AFP - Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Mark Hurd, who resigned last month following a sex scandal, has joined US software giant Oracle as its new co-president, The New York Times 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.

AFP - World oil prices diverged on Monday, the end of the traditional peak demand season for motor fuel in the United States.

AFP - A Japanese court Monday sentenced two Greenpeace activists to suspended one-year jail terms for stealing a box of whale meat that the group said was proof of embezzlement in state-run "research whaling".

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 - Oil prices slipped to near $74 a barrel Monday in Asia as traders weighed whether growing Chinese demand can offset weak U.S. fuel consumption amid high unemployment.

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.

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.

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 - Increasing water pollution and dwindling water quality around the globe will be the main focus as around 2,500 experts begin gathering in Stockholm Sunday for the 20th edition of the World Water Week.

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.