AP - A powerful earthquake toppled buildings, schools and chemical plants Monday in central China, killing more than 8,700 people and trapping untold numbers in mounds of concrete, steel and earth in the country's worst quake in three decades.

AP - The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees.

AP - Wearing a flag lapel pin, Sen. Barack Obama emphasized his patriotism and support for a strong and humane military Monday, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton implored West Virginians to sustain her hopes of somehow denying him the Democratic presidential nomination.

AP - Dry, windy weather fueled several wildfires on Florida's central Atlantic coast Monday, destroying at least three homes and driving hundreds of residents away as the governor declared a state of emergency.

AP - Violent crime has increased in some cities in recent years in part because local police are too cash-strapped to fight it, the ATF chief said Monday.

AP - Mom-and-pop service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can't register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials.

AP - Jimmy Fallon's kindergarten yearbook at St. Mary of the Snow in Saugerties, N.Y., listed him as "most likely to take over for David Letterman." Letterman's not going anywhere, but close enough: Fallon is succeeding Conan O'Brien as the host of NBC's "Late Night" sometime in the middle of next year.

AP - Doris Smith went downtown early Monday to see about getting tickets to Barack Obama's rally. Advance seats were sold out, she said, and the only option was to stand in line for up two hours or more and hope for the best.

AP - Freddy Sanchez's three-run double in the fifth inning broke a scoreless tie, leading Zach Duke and the streaking Pittsburgh Pirates past the Atlanta Braves 5-0 Monday in the first game of a doubleheader.