AP - Chimneys and walls crumbled to the ground, roads cracked in half and residents were knocked off their feet as a powerful magnitude-7.1 earthquake rocked New Zealand's South Island early Saturday. The prime minister said it was a miracle no one was killed.

AP - Protesters hurled shoes and eggs Saturday as Tony Blair held the first public signing of his memoir amid high security in the Irish capital. Hundreds more people lined up to have their books autographed — evidence that the divisions left by Blair's decade as British leader have yet to heal.

AP - A judge has ordered a U.S.-born suspected drug lord known as "La Barbie" held for 40 days pending an investigation into organized crime and other possible charges, authorities announced Saturday.

AP - President Hamid Karzai said Saturday he will name the members of a council next week to pursue peace talks with insurgents willing to renounce violence, honor the Afghan constitution, and sever ties with terrorist networks.

AFP - Afghan officials sought Saturday to head off a run on the country's biggest bank, reassuring customers of Kabul Bank that their money was safe following corruption allegations in US newspapers.

AFP - Human rights group Amnesty International called Saturday for Maoist rebels to free three abducted policemen held hostage in eastern India after the guerrillas killed one of the captives.

AP - NATO commanders were overly optimistic when they predicted quick success taking the key Taliban-held town of Marjah last winter, the outgoing deputy commander said Saturday.

AFP - Anti-terror police were on high alert in Pakistan on Saturday as mass burials took place for the victims of a suicide bomber who killed at least 59 people at a Shiite Muslim rally.

Reuters - G20 delegates agreed on Saturday global economic recovery would endure although the speed of expansion may slow, a South Korean official said.

Reuters - Pro-Taliban Pakistani militants are trying to create a sectarian rift, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday, as a new wave of violence piled pressure on a government already struggling with a flood crisis.

Reuters - Karun Chandhok declared South Korea's new, and as yet unfinished, grand prix circuit to be in good shape after becoming the first person to drive a Formula One car around it on Saturday.

Reuters - Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar advised young cricketers on Friday to resist the lure of money and play the game in the cleanest possible way.

Reuters - The grit and grime of rural India, its people and problems are all finding their way into the glamorous world of mainstream Bollywood films.