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AP - Financial officials from the world's wealthiest industrial countries are pledging decisive action to deal with the biggest upheavals to hit the global financial system since the Great Depression.

AP - The politically charged investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is over, and its conclusions are stinging. But the fallout, if any, might not come until Election Day.

AP - The United States is ready to drop North Korea from a terrorism blacklist, the Associated Press has learned, in the latest attempt by the administration to salvage a nuclear deal with Pyongyang before President Bush's term ends.

AP - General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have held preliminary talks about a merger or an acquisition of Chrysler by GM, according to published reports.

AP - When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it "the nuttiest thing" he'd ever heard.

AP - Jailed political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer who helped launch Barack Obama on his political career, is whispering secrets to federal prosecutors about corruption in Illinois and the political fallout could be explosive.

AP - A decade after a gay college student was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead, many in this small college town are still struggling with the aftermath of a crime that triggered nationwide sympathy and brought a re-examination of attitudes toward gays.

AP - Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose far-right rhetoric at times sounded sympathetic to the Nazis and contemptuous of Jews — and at one point led to months of international isolation for the Alpine republic — died early Saturday in a car accident. He was 58.

AP - Angelina Jolie, an advocate of adoption, credits partner Brad Pitt with her decision to have biological children. In an interview with W magazine, Jolie says: "One of the life-changing things that he did, one of many, is that I was absolutely never going to get pregnant. I never felt that it was the right thing to do."

AP - Daisuke Matsuzaka's brilliant escape act bewildered Tampa Bay and put the Boston Red Sox on top in the AL championship series.

Reuters - The U.S. government pushed on Saturday to finalize a plan to buy direct stakes in American banks as the International Monetary Fund warned markets could drop another 20 percent in a worst-case scenario.

Reuters - Democrat Barack Obama holds a 4-point lead over Republican rival John McCain in a tight race for the White House, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Saturday.

Reuters - An Alaska ethics inquiry found on Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin, the U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate, abused her authority by pressuring subordinates to fire a state trooper involved in a feud with her family.

Reuters - General Motors has had talks with smaller rival Chrysler LLC about a merger that would combine the No. 1 and No. 3 American automakers at a time when both are struggling to cut costs and shore up cash, according to a source briefed on the matter.

Reuters - The United States is developing plans to buy equity stakes in financial institutions, providing another weapon in its war against financial market turmoil, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday.

Reuters - North Korean state TV broadcast pictures of Kim Jong-il on Saturday as the reclusive country stepped up its campaign to show its leader was healthy after reports surfaced last month he may have suffered a stroke.

Reuters - Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sen. Ted Stevens had a "sterling" reputation for integrity as he vouched for the Alaska Republican at the lawmaker's corruption trial on Friday.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday called Cuba a "dungeon" and vowed Washington would not lift its economic embargo until Havana released political prisoners and allowed free expression.

AFP - US President George W. Bush will hold talks with G7 finance ministers Saturday in search of coordinated ways to tackle the financial crisis that has shaken markets from Asia to the United States.

AFP - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has unilaterally allocated control of key ministries to his ZANU-PF, a state daily reported on Saturday, prompting condemnation from the opposition which has been in power-sharing talks with the party.