AP - Japan voted Sunday in parliamentary elections expected to end the ruling conservative party's nearly 54 years in power and give a largely untested opposition a chance to make good on its promises to revive the ailing economy and turn around record-high unemployment.

AP - Republican legislators fumed Saturday over Gov. Mark Sanford's affair and questionable travel, though they stopped short of trying to force his resignation or impeachment before they return to the Statehouse in January.

AP - If there's anything wrong with Tom Brady's throwing shoulder, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't saying.

Reuters - Iran said on Saturday the U.N. atomic watchdog had confirmed its nuclear programme was peaceful and vowed to resist political pressure to change it, a news agency reported.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's election fraud watchdog said on Sunday it is probing 567 allegations of abuse it considers serious enough to affect the outcome of the Aug 20 vote, more than double the number announced two days ago.

AP - A wildfire in the mountains above Los Angeles has surged in every direction, going in a single day from a modest threat to a danger to some 10,000 homes.

AP - Autopsies were scheduled Sunday on seven people found slain in a mobile home in southeast Georgia.

AP - A suicide bomber killed at least 14 community police recruits Sunday in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said.

AP - An experimental drug reduces the stroke risk in patients with irregular heartbeats by nearly four times, compared with the popular drug warfarin — but possibly at a cost, according to new research released Sunday.

AP - If there's anything wrong with Tom Brady's throwing shoulder, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't saying.

Reuters - Afghanistan's election fraud watchdog said on Sunday it is probing 567 allegations of abuse it considers serious enough to affect the outcome of the Aug 20 vote, more than double the number announced two days ago.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Jimena strengthened to a major Category 3 storm on Sunday off Mexico's Pacific Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

NANSAN, China (Reuters) - Men who said they had been fighting Myanmar government troops in fierce battles over recent days streamed into China on Sunday, saying their long-autonomous enclave had fallen and its future was in doubt.

AP - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, laid to rest alongside his slain brothers John and Robert, was remembered as a 'veritable force of nature' who worked tirelessly in the Senate for nearly five decades on the causes he cared about deeply.

AP - Some knew her, others only knew of her. But they will never forget the day 18 years ago when the blonde, blue-eyed 11-year-old was snatched in broad daylight on her way to a bus stop.

AP - Autopsies were scheduled Sunday on seven people found slain in a mobile home in southeast Georgia.

AP - Japan voted Sunday in parliamentary elections expected to end the ruling conservative party's nearly 54 years of power and give a largely untested opposition group a chance to make good on their promises to revive the ailing economy and turn around record-high unemployment.

AP - When the CIA revived a plan to kill or capture terrorists in 2004, the agency turned to the well-connected security company then known as Blackwater USA.

AP - Several Michigan football players claim the program regularly violates NCAA rules limiting how much time they can spend on training and practice sessions, according to a published report.

Reuters - Hurricane Jimena strengthened to a major Category 3 storm on Sunday off Mexico's Pacific Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Reuters - Men who said they had been fighting Myanmar government troops in fierce battles over recent days streamed into China on Sunday, saying their long-autonomous enclave had fallen and its future was in doubt.

AFP - Japan voted on Sunday in a historic election expected to end more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule and sweep an untested centre-left party to power in a landslide.

AFP - The suicide bombers who killed 95 people in devastating attacks at Iraqi government ministries on August 19 were recently released from US custody, a senior interior ministry official said on Sunday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese voted in a historic election on Sunday that looked set to oust the long-ruling conservative party and give the opposition the job of nurturing a recovery from the country's worst recession since World War Two.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain agreed to include Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya because of 'overwhelming interests' shortly before an oil deal was sealed with Tripoli, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

AP - Japan's ruling conservative party suffered a crushing defeat in elections Sunday as voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots in favor of a left-of-center opposition camp that has promised to rebuild the economy and breathe new life into the country after 54 years of virtual one-party rule, media projections said.

Reuters - Japan's opposition was headed for a historic victory in an election Sunday, exit polls showed, a win that would oust the long-ruling conservative party and give the untested Democrats the job of reviving a weak economy.

Reuters - Britain agreed to include Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya because of 'overwhelming interests' shortly before an oil deal was sealed with Tripoli, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

AFP - Japanese voters swept to power an untested centre-left party on Sunday in an electoral avalanche that ended more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule, according to exit polls.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese voters swept the opposition to a historic victory in an election on Sunday, ousting the long-ruling conservative party and handing the novice Democrats the job of reviving a struggling economy.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain agreed to include Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya because of 'overwhelming interests' shortly before an oil deal was sealed with Tripoli, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will investigate the case of a shipment of North Korean weapons seized from an Australian-owned ship en route to Iran to see if its laws were broken, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday.

AP - Japan's ruling party conceded a crushing defeat Sunday after 54 years of nearly unbroken rule as voters were poised to hand the opposition a landslide victory in nationwide elections, driven by economic anxiety and a powerful desire for change.

AP - Former Vice President Dick Cheney says politics are driving the Justice Department's decision to investigate whether CIA interrogators abused terror suspects detained after 9/11.

AP - Police say they have arrested the man who called 911 to report seven people slain and two others critically injured in a Georgia mobile home, but he has not been charged in the killings.

AP - Israeli legal authorities have indicted former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert on corruption charges.

AP - The alarm sounded with two sneezy children in California in April. Just five months later, the never-before-seen swine flu has become the world's dominant strain of influenza, and it's putting a shockingly younger face on flu.

AP - Working up a sweat may be even better than angioplasty for some heart patients, experts say.

Reuters - Japanese voters swept the opposition to a historic victory in an election on Sunday, ousting the long-ruling conservative party and handing the novice Democrats the job of reviving a struggling economy.

Reuters - Britain agreed to include Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya because of 'overwhelming interests' shortly before an oil deal was sealed with Tripoli, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Reuters - Australia will investigate the case of a shipment of North Korean weapons seized from an Australian-owned ship en route to Iran to see if its laws were broken, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday.

AFP - Japanese voters swept to power an untested centre-left party on Sunday in an electoral avalanche that ended more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule, according to exit polls.

AFP/Pool/File - Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has been indicted on three counts of corruption, becoming the first ex-premier to face criminal charges, the attorney general's office said on Sunday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese voters swept the opposition to a historic victory in an election on Sunday, ousting the ruling conservative party and handing the untested Democrats the job of breathing life into a struggling economy.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain agreed to include Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya because of 'overwhelming interests' shortly before an oil deal was sealed with Tripoli, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire raging in a long stretch of the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills threatened 10,000 homes on Sunday and marched toward communities on the other side of the mountains.

AP - Forecasters say Jimena is now a dangerous Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast, and it may intensify even more as it swirls offshore.

AP - A growing wildfire in the mountains above Los Angeles surged north Sunday, forcing more evacuations and threatening some 10,000 homes.

Reuters - Japanese voters swept the opposition to a historic victory in an election on Sunday, ousting the ruling conservative party and handing the untested Democrats the job of breathing life into a struggling economy.

Reuters - Britain agreed to include Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya because of 'overwhelming interests' shortly before an oil deal was sealed with Tripoli, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney said he might refuse to speak with a prosecutor investigating suspected CIA prisoner abuses, a probe he branded as political and bad for national security.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The day after U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy's burial, leading Democratic and Republican senators on Sunday seized on his reputation for compromise to call for cooperation in the healthcare debate but showed little give in their own positions.

LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Jimena blew into a dangerous Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific Coast and was on track to buffet resorts on the Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.

AP - An explosion ripped through a line of trucks ferrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, setting several oil tankers ablaze Sunday at a backed-up Pakistani border crossing, police said.

AP - NBC's 'Today' show has hired someone with White House experience as a new correspondent — former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager.

Reuters - Former Vice President Dick Cheney said he might refuse to speak with a prosecutor investigating suspected CIA prisoner abuses, a probe he branded as political and bad for national security.

Reuters - The day after U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy's burial, leading Democratic and Republican senators on Sunday seized on his reputation for compromise to call for cooperation in the healthcare debate but showed little give in their own positions.

Reuters - Hurricane Jimena blew into a dangerous Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific Coast and was on track to buffet resorts on the Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.

Reuters - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was indicted on Sunday over corruption scandals that forced him to resign last year.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, California (Reuters) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said an 'out of control' wildfire in the Los Angeles foothills had forced the evacuation of thousands of homes and threatened 12,500 buildings in the heavily populated area.

Based in Dakar, Senegal, Daniel Magnowski has worked as West and Central Africa Correspondent for Reuters since July 2008, covering military coups, elections and political crises.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was indicted on Sunday over corruption scandals that forced him to resign last year.

AP - Bombings targeted a Pakistani police station and set a NATO fuel convoy ablaze Sunday, killing 16 cadets in the northwest's Swat Valley and threatening the supply line to international forces in Afghanistan in a separate attack near the border.

AP - A growing wildfire in the mountains above Los Angeles surged north Sunday, forcing more evacuations and threatening some 12,000 homes.

AP - Jimena developed into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane off Mexico's Pacific coast Sunday, and forecasters said it could hit the Baja California peninsula as a major storm later this week.

AP - Sen. Edward Kennedy's family fortune not only fueled his brothers' presidential campaigns and his eight terms in the U.S. Senate, it also helped drive the family's liberal legacy and forge Kennedy's lifelong crusade for universal health care.

AP - NBC's 'Today' show has hired someone with White House experience as a new correspondent — former first daughter Jenna Hager.

AP - Tim James apologized for being late. A rough day at work, said the Miami Heat's 1999 first-round draft pick. Vehicles broke down, problems flared up, and he simply fell behind.

Reuters - Based in Dakar, Senegal, Daniel Magnowski has worked as West and Central Africa Correspondent for Reuters since July 2008, covering military coups, elections and political crises.

AFP - Japanese voters swept to power an untested centre-left party Sunday in an electoral avalanche that ended more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule, according to exit polls.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's next leader Yukio Hatoyama, fresh from a historic election win, faced the task on Monday of forming a government to tackle challenges such as reviving the economy and steering a new course with close ally Washington.

AP - The U.S. military is packing up to leave Iraq in what has been deemed the largest movement of manpower and equipment in modern military history — shipping out more than 1.5 million pieces of equipment from tanks to antennas along with a force the size of a small city.

Reuters - Japan's next leader Yukio Hatoyama, fresh from a historic election win, faced the task on Monday of forming a government to tackle challenges such as reviving the economy and steering a new course with close ally Washington.

AFP - Japanese voters swept to power an untested centre-left party Sunday in an electoral avalanche that ended more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule, according to media projections.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, California (Reuters) - A wildfire in the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills threatened 10,000 homes on Sunday, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warned residents to heed evacuation orders for the 'out of control' and 'very dangerous' blaze.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China denounced the Dalai Lama's trip to Taiwan, saying the visit by a man Beijing brands a separatist could 'have a negative influence' on relations between the mainland and Taiwan, state media reported on Monday.

AP - The morning after a historic victory by Japan's opposition party in national elections, pressure was already mounting Monday for quick, definitive action on a host of problems facing the country, with jump-starting the economy at the top of the list.

AP - President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu and officials are contacting other South American governments whose leaders attended a summit last week with the Colombian leader, authorities said Sunday.

AP - Sen. Charles Schumer is proposing new measures he says would help prevent another crash over the Hudson River like the one that killed nine people this month.

Reuters - China denounced the Dalai Lama's trip to Taiwan, saying the visit by a man Beijing brands a separatist could 'have a negative influence' on relations between the mainland and Taiwan, state media reported on Monday.

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) - China denounced the Dalai Lama's trip to Taiwan, saying the visit by a man Beijing brands a separatist could have a 'negative influence' on relations, Chinese state media said on Monday.

AP - An eighth person has died in an attack on a Georgia mobile home, police said Sunday.

AP - 'The Bold and the Beautiful' won drama series honors at the Daytime Emmys on Sunday, the CBS soap opera's first such victory in 22 years on the air.

Reuters - China denounced the Dalai Lama's trip to Taiwan, saying the visit by a man Beijing brands a separatist could have a 'negative influence' on relations, Chinese state media said on Monday.

AFP - Yukio Hatoyama, who led his opposition party to a landslide win in Japan's weekend elections Monday promised to build consensus and avoid 'arrogance' in pursuing his party's political programme.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, California (Reuters) - A wildfire burned out of control through the Los Angeles foothills and deep into the brittle forest on Sunday, threatening 10,000 homes and encroaching on the region's telecommunications nerve center.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve has made $14 billion in profits on loans made in the last two years, The Financial Times reported on Monday, citing officials close to the matter.

AP - Two firefighters were killed Sunday when their vehicle rolled down a mountain side amid the intense flames of a wildfire that threatened 12,000 suburban homes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged those in the fire's path to get out as the blazes rained ash on cars as far away as downtown Los Angeles, spreading in all directions in dry conditions.

AP - Japan's newly empowered leader Yukio Hatoyama rushed Monday to select Cabinet ministers after his party trounced the ruling conservatives in elections, sending them out of power for only the second time in 54 years.

AP - 'The Bold and the Beautiful' won drama series honors at the Daytime Emmys on Sunday, the CBS soap opera's first such victory in 22 years on the air.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve has made $14 billion in profits on loans made in the last two years, The Financial Times reported on Monday, citing officials close to the matter.

Reuters - The Dalai Lama, on a controversial humanitarian visit to flood-ravaged Taiwan denounced by China, steered clear of talking about Tibet on Monday but said he was dedicated to the promotion of democracy.

AFP - Japan's Democratic Party Monday began talks on forming a new government, facing the tasks of reviving the struggling economy and reshaping ties with key world allies after its crushing election win.

AFP - The Dalai Lama headed for typhoon hit areas of southern Taiwan Monday on the first full day of a tour that China has warned will hurt improving ties with the island.