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AP - Icelike crystals had formed Saturday on the 300-ton blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, forcing BP crews to wait before they could safely hoist the device to the surface.

AP - Craigslist appears to have surrendered in a legal fight over erotic ads posted on its website, shutting down its adult services section Saturday and replacing it with a black bar that simply says censored.

AP - Earl's worst damage in New England was to seasonal businesses hoping to end their summer on a high note.

AP - American Muslims are boosting security at mosques, seeking help from leaders of other faiths and airing ads underscoring their loyalty to the United States mdash; all ahead of a 9/11 anniversary they fear could bring more trouble for their communities.

AP - Paul Conrad, the political cartoonist who won three Pulitzer Prizes and used his pencil to poke at politicians for more than 50 years, died Saturday, his son said. He was 86.

AP - Protesters hurled shoes and eggs Saturday at Tony Blair who held the first public signing of his memoir amid high security in Ireland's capital. Hundreds more people lined up to have their books autographed mdash; evidence that the divisions left by Blair's decade as British leader have yet to heal.

AP - Abdul Rehman and his family live under a tree next to a pile of rubble on a newly created island where his house used to be.

AP - Hip-hop star Kanye West is still feeling the pain over his trophy grab from Taylor Swift last year mdash; and he's expressing his pain all over Twitter.

AP - Brandt Snedeker is the leader at the Deutsche Bank Championship, a spot he didn't imagine when he saw that his tee times coincided with the expected arrival of rain and wind from Hurricane Earl.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, previewing a big push on the U.S. economy next week, on Saturday defended policies that he said have stopped the bleeding and put the middle class on the road to recovery.

Reuters - Hurricane Earl made landfall in Canada on Saturday after a series of scares along the U.S. East Coast, flooding roads, felling trees and cutting power to tens of thousands in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia.

Reuters - The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co in the first offering of the automaker's stock, six people familiar with preparations for the landmark IPO said.

Reuters - Authorities declared an overnight curfew for Saturday after a major earthquake hit New Zealand's second biggest city, Christchurch, bringing down power lines and bridges and wrecking roads and building facades.

Reuters - Pro-Taliban Pakistani militants are trying to create a sectarian rift, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday, as a new wave of violence piled pressure on a government already struggling with a flood crisis.

Reuters - A Mexican judge ordered Edgar La Barbie Valdez, believed to be one of the country's top drug bosses, held for 40 more days of investigation, the federal prosecutor's office said on Saturday.

AFP - New Zealand's most destructive earthquake in nearly 80 years caused two billion dollars' worth of damage Saturday, felling buildings, tearing up roads and sending terrified residents fleeing into the streets.

AFP - Anti-terror police were on high alert in Pakistan on Saturday as mass burials took place for the victims of a suicide bomber who killed at least 59 people at a Shiite Muslim rally.

Reuters - Wall Street closed a stellar week on Friday after recent economic data, including a stronger-than-expected labor market report, bolstered optimism that the economy would not fall back into recession.

Reuters - The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co in the first offering of the automaker's stock, six people familiar with preparations for the landmark IPO said.

Reuters - Chinese officials have ordered state companies to meet investment bankers to explore ways to block BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Potash Corp, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, previewing a big push on the U.S. economy next week, on Saturday defended policies that he said have stopped the bleeding and put the middle class on the road to recovery.

Reuters - For tourists tired of traditional sightseeing tours, one Berlin tour guide is offering something altogether different: a tour of Berlin's public conveniences.

Reuters - Police arrested an 82-year-old man after he bit and kicked officers who had arrived to mediate in a dispute with a neighbor over a domestic pet.