime talk show in 2003, Jackson is the latest celebrity to be named as a substitute for Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who is on maternity leave until mid-October.

AP - A woman on her way to St. Paul really got the goat of auto repairman James Prusci. She went to Tires Plus in Winona Friday, wanting a belt replaced on her Chevy Malibu. While he was doing paperwork, she said she had a goat in her trunk. 'A what?' he asked. She told him she planned to butcher it.

AP - Ryan Howard homered twice and drove in five runs, Cliff Lee won his eighth straight start and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 6-2 on Monday.

Reuters - Afghanistan's finance minister claimed victory on Monday for President Hamid Karzai in last week's presidential election but, with no official figures released, the claim was rejected by his main rival's camp.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson died from a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, according to findings by the Los Angeles chief medical examiner unsealed in court documents in Houston on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday named a special prosecutor to probe CIA prisoner abuse cases, a move that could distract President Barack Obama from his drive to reform the healthcare system.

AP - The Obama administration launched a criminal probe Monday into 'unauthorized ... inhumane' interrogations of terror suspects during President George W. Bush's war on terrorism, spurred by newly declassified revelations of CIA tactics including threats to kill one suspect's children and to force another to watch his mother sexually assaulted.

AP - The Iranian-backed Shiite parties that helped propel Iraq's prime minister into power three years ago dumped him Monday as their candidate for re-election, forming a new alliance to contest the January vote.

AP - ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — When Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi comes to the United Nations next month, he wants to pitch his special air-conditioned tent on a lawn in New Jersey, a proposal that has outraged neighbors and added insult to injury in a state that lost 33 residents in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

AP - A pastor who came alone to a small church in southwest Oklahoma every Sunday on the chance that that someone would join her to pray was found slain inside the weathered building, police said Monday, but who would want to kill her was a mystery.

AP - VH1 will not air the reality shows with a contestant who was found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide at a Canadian motel. Both shows featured Ryan Jenkins, the contestant sought in the killing of his model ex-wife.

AP - A woman on her way to St. Paul really got the goat of auto repairman James Prusci. She went to Tires Plus in Winona Friday, wanting a belt replaced on her Chevy Malibu. While he was doing paperwork, she said she had a goat in her trunk. 'A what?' he asked. She told him she planned to butcher it.

AP - Johan Santana was scratched from his next scheduled start because of discomfort in his pitching elbow, the latest injury to a star player on the depleted New York Mets.

Reuters - Pop star Michael Jackson died from a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, according to findings by the Los Angeles chief medical examiner unsealed in court documents in Houston on Monday.

Reuters - A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday said accused swindler Allen Stanford must stay in jail until his fraud trial, according to a court document.

Reuters - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday named a special prosecutor to probe CIA prisoner abuse cases, a move that could distract President Barack Obama from his drive to reform the healthcare system.

AFP - CIA interrogators threatened to rape family members of terror suspects, execute their kids, even torture them with an electric drill, official documents showed Monday, as the attorney general announced a probe.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson died from a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol given in a cocktail of drugs, leading authorities to suspect his doctor of manslaughter, court documents showed on Monday.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in New Orleans said on Monday that accused swindler Allen Stanford must stay in jail until his fraud trial.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street super-swindler Bernard Madoff has not been diagnosed with cancer, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said on Monday, knocking down a tabloid report that Madoff was dying of the disease.

Reuters - Pop star Michael Jackson died from a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol given in a cocktail of drugs, leading authorities to suspect his doctor of manslaughter, court documents showed on Monday.

Reuters - A federal appeals court in New Orleans said on Monday that accused swindler Allen Stanford must stay in jail until his fraud trial.

AFP - US Attorney General Eric Holder Monday named a prosecutor to probe claims CIA interrogators abused terror suspects, unleashing a new wave of political fury over Bush-era war on terror tactics.

OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will reappoint Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, a senior administration official said on Monday.

AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, widely credited with taking aggressive action to avert an economic catastrophe after the financial meltdown last fall, will be nominated by President Barack Obama for a second term, The Associated Press learned Monday night.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama will reappoint Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, a senior administration official said on Monday.

OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Tuesday, keeping him on the job of guiding the world's largest economy out of its deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Americans swamped auto dealerships on Monday during the final hours of the government's popular 'cash-for-clunkers' program, which offered rebates of up to $4,500 to trade in older gas guzzlers.

AP - NASA fueled space shuttle Discovery for an early morning flight to the international space station on Tuesday as a TV comedian whose treadmill is on board gave a 'go' for launch and urged, 'Let's light this candle!'

AP - Once he gains experience, New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez will probably become more comfortable and confident in the pocket.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Tuesday, keeping him on the job of guiding the world's largest economy out of its deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

AFP - First results are due Tuesday in Afghanistan's hotly contested election, which has been marred by allegations of fraud and tensions as President Hamid Karzai and his main rival claimed the lead.