AFP - The European Union laid out ambitious goals on Tuesday to strengthen its economy as the European Commission proposed a joint EU-wide bond and ministers approved tighter financial supervision.

AP - The European Union agreed to create new financial oversight institutions Tuesday, hoping to prevent a repeat of the government debt crisis that nearly left Greece bankrupt and brought the European banking system to its knees.

AP - President Barack Obama will call on Congress to pass new tax breaks that would allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011, the latest in a series of proposals the White House is rolling out in hopes of showing action on the economy ahead of the November elections.

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.

Reuters - Stock index futures fell on Tuesday after reports on the European banking system rekindled concerns about the financial health of the region.

AFP - European powerhouse Germany received a blow Tuesday as orders for its industrial goods unexpectedly dropped significantly in July, following a strong rise the month before, official data showed.

AP - Hundreds of Iraqi artifacts looted from museums and archaeological sites across the country have been returned to Iraq.

AFP - Two teachers were among five people killed in a string of attacks by suspected militants in Thailand's restive south, sparking calls for schools to be closed, officials said Tuesday.

Reuters - Change swept through the top of Britain's banks on Tuesday as Barclays said its investment banking supremo Bob Diamond will take over as chief executive and HSBC was expected to say its chairman is going into government.

AP - North Korea freed the crew Tuesday of a South Korean fishing boat seized a month ago, a sign the rivals may be talking behind the scenes to improve relations that have plummeted to their lowest point in years since the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship.

AFP - Rwandans and the international community need to work together to end President Paul Kagame's rule and pave the way for a democratic transition, exiled leaders said in a report obtained by AFP Tuesday.

AP - The crowded rooftop bleachers overlooking Wrigley Field stand as proof that no matter how bad the Chicago Cubs played, the ballpark was simply not big enough to hold everyone who wanted to see them play.

AFP - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard retained power by a tiny, one-seat majority Tuesday after winning the backing of two key independent MPs in the first hung parliament in decades.

AP - Turns out politics, for all its focus on the gloomy economy, is a recession-proof industry.

AP - Tropical Storm Hermine rolled into south Texas early Tuesday, bringing heavy rains and strong winds to an area battered by Hurricane Alex earlier this summer.

AP - A wind-whipped wildfire sent flames roaring through a rugged canyon in the Colorado foothills, forcing hundreds of people to flee and destroying dozens of homes — some that belonged to the firefighters themselves, authorities said early Tuesday.

Time.com - Nine weeks before the midterm elections, Barack Obama finds himself on the wrong side of the polls. Where did all that adoration go -- and is a Republican sweep next?

AP - Hipsters, hustlers, celebrities, thieves, dope peddlers and just about everyone else in gritty, quirky Venice Beach know Boston Dawna. You can't miss the one-woman crime fighter.

Reuters - European Union finance ministers made a fresh attempt on Tuesday to settle their differences over taxation of banks and trading as they prepared to approve the creation of new financial watchdogs.

Reuters - China wants to quell tensions with the United States through quiet talk, not shouting matches, a top diplomat told White House advisers on Tuesday, aiming to pave the way for a visit by President Hu Jintao early next year.

AP - Steel columns salvaged from the rubble of the World Trade Center are heading back to ground zero.

AP - A determined Republican stall campaign in the Senate has sidetracked so many of the men and women nominated by President Barack Obama for judgeships that he has put fewer people on the bench than any president since Richard Nixon at a similar point in his first term 40 years ago.

Reuters - Silicon Valley technology giant Oracle Corp has hired Mark Hurd, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co who resigned amid a scandal, as president.

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.