AP - President Barack Obama asserted unprecedented government control over the auto industry Monday, bluntly rejecting turnaround plans by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, demanding fresh concessions for long-term federal aid and raising the possibility of quick bankruptcy for either ailing auto giant.

AP - A blizzard battered North Dakota on Monday, threatening to create wind-whipped waves that could lash the patchwork levee system that has shielded much of Fargo from the swollen Red River. Engineers scrambled to shore up the dikes in hopes of averting the latest potential disaster nature has inflicted on this beleaguered city.

AP - Japan urged North Korea on Tuesday to cancel an impending rocket launch and prepared to defend itself against any danger from it, as Pyongyang's detention of American and South Korean citizens further aggravated tensions on the Korean peninsula.