AP - Oracle Corp. has hired former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Mark Hurd to help lead the database software maker in a pivotal moment in Oracle's 33-year history as it tries to muscle in on more of HP's turf.

AP - A Japanese journalist held hostage in Afghanistan for five months managed to send out a message via Twitter that he was alive when his captors asked him how to use a cell phone.

Reuters - Increasingly erratic rainfall patterns related to climate change pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, water experts said on Monday, arguing for greater investment in water storage.

AFP - World oil prices fell on Tuesday as the market reacted to the end of the peak demand season coming at a time when supplies are high, analysts said.

AP - Oil prices fell to near $74 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as investors mull the strength of the U.S. economy and demand for crude.

AFP - The drought in Russia and floods in Pakistan are part of a global trend of unpredictable weather patterns and rainfall that threaten food security, experts gathered in Stockholm said.

AFP - Greenpeace urged Japan on Tuesday to probe graft claims in its state-funded whaling programme, a day after two of its activists received suspended jail terms for committing theft during an investigation.

Reuters - The U.S. Justice department is looking into Google Inc's takeover of airline ticketing software firm ITA Software Inc, to determine whether the deal would exert too much influence on the online travel industry, the Wall Street Journal said.

AP - The Justice Department won't say if the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from gushing from BP's undersea well into the Gulf of Mexico is on its way to shore.

AP - The Justice Department won't say if the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from gushing from BP's undersea well into the Gulf of Mexico is on its way to shore.

AFP - Europe slapped a summons on German chemical giant BASF on Monday after a "blunder" allowed seed from a new genetically modified potato to remain in a field in Sweden.

AP - In a country of dense rain forests with few paved roads, boarding an overcrowded boat on a treacherous river is simply a way of life. This weekend, journeys on the dangerous waterways stole the lives of up to 270 people.

AFP - Eager to move past the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill and celebrate a local tradition, thousands of people flocked this weekend to Louisiana's annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.

Reuters - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was confident a law extending the lives of nuclear power reactors could be passed without backing from the upper house of parliament, setting up a clash with opposition parties.

AFP - Over 70 environmental NGOs including the WWF called Monday for the sacking of Romania's new agriculture minister for his links to the genetically modified crop industry.

Reuters - U.S. oil prices slipped below $74 per barrel on Monday as the end of the U.S. driving season and high levels of unemployment in the world's biggest oil consumer raised concerns over the outlook for demand.

AP - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday touted her government's decision to put off shutdown of the country's nuclear power plants by an average 12 years as "revolution of the energy supply" in Europe's largest economy.

AFP - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday hailed government proposals to postpone Germany's exit from nuclear power as a "revolution," setting up what one opposition MP called a "fiery autumn" of protests.

Reuters - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was confident her government's plans to extend the lifespans of Germany's nuclear power plants will not need the approval of the upper house of parliament.

AP - East Asia is the world's electronics factory, yet unless they are Japanese, producers are largely anonymous. Now HTC Corp., a Taiwanese maker of smart phones, is moving out of the shadows and trying to establish its own brand name as it competes with Apple's iPhone.

AP - Craiglist's "adult services" section has been shut down in the U.S., but prostitution on the Internet is alive and well — even, quite possibly, on Craigslist.

AFP - Bjoern Lomborg, the bad boy of the climate debate who has rejected for years "alarmist" prophecies from environmentalists, stresses in a new book the need to invest billions to fight global warming.

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 - The French yacht Tara left on Sunday on the second leg of a three-year expedition across the world's oceans to chart the effects of climate change on micro-organisms that produce half our oxygen.

AFP - The Macondo well, which spilled an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, has been secured and no longer constitutes "a threat," a senior US official said.

AP - What now for the Gulf? News of another oil rig fire in the Gulf of Mexico, so soon after the BP oil spill, has set off a wave of anxiety along the Gulf Coast and prompted calls for the government to extend its six-month ban on deepwater drilling.

AP - Google Inc.'s methods for recommending websites are being reviewed by Texas' attorney general in an investigation spurred by complaints that the company has abused its power as the Internet's dominant search engine.