CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia said on Tuesday China's verdicts against four Rio Tinto executives left serious questions about the country's legal system as business pressed Beijing for clarity.

AP - A woman has died in a clinic from wounds suffered in the double suicide bombing of the Moscow subway, officials said Tuesday, raising the death toll to 39 as the country entered a day of mourning.

AP - South Korea's president ordered the military on alert Tuesday for any moves by rival North Korea after the defense minister said last week's explosion and sinking of a South Korean ship may have been caused by a North Korean mine.

Reuters - Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday that the verdicts in the trial of four executives of global miner Rio Tinto left serious unanswered questions for business about China's legal system.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow observed an official day of mourning on Tuesday and nervous commuters returned to the metro, while the death toll from twin suicide bombings on the capital's underground railway rose by one to 39 people.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators are turning to NASA scientists for help in analyzing Toyota Motor Corp electronic throttles to see if they are behind unintended acceleration, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Tuesday.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China should allow the yuan to resume its gradual appreciation, two new advisers to the central bank said on Tuesday, as Beijing faces intense U.S. pressure to let its currency rise.

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO/LONDON (Reuters ) - Francis Collins, who helped map the human genome, did not get around to having his own genes analyzed until last summer. And he was surprised by what he learned.

AP - President Barack Obama prepared Tuesday to sign the piece of his sweeping health care overhaul that makes the government the primary lender to students and strips banks of that power.

AP - A ninth alleged member of a Christian militia group that prepared to battle the Antichrist and the U.S. government was arrested after the FBI played recorded messages from family and friends, who urged the man to give himself up, over loudspeakers outside a home in rural Michigan.

AP - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves behind a romantic sojourn in New York for an encounter he's long been waiting for: talks Tuesday with President Barack Obama in the White House.

AP - A second major storm in less than a month continued to drench the East Coast as meteorologists predicted 'very dangerous' flooding Tuesday in the Northeast and the wettest March on record in some places.

AP - South Korea's president ordered the military on alert Tuesday for any moves by rival North Korea after the defense minister said last week's explosion that sank a South Korean ship may have been caused by a North Korean mine.

AP - The New Jersey Nets notched their 10th victory Monday night, avoiding any chance of tying for the worst record in NBA history by beating the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 90-84.

Reuters - Moscow observed an official day of mourning on Tuesday and nervous commuters returned to the metro, while the death toll from twin suicide bombings on the capital's underground railway rose by one to 39 people.

Reuters - U.S. auto safety regulators are turning to NASA scientists for help in analyzing Toyota Motor Corp electronic throttles to see if they are behind unintended acceleration, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Tuesday.

Reuters - China should allow the yuan to resume its gradual appreciation, two new advisers to the central bank said on Tuesday, as Beijing faces intense U.S. pressure to let its currency rise.

AFP - Moscow held a day of mourning Tuesday for the 39 people killed in a pair of underground suicide bombings as the Russian authorities faced pressure to prevent a resurgence of deadly militant attacks.

AFP - US President Barack Obama is determined to further develop a 'positive relationship' with China, the White House said in comments welcomed by Beijing as the two powers seek to overcome deep strains in their ties.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday sought smoother ties with the United States and welcomed President Barack Obama's call for a positive relationship in a meeting with Beijing's new ambassador to Washington.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday will sign into law an overhaul of the college student loan program which cuts commercial banks out of the student loan business, drying up a multibillion dollar profit stream.

SEOUL (Reuters) - The world economic recovery remains fragile and G20 governments need to recommit and deliver on reforms they have already agreed to, G20 steering group leaders said in a letter on Tuesday.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China displayed new divisions on Tuesday over how to respond to mounting U.S. pressure to let its exchange rate rise.

CANBERRA/BEIJING (Reuters) - China warned Australia not to make 'irresponsible' comments about the trial of four employees of mining firm Rio Tinto after Canberra said the trial had left questions about China's legal system.

AP - Russians on Tuesday nervously returned to subway stations where two suicide bombers killed 39 people, lighting candles and leaving heaps of carnations at one site as the country began a day of mourning.

AP - South Korea's president ordered the military on alert Tuesday for any moves by rival North Korea after the defense minister said last week's explosion that sank a South Korean ship may have been caused by a North Korean mine.

Reuters - China on Tuesday sought smoother ties with the United States and welcomed President Barack Obama's call for a positive relationship in a meeting with Beijing's new ambassador to Washington.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Tuesday will sign into law an overhaul of the college student loan program which cuts commercial banks out of the student loan business, drying up a multibillion dollar profit stream.

Reuters - The world economic recovery remains fragile and G20 governments need to recommit and deliver on reforms they have already agreed to, G20 steering group leaders said in a letter on Tuesday.

Reuters - China displayed new divisions on Tuesday over how to respond to mounting U.S. pressure to let its exchange rate rise.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he would not be dissuaded from taking on new economic challenges after his healthcare reform victory, despite the prospect for continued Republican opposition.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday sought smoother ties with the United States and welcomed President Barack Obama's call for a positive relationship in a meeting with Beijing's new ambassador to Washington.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Physicists at the CERN research center achieved high-power collisions of sub-atomic particles on Tuesday in their attempt to create mini-versions of the Big Bang that led to the birth of the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators are turning to scientists from the NASA space and aeronautics agency for help analyzing Toyota electronic throttles to see if they are behind unintended acceleration, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc said its mobile services have been partially blocked in China for two days, about a week after the company shut its mainland Chinese portal and rerouted Web searches to a Hong Kong site.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China displayed new divisions on Tuesday over how to respond to mounting U.S. pressure to let its exchange rate rise.

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO/LONDON (Reuters ) - Francis Collins, who helped map the human genome, did not get around to having his own genes analyzed until last summer. And he was surprised by what he learned.

AP - President Barack Obama says he believes the Tea Party is built around a 'core group' of people who question whether he is a U.S. citizen and believe he is a socialist.

AP - The U.S. Attorney's Office says the last of nine members of a Christian militia group charged with plotting to kill police will be arraigned in a Detroit federal court Tuesday.

AP - Russians mourned the 39 people killed in a dual suicide attack on Moscow's subway system by lighting candles and leaving carnations at one of the sites Tuesday, and officials called for a return of the death penalty to punish terrorists.

AP - The world's largest atom smasher set a record for high-energy collisions on Tuesday by crashing proton beams into each other at three times more force than ever before.

AP - South Korea's president ordered the military on alert Tuesday for any moves by North Korea after the defense minister said a mine from the rival country may have caused the explosion that sank a South Korean naval ship.

AP - The Easter Bunny might lower your chances of having a heart problem. According to a new study, small doses of chocolate every day could decrease your risk of having a heart attack or stroke by nearly 40 percent.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he would not be dissuaded from taking on new economic challenges after his healthcare reform victory, despite the prospect for continued Republican opposition.

Reuters - China on Tuesday sought smoother ties with the United States and welcomed President Barack Obama's call for a positive relationship in a meeting with Beijing's new ambassador to Washington.

Reuters - Physicists at the CERN research center achieved high-power collisions of sub-atomic particles on Tuesday in their attempt to create mini-versions of the Big Bang that led to the birth of the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

Reuters - U.S. auto safety regulators are turning to scientists from the NASA space and aeronautics agency for help analyzing Toyota electronic throttles to see if they are behind unintended acceleration, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

Reuters - Google Inc said its mobile services have been partially blocked in China for two days, about a week after the company shut its mainland Chinese portal and rerouted Web searches to a Hong Kong site.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Scientists smashed sub-atomic particles into each other with record energy on Tuesday, aiming to recreate conditions just after the Big Bang that gave rise to the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - From the litany of requests made to Mike Mullen on Tuesday -- from asphalt for roads to fertilizer for fields -- one might think he was a visiting aid worker, not the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Progress has been made toward stabilizing the global financial system but G20 countries must recommit to deliver on reforms that led to the crisis, G20 steering group leaders said in a letter on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the healthcare overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama costs too much and expands the government's role too far, according to a poll published on Tuesday.

AP - Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday to 'drag out of the sewer' the masterminds of the twin suicide bombing of the Moscow subway system that killed 39 people and left scores wounded.

AP - Americans' confidence in the economy rebounded in March after a February plunge, but shoppers still remain cautious, according to a private research group's monthly survey released Tuesday.

AP - Rip Torn's lawyer says the 'Men in Black' actor plans to enter pleas to burglary and firearms charges during a court hearing in Connecticut.

Reuters - Scientists smashed sub-atomic particles into each other with record energy on Tuesday, aiming to recreate conditions just after the Big Bang that gave rise to the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

Reuters - From the litany of requests made to Mike Mullen on Tuesday -- from asphalt for roads to fertilizer for fields -- one might think he was a visiting aid worker, not the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Reuters - Progress has been made toward stabilizing the global financial system but G20 countries must recommit to deliver on reforms that led to the crisis, G20 steering group leaders said in a letter on Tuesday.

Reuters - Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the healthcare overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama costs too much and expands the government's role too far, according to a poll published on Tuesday.

AFP - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered new laws to combat militant attacks as Moscow held a day of mourning Tuesday for the 39 people killed in a pair of underground suicide bombings.

WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators said on Tuesday they will tap the expertise of the country's top space and aeronautics experts to analyze Toyota Motor Corp's electronic throttles to see if they are behind the reports of unintended acceleration that have hounded the automaker.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Tuesday said the culprits behind twin suicide bombings that killed 39 people in Moscow's metro must be scraped 'from the bottom of the sewers' and exposed.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed into law on Tuesday a package of final changes to his landmark overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, hailing it as an 'important milestone' for reform.

LONDON/BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Key Group of 20 leaders and the International Monetary Fund urged governments on Tuesday to redouble efforts in tightening up financial rules as some countries lag in curbing bank pay.

FLORENCIA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia rebels on Tuesday were set to release a hostage soldier they have held in secret camps for more than 12 years after guerrillas overran his army base at the height of the country's conflict.

KABUL (Reuters) - For the shy Afghan girl who sat quietly in a detention center with a pale blue headscarf, teenage rebellion had come at a heavy price: seven years in prison.

AP - Finalizing two major pieces of his agenda, President Barack Obama on Tuesday sealed his health care overhaul and made the government the primary lender to students by cutting banks out of the process.

AP - Members of a rural Michigan-based Christian militia who believed a battle with the Antichrist was coming were plotting to attack police officers in hopes of fomenting a violent uprising against the government, federal prosecutors alleged.

AP - The city of Boston has shattered an all-time rainfall record for the month of March.

AP - Actor Rip Torn pleaded not guilty Tuesday to burglary and firearms charges stemming from his January arrest inside a Connecticut bank after hours.

AP - Al Skinner, who led Boston College to seven NCAA tournament berths in nine years and more wins than anyone else in school history, is out as basketball coach in what the school said Tuesday was a mutual agreement.

Reuters - U.S. auto safety regulators said on Tuesday they will tap the expertise of the country's top space and aeronautics experts to analyze Toyota Motor Corp's electronic throttles to see if they are behind the reports of unintended acceleration that have hounded the automaker.

Reuters - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Tuesday said the culprits behind twin suicide bombings that killed 39 people in Moscow's metro must be scraped 'from the bottom of the sewers' and exposed.

Reuters - President Barack Obama signed into law on Tuesday a package of final changes to his landmark overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, hailing it as an 'important milestone' for reform.

Reuters - Key Group of 20 leaders and the International Monetary Fund urged governments on Tuesday to redouble efforts in tightening up financial rules as some countries lag in curbing bank pay.

AFP - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered Russia's security forces to hunt down the organisers of the metro bombings that killed 39, saying they should be 'scraped out' from the bottom of sewers.

AFP - Up to 100 Indian sailors have been captured by Somali pirates who seized seven or eight boats in one of their biggest raids yet, a shipping body told AFP Tuesday.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made another push to sell his healthcare overhaul to a skeptical public on Tuesday, calling it a victory over special interests that will improve the lives of middle-class Americans and defending the 'courage' of legislators who backed it.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Physicists smashed sub-atomic particles into each other with record energy on Tuesday, creating thousands of mini-Big Bangs like the primeval explosion that gave birth to the universe 13.7 years ago.

FLORENCIA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombian rebels on Tuesday were set to release a hostage soldier they have held in jungle camps for more than 12 years after guerrillas overran his army base at the height of the country's conflict.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - As Apple Inc gears up for the crush of customers expected for Saturday's iPad launch, employees who staff its retail stores are just as curious about the tablet as the fans who will line up outside.

AP - The second major rainstorm of the month pounded the Northeast on Tuesday, pushing rivers over their banks, closing roads and schools, prompting evacuations, and shattering at least one rainfall record.

AP - The last of nine people charged with plotting to kill police has been arraigned in a Detroit federal court.

AP - Dragged deeper than ever before into the clerical sex abuse scandal, the Vatican is launching a legal defense that the church hopes will shield the pope from a lawsuit in Kentucky seeking to have him deposed.

AP - Facebook is about to change the way it asks its users to connect to brands on the site. Instead of asking people to 'become a fan' of companies such as Starbucks, Facebook will let them click on a button that indicates they 'like' the brand.

AP - Al Skinner is out as the Boston College basketball coach, ending a 13-year tenure in which he led the Eagles to more wins than anyone else in school history — many of them in front of lackluster home crowds who never embraced the program.

Reuters - President Barack Obama made another push to sell his healthcare overhaul to a skeptical public on Tuesday, calling it a victory over special interests that will improve the lives of middle-class Americans and defending the 'courage' of legislators who backed it.

Reuters - Physicists smashed sub-atomic particles into each other with record energy on Tuesday, creating thousands of mini-Big Bangs like the primeval explosion that gave birth to the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

AFP - Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered security forces to snare the masterminds of the metro bombings that killed 39, saying they should be 'scraped out' from the bottom of sewers.

DETROIT (Reuters) - A ninth member of a Christian militia group accused of conspiring to kill law enforcement officers to trigger a wider war against the U.S. government appeared before a federal judge on Tuesday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made another push to sell his healthcare overhaul to a skeptical public on Tuesday, calling it a victory over special interests that will help the middle-class and defending the 'courage' of legislators who backed it.

AP - Federal authorities had been monitoring members of a Michigan-based Christian militia for some time but were forced to 'take them down' over the weekend after learning of an imminent threat against police, the U.S. attorney leading the prosecution said Tuesday.

AP - The second major rainstorm of the month pounded the Northeast on Tuesday, pushing rivers over their banks, closing roads and schools, prompting evacuations, and shattering at least one rainfall record. Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri asked residents Tuesday afternoon to get home by dinnertime to avoid traveling in what officials expect to be the worst flooding to hit the state in more than 100 years.

AP - A western Pennsylvania man was charged with simple assault for allegedly attacking a pastor's husband during a Palm Sunday church service. Police said the man, 31, was jailed on three counts of simple assault stemming from Sunday's incident at the Christian Church of Wilkinsburg, just east of Pittsburgh.

Reuters - A ninth member of a Christian militia group accused of conspiring to kill law enforcement officers to trigger a wider war against the U.S. government appeared before a federal judge on Tuesday.

Reuters - President Barack Obama made another push to sell his healthcare overhaul to a skeptical public on Tuesday, calling it a victory over special interests that will help the middle-class and defending the 'courage' of legislators who backed it.

AP - President Barack Obama stepped carefully when talking for the first time about the conservative tea party movement, saying the core of the loose anti-government network is 'on the fringe' but acknowledging others have legitimate concerns about federal reach and spending.

AP - With the president of France at his side, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday he hopes to have international sanctions against Iran in place 'within weeks,' not months, because of its continuing nuclear program. But he acknowledged he still lacks full support.

AP - Dragged deeper than ever into the clerical sex abuse scandal, the Vatican is launching a legal defense that the church hopes will shield the pope from a lawsuit in Kentucky seeking to have him deposed.

AP - Democratic groups tried Tuesday to make a campaign issue out of news that the national Republican Party spent $1,946 at a sex-themed California nightclub, but GOP activists said party chairman Michael Steele will weather the hubbub.

AP - Ozzie Guillen just had to point out what a nice job his hair stylist did and how cool his new shades are. As news goes, that barely registered. The Chicago White Sox's manager is simply providing glimpses into his personal life through his Twitter account, and if his boss doesn't like it, well, Guillen's response can easily be summed up in 140 characters or less: Too bad.

AFP - Iran cannot continue its 'mad race' to try to complete its suspect nuclear program, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday after talks with his US counterpart Barack Obama.

SAN FRANCISCO/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Google Inc blamed 'the great firewall' of China for blocking its Internet search service in the country on Tuesday, but said it did not know if the stoppage was a Chinese technical glitch or a deliberate move in their face-off over Internet censorship.

AP - The University of Wyoming has canceled a speech by former 1960s radical William Ayers after it raised hundreds of objections from citizens and politicians over the man who became an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.

AP - Republican governors in two western states want to join in legal challenges to recent federal health care legislation, but each is meeting stiff resistance from the same obstacle: an attorney general from the rival party.

AP - The math teacher at a tough East Los Angeles high school who inspired the movie 'Stand and Deliver,' has died. He was 79.

AFP - US President Barack Obama said Tuesday he wanted tough new UN sanctions imposed on Iran within 'weeks' as visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy blasted Tehran's 'mad' nuclear race.

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - The U.S. economic recovery is gathering speed as business activity picks up pace, despite lingering weakness in employment, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan federal judge dismissed a shareholder lawsuit accusing current and former American International Group Inc executives and directors of ignoring 'red flags,' leading to the insurer's near collapse and about $180 billion of federal bailouts.

AP - After two weeks on 'Dancing With the Stars,' Shannen Doherty is leaving the ballroom.

AP - The Connecticut Huskies swear they're not perfect. Their last 76 opponents might disagree.

Reuters - A Manhattan federal judge dismissed a shareholder lawsuit accusing current and former American International Group Inc executives and directors of ignoring 'red flags,' leading to the insurer's near collapse and about $180 billion of federal bailouts.

WASHINGTON/GATINEAU, Quebec (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he wanted tougher U.N. sanctions in weeks against Iran over its nuclear program, and the world's leading industrial nations expressed optimism that China will agree on possible next steps.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Iranian nuclear scientist who has been missing since June has defected to the United States and is helping the CIA, ABC news reported on Tuesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials have sought to contain public outrage after workers at a hospital dumped 21 dead fetuses and infants' bodies near a river bank.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he wanted tougher U.N. sanctions in weeks against Iran over its nuclear program, and the world's leading industrial nations expressed optimism that China will agree on possible next steps.

Reuters - An Iranian nuclear scientist who has been missing since June has defected to the United States and is helping the CIA, ABC news reported on Tuesday.

AFP - Leftist FARC rebels released one of their longest held captives, a soldier kidnapped 12 years ago, the Red Cross said after receiving the hostage in the Colombian jungle.