REYKJAVIK - Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland's new prime minister, said on Monday she had written to the three governors of the country's central bank about them departing soon.
ZIMBABWE - Gideon Gono, widely regarded as the world's most disastrous central banker, knocked another 12 zeros off the Zimbabwean dollar yesterday in an attempt to bring the national currency back from the realms of the fantastical.
VATICAN - Attacks on Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust denier escalated Monday, with one theologian calling on him to step down as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
USA - The Senate confirmed Eric H. Holder Jr. as the nation's first African American attorney general by a vote of 75 to 21 yesterday, opening a new chapter for a Justice Department that had suffered under allegations of improper political influence and policy disputes over wiretapping and harsh interrogation practices.
USA - The EU and Canada have warned that a clause in the US economic recovery package could promote protectionism. The "Buy American" clause seeks to ensure that only US iron, steel and manufactured goods are used in construction work funded by the bill.
VIENNA - Pope Benedict XVI's decision to promote a pastor who suggested that Hurricane Katrina was provoked by sin in New Orleans was criticized on Sunday by Austrian priests and church groups.
GERMANY - The German government wants to buy up large segments of the domestic banking sector. In addition to the partial nationalization of many ailing financial institutions, Berlin's plans include a complete takeover - BY EXPROPRIATION, IF NECESSARY.
UK - The heaviest snowfall in 20 years has closed thousands of schools and caused transport chaos up the eastern side of Britain, with London and the surrounding areas the hardest hit.
ETHIOPIA - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been elected as chairman of the 53-nation African Union. Col Gaddafi was elected by delegates at the AU summit in Ethiopia.
UK - A nurse could be sacked and even struck off for offering to say a prayer for an elderly patient. Caroline Petrie, a community nurse and devout Christian, has already been suspended for an alleged breach of her code of conduct on equality and diversity.
UK - A flag is to be hoisted to mark "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual History Month" at North Wales Police, where Richard Brunstrom, the controversial chief constable is in charge. However anger is growing about flying the flag, and whether special interest groups should be perceived to be favoured by the police.
UK - Female empowerment has contributed to the break-up of the traditional family, leaving a generation of children emotionally damaged, according to a controversial report on the state of British childhood.
USA - Banks in Florida, Maryland and Utah were closed yesterday as regulators wrapped up the busiest month for failures since the housing slump began in 2006.
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - Geologists monitoring Mount Redoubt for signs of a possible eruption noticed that a hole in the glacier clinging to the north side of the volcano had doubled in size overnight - and now spans the length of two football fields.
TOKYO - A volcano erupted near Tokyo early Monday, spewing a plume of smoke more than a mile (1.6 kilometers) high and raining ash down on parts of the city. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.