AFP - Steven Gerrard admits being captain of England right now feels like a man under siege as he prepares to lead his team into a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland here on Tuesday desperately trying to keep the focus on football.

Despite the struggling economy, officials with the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon say contributions and pledges from this year”s Labor Day event totaled $58.9 million.

AFP - Steven Gerrard admits being captain of England right now feels like a man under siege as he prepares to lead his team into a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland here on Tuesday desperately trying to keep the focus on football.

AFP - Steven Gerrard admits being captain of England right now feels like a man under siege as he prepares to lead his team into a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland here on Tuesday desperately trying to keep the focus on football.

AP - Egypt”s leading democracy advocate is urging Egyptians to boycott November”s parliamentary election, saying it is certain to be rigged.

AFP - Suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year have killed a retired police officer and wounded five other people, the latest of such attacks in Nigeria”s north, police said Monday.

AFP - Plans to radically re-draw cross-border economic government across Europe hit a stumbling block on Monday 10 days from a deadline for concrete action set by European Union leaders.

AP - The "marker" lurks inside the bank, looking for people pulling large amounts of cash from a safe deposit box or bank account. The gunmen linger outside, usually on motorcyles, waiting to make their move.

AP - An Indonesian volcano has shot black ash three miles (5,000 meters) into the air early — its most powerful eruption since springing back to life after four centuries of dormancy.

AFP - President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday he wants to strip French nationality from immigrants if they kill or try to kill police or public officials, as part of a controversial law and order drive.

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 - A group of Slovak nationals arrested in the Central African Republic for allegedly plotting a coup have been freed, the Bangui government said Monday, as Bratislava insisted the men were on safari.

AP - Soldiers opened fire on a family”s car at a checkpoint in northern Mexico, killing a 15-year-old boy and another person, authorities said Monday.

AFP - At least 19 people were killed and 45 wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police station in northwest Pakistan on Monday, destroying the building, police said.

AP - As the disastrous floods recede in Pakistan, something new is rising: suspicions and rumors that powerful officials and landowners used their influence to divert water away from their property and inundate the villages and fields of millions of poor Pakistanis.

AFP - Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi insisted Monday his players had been educated by officials over the dangers of corruption as the ”spot-fixing” row engulfing his side rumbled on.

AFP - Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi insisted Monday his players had been educated by officials over the dangers of corruption as the ”spot-fixing” row engulfing his side rumbled on.

Reuters - The U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan has requested another 2,000 troops for the foreign force fighting the Taliban insurgency, despite waning support for the war in troop-contributing nations, NATO officials said.

AFP - Malaysia and Indonesia Monday moved to calm a maritime border dispute that has sparked angry protests, with their foreign ministers agreeing to take action to prevent a repeat incident.

AFP - Philippine anti-corruption official accused of extorting money from the policeman who triggered a deadly hostage crisis has refused to testify about the allegation, a government minister said Monday.

AFP - An Indian warship on Sunday foiled an attempt by Somalian pirates to hijack merchant vessels off Somalia”s coast in in the Gulf of Aden, a navy spokesman said on Monday.

AFP - Troop contributions for UN peacekeeping missions are helping African nations build a buffer against criticism over democratic and human rights failings, analysts said Monday.