ECB's Trichet: Rich countries must fix finances

Rich countries like the U.S., Japan and Britain need to move quickly to get their deficits under control, the head of the European Central Bank said Monday.

Speaking on behalf of the world's major central banks, Jean-Claude Trichet said governments' financial situation in the developed world "has to be aggressively improved."

Rich countries have seen debts and deficits rise due to the financial crisis, recession and bank bailouts. In Europe, Greece, Ireland and Portugal have needed international rescue loans to deal with their debt crises.

Bin Laden death reignites debate over CIA tactics

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government's hunt for Osama bin Laden has left the country questioning whether the tactics used to interrogate suspected terrorists were successful and lawful. With his death, both sides of the debate have regrouped along familiar lines, claiming they were right all along.

But America's greatest counterterrorism success does not represent a victory for either camp. Rather, it paints a clearer picture of the CIA's interrogation and detention program, revealing where it was successful and where its successes have been overstated.

Locals fear loss of interest in Southern tornadoes

HARVEST, Ala. (AP) -- The Rev. Michael Katschke is worried, but not about running out of the food, diapers and other supplies he hands out to tornado victims at the Crosswinds United Methodist Church in northern Alabama.

Katschke is worried about the rest of the country just moving on.

"They're going to forget us just like they forgot about Japan," he said.

The search for bodies is still going on in parts of the tornado-ravaged South, but the country's worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina is already fading from the public consciousness, pushed aside first by the royal wedding and now by Osama bin Laden's death.

Italy's general strike hits mass transit

ROME (AP) -- Commuters in Italy scrambled on Friday to find the few buses and subway trains running during a one-day general strike that also affected air and rail travel, banks, public offices and schools.

The nationwide strike was called by Italy's biggest labor confederation to push for more investment in job creation and for reform of a tax system that is widely seen as penalizing salaried workers.

The mass transit walkout was set to last for four hours at morning or evening rush hours.

Flight personnel were striking from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (0800-1200 GMT), and railway workers from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (1200-1600 GMT). Alitalia changed departure times to ensure intercontinental service and reduced domestic and European flights.

Wal-Mart remains atop Fortune 500 list

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. remains atop the Fortune 500 list even as it struggled to keep its U.S. customers coming in the door.

The world's largest retailer held onto the top spot for the second year in a row thanks to gains at its international stores. The company's U.S. division has had seven straight quarters of declines in revenue at stores open at least a year compared with the same periods the year before.