Reuters - A top official in the U.S. private security firm Blackwater said on Thursday it was too soon to pass judgment on the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians by its employees last September and urged critics to await an FBI report.

AFP - Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda slammed the planned deployment of extra UN troops in Democratic Republic of Congo saying they could not usher in peace as he held his first rally in an eastern town he seized last month.

Reuters - South Korea made clear on Sunday it will not back down in mounting tensions with North Korea, which has threatened to shut their heavily armed border next week over what it sees as Seoul's antagonistic approach to relations.

AP - Make way for a Sooners surge. Sam Bradford and Oklahoma are on their way up in the national championship race, and Texas Tech sure came down with a mighty fall.

AP - The Screen Actors Guild said Saturday it will ask its members to authorize a strike after its first contract talks in four months with Hollywood studios failed despite the help of a federal mediator.