AP - A major storm was expected to strengthen over the South on Saturday, pulling in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and contributing to a system that could drop 2 to 5 inches of snow on Oklahoma and northern Texas.

AFP - Chile unveiled an initial, 110-million-dollar reconstruction plan Friday to put the central region back on its feet after a devastating earthquake and tsunami.

AP - The projected crest of the Red River at Fargo, N.D., has dropped a half-foot, which is good news for a city braced for flooding.

AP - A year ago, weather forecasters changed their estimate late in the game of just how high the Red River would rise, stoking an 11th-hour sandbagging flurry in Fargo that proved unnecessary in the end because the new prediction was wrong.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI's former diocese is facing new allegations of physical and sexual abuse on a daily basis, the head of its new sex-abuse task force said Friday.

Reuters - The family of two victims of Chile's massive quake accused the government of manslaughter in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, saying officials failed to warn them of a deadly tsunami set off by last month's tremor.

AP - The powerful nor'easter had moved out at sea, but flooding lingered Tuesday in many Northeast communities.

AFP - A strong 6.2 magnitude quake struck off Papua New Guinea's coast on Saturday, US geologists said, but there was no tsunami warning and the epicentre's depth lessened the likelihood of damage.

AP - The earthquake and tsunami that struck Chile last month killed 700 people and caused damages of nearly $30 billion, according to the government. And the ground hasn't stopped shaking.

Reuters - The Red River rose three feet on Tuesday, getting closer to causing major flooding at Fargo, North Dakota for the second straight spring in the key U.S. wheat-growing state.

AP - Cyclone Tomas battered island groups off Fiji's northern coast Monday, causing flooding, pounding seas and one death, but officials said the storm likely would only sideswipe the main islands of the South Pacific nation.

AFP - A strong, 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan Sunday afternoon, but no tsunami warning was issued, US and Japanese authorities said.

AFP - A powerful quake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit off the eastern Indonesian island of Maluku on Sunday, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.