The chief of the International Monetary Fund said Saturday that Italy's financial reform is key to reducing the impact of the eurozone crisis, and that no country is immune to the consequences if the efforts fall short.

After meeting in Tokyo with top Japanese financial officials, including Finance Minister Jun Azumi, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Italy must restore political stability and implement financial reforms to provide "clarity and credibility" and restore confidence.

Apple has released a software update to fix a problem that is shortening the battery life of some iPhones, iPads and iPods.

Apple has said that a small number of customers have reported lower-than-expected battery life on devices running on the company's iOS 5 operating system. That's the software that comes with the iPhone 4S and was available as a free upgrade for some older devices — both iPads, the iPhone 3GS and 4 and the two most recent models of the iPod Touch.

A Chevrolet Volt that caught fire three weeks after its lithium-ion battery was damaged in a government crash test has regulators taking a harder look at the safety of electric car batteries, federal officials said Friday.

Based on testing so far, however, regulators believe the batteries are safe and do not pose a greater fire risk than gasoline-powered engines, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official told The Associated Press. The official requested anonymity in order to speak freely.

As the Dallas Museum of Art prepares to open an exhibit of Jean Paul Gaultier's sometimes outrageous, always head-turning fashion designs, the city's well-heeled residents are mobilizing.

Dallas is one of just three North American cities — along with Montreal and San Francisco — hosting the exhibit of works by the French designer. And while Dallas is not a fashion industry center like New York, Paris or Milan, designers and retailers know very well that some of their most devoted and fashion-conscious clientele can be found in Texas — both in Dallas and farther south in Houston.

Simon Klemenjak does some street dance moves and throws his hands up in the air to cheer on the crowd before he starts singing to the techno beat in front of the altar in the Church of All Saints in Stockholm.

Instead of praying silently and singing gentle hymns, the congregation inside raves to techno sounds in ultraviolet lighting at Friday's "techno Mass" — more like a disco at a youth center than a service conducted by the Lutheran church.

Grammy-winning jazz crooner Tony Bennett is championing a rebuilding effort to help New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

At the site of the 101st and final house built by Project Home Again, the 85-year-old singer said Friday that bringing people home is important to protecting the culture and traditions of New Orleans.

The kidnapping ordeal of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos ended after two days when Venezuelan police commandos swooped in to rescue him in a flurry of gunfire and arrested five alleged abductors.

Ramos said he was happy and thankful to be alive, and that the final moments had been hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy fire in the remote mountainous area where he was being held.

Media allowed into Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant for the first time Saturday saw a striking scene of devastation: twisted and overturned trucks, crumbling reactor buildings and piles of rubble virtually untouched since the wave struck more than eight months ago.

Representatives of the Japanese and international media, including The Associated Press, were allowed into the plant with the government's chief official in charge of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The tour was intended to demonstrate how much the situation at the plant has stabilized since the March 11 tsunami, though reporters had to wear full-body protective gear and submit to radiation scans afterward.

Lebanon beat Kuwait 1-0 on Friday to move into second place in Group B of the Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.

Mahmoud al-Ali scored the winner after 57 minutes. Abbas Atwi collected the ball on the edge of the area from Ahmed Zreik before sliding a pass through to al-Ali, who lifted the ball over the oncoming Nawaf al Khaldi.

EMI Group Ltd., home of The Beatles, Coldplay and Katy Perry, is being sold in two parts for $4.1 billion.

Universal Music Group said Friday that it has agreed to buy the recording division of EMI for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion).