AP - Most Americans say they aren't impressed by the ethics and honesty of the Bush administration, already under scrutiny for its justifications for an unpopular war in Iraq and its role in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity.

AP - Consumer confidence emerged from a funk. With gasoline prices moderating, people are feeling better — but not ebullient — about the economy's prospects and their own.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday in a daylong trip aimed at reducing sectarian tensions just five weeks before elections.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush will use a Veterans Day speech on Friday to fight back against Democratic charges that the White House misused intelligence to gain support for the Iraq war, administration officials said.

AFP - Mosques across Jordan were to hold special mourning prayers for the victims of the deadly attacks against luxury hotels in the capital claimed by homegrown Islamist extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda branch.

AFP - Palestinians were commemorating the first anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat, their iconic leader who even in death embodies their struggle for independence and statehood.

AFP - Japan's economic growth slowed to 0.4 percent in the three months to September as domestic demand cooled but analysts believe the recovery remains intact after a fourth straight positive quarter.

PARIS (Reuters) - France began a holiday weekend on Friday that will test a downward trend in violence since the government imposed emergency measures against rioters angered by conditions in the country's poorest suburbs.

AP - Richard Hamilton scored 11 points in the final 7 1/2 minutes and Chauncey Billups sank a game-clinching 3-pointer with 16 seconds to go to keep the Detroit Pistons unbeaten with a 111-104 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.

AFP - More vehicles were set alight in suburban violence in France after President Jacques Chirac said the country needed to learn lessons from two weeks of unrest.

AFP - Chinese President Hu Jintao is to be told that the incoming German government will not support his bid to secure the lifting of an EU embargo on arms sales to China.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday, stopping in the mostly Sunni Arab town of Mosul to urge Iraqis to participate in upcoming elections. Three U.S. troops were reported killed in combat operations.

AP - The former commander of an elite wildfire team that battled the largest blaze in Arizona history and aided in recovery efforts at the World Trade Center is accused of starting two fires last year, federal prosecutors said.

Reuters - Jordan's security forces were interrogating scores of Arab suspects, including Iraqis, on Friday in connection with three suicide bombings that killed at least 56 people in Amman hotels in attacks claimed by al Qaeda.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush will use a Veterans Day speech on Friday to fight back against Democratic charges that the White House misused intelligence to gain support for the Iraq war, administration officials said.

Reuters - Three policemen were wounded when a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad on Friday, police said.

Reuters - Somali pirates attacked five more ships this week after a failed attempt to seize a luxury liner, in a sharp rise of banditry apparently directed by a mysterious "mother ship" prowling the Indian Ocean.

AFP - Chinese President Hu Jintao has gone into talks with Germany's incoming chancellor Angela Merkel, who was expected to tell him that her government will not support lifting an EU arms embargo on China.

AP - Police said Friday they had arrested 120 people, mainly Iraqis and Jordanians, in the nationwide manhunt for those behind the triple Amman hotel bombings. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed the bombings were carried out by four Iraqis — including a husband and wife team.

AP - Police tightened security in central Paris as exasperated residents of riot-torn suburbs prepared to march Friday near the Eiffel Tower to call for an end to more than two weeks of car burnings and vandalism across France.

AP - Most Americans say they aren't impressed by the ethics and honesty of the Bush administration, already under scrutiny for its justifications for an unpopular war in Iraq and its role in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity.

AP - Consumer confidence emerged from a funk. With gasoline prices moderating, people are feeling better — but not ebullient — about the economy's prospects and their own.

AP - These days it seems that some people just can't go anywhere or do anything without a cell phone in their ear. In northern Virginia the police say they're looking for a woman who's been holding up banks while chatting on her phone.

Reuters - An Iraqi married couple and two other men carried out the suicide bombings at three hotels in the Jordanian capital Amman which killed 57 people this week, al Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement on Friday.

Reuters - Somali pirates attacked five ships in the past week in a sharp rise of banditry apparently directed from a mysterious "mother ship" prowling the busy Indian Ocean corridor, shipping experts said on Friday.

AFP - Supporters of Liberian football hero George Weah gathered to protest as his rival Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was set to make history by becoming Africa's first female president.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice invited Sunni Arabs to speak their minds in new voting in Iraq, arguing during a surprise visit Friday that "differences can be a strength."

AP - Forces tightened security in central Paris on Friday, stationing riot police and bomb squads along the Champs-Elysees as more than two weeks of arson and vandalism persisted near the French capital.

Reuters - The United States will stay committed to what it hopes will be an inclusive Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday, but violence flared even as she touched down in the Iraqi capital.

Reuters - Why has Osama bin Laden gone silent?

Reuters - Scientists believe they may have worked out why H5N1 bird flu kills so many young adults while Kuwait said on Friday it had found the deadly virus in a flamingo as it spreads around the world.

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq and urged its fractious war-battered communities to bridge their differences ahead of next month's general election.

AP - The baby panda at the San Diego Zoo got a special present to celebrate her 100-day birthday: a name.

AP - After years of fierce lobbying and months of secrecy, Beijing unveiled five mascots for the 2008 Olympics on Friday, opening a marketing blitz that is expected to reap record profits.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush will use a Veterans Day speech on Friday to fight back against Democratic charges that the White House misused intelligence to gain support for the Iraq war, administration officials said.

Reuters - U.S. airlines could be on the front lines in a bird flu outbreak and federal health officials are streamlining procedures for the possible quarantine of sick passengers.

Reuters - The United States will stay committed to what it hopes will be an inclusive Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday, but violence flared even as she touched down in the Iraqi capital.

Reuters - Germany's main political parties sealed an agreement on Friday to create a bipartisan coalition government under the leadership of Angela Merkel, party sources said.

AFP - France was on alert for a possible upsurge of violence as the country headed into a long holiday weekend, two weeks after rioting first broke out in a run-down suburb of Paris.

AFP - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas pledged to continue Yasser Arafat's struggle towards a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem as thousands marked the first year since his death.

AP - President Bush forcefully attacked critics of the war in Iraq on Friday, accusing them of trying to rewrite history and saying they are undercutting American forces on the front lines.

AP - There are reports that a top-level aide to Saddam Hussein has died. Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri has been at large since Saddam was ousted. After Saddam was captured, al-Douri became the most-wanted Iraqi still at large, and a $10 million bounty was placed on his head. He's also believed to have had a role in the insurgency in Iraq.

AP - Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Friday that four Iraqis, including a husband and wife, carried out the suicide bombings against three Amman hotels, and police arrested 120 Jordanians and Iraqis in the hunt for anyone who might have aided them.

USATODAY.com - The arson and looting across the English Channel have, however, prompted Britons to acknowledge their own problems with race and assimilation.

AP - The Camden family is passing into TV history, with the WB network announcing Friday that '7th Heaven' will end after 10 seasons.

Reuters - President George W. Bush charged on Friday that Democratic critics of the Iraq war were trying to rewrite history by accusing the White House of manipulating intelligence to gain support for the war.

Reuters - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's deputy Izzat Ibrahim has died, Al Arabiya satellite television quoted a Baath party statement as saying on Friday.

Reuters - President George W. Bush on Friday called on Syria to fully cooperate with a U.N. inquiry into the killing of a former Lebanese prime minister and to stop trying to "intimidate and destabilize" the Lebanese government.

AFP - Four Iraqis, including a husband and wife, carried out the triple suicide bombings against luxury hotels in the Jordanian capital, Al-Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement.

AFP - Amid fears that suburban rioters might be planning to bring violence into the capital over a holiday weekend, French police imposed a short-term ban on public meetings in Paris.

AFP - Germany's main parties finalized a program for incoming chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right coalition government, ending nearly two months of political uncertainty in Europe's biggest economy.

AFP - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas pledged to continue Yasser Arafat's struggle towards a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem as thousands marked the first year since his death.

TOBYHANNA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - President George W. Bush charged on Friday that Democratic critics of the Iraq war were trying to rewrite history by accusing the White House of manipulating intelligence to gain support for the war.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Why has Osama bin Laden gone silent?

AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's security forces were interrogating scores of Arab suspects, including Iraqis, on Friday in connection with three deadly suicide bombings.

ROME (Reuters) - Prosecutors have requested Italy seek the extradition of 22 suspected CIA agents over the kidnapping of a terrorism suspect, grabbed off a street in 2003 and taken abroad, a judicial source in Italy said on Friday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Thousands of Palestinians gathered near Yasser Arafat's grave in his old West Bank compound on Friday for a subdued commemoration of their iconic leader's death exactly one year ago.

DETROIT (Reuters) - The teen who grabbed the national spotlight this week by becoming mayor-elect of Hillsdale, Michigan, after a write-in campaign didn't win by much.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed for unity among Iraq's religious factions as she made an unannounced and heavily guarded visit to the country on Friday, including one of its most ethnically divided regions.

AP - A statement circulated in the name of the Baath Party said Friday that Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the highest-ranking figure from Saddam Hussein's regime still at large, had died. The report could not be independently confirmed.

AP - Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed that a squad of four Iraqi suicide bombers — including a husband and wife — struck three Amman hotels where at least 57 people were killed, while Jordan interrogated 12 suspects Friday believed to have links to this kingdom's deadliest-ever attacks.

AP - Stung by continuing criticism, the world's second-largest music label, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, promised Friday to temporarily suspend making music CDs with antipiracy technology that can leave computers vulnerable to hackers.

AP - After years of fierce lobbying and months of secrecy, Beijing unveiled five mascots for the 2008 Olympics on Friday, opening a marketing blitz that is expected to reap record profits.

AFP - A husband and wife were among four Iraqi suicide bombers who launched fatal attacks on three hotels in Amman this week, Al-Qaeda said, threatening even more attacks on Jordan, a close US ally.

AFP - Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, the fugitive former number two of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, reportedly died, as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a surprise visit to the country.

AFP - Embattled US President George W. Bush hit back at "deeply irresponsible" charges that he won support for war in Iraq by exaggerating intelligence on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs.

AP - Al-Qaida claimed a squad of four Iraqi suicide bombers, including a husband and wife team, carried out the Ammam attacks with explosive belts after carefully staking out the hotels for a month. Jordan interrogated 12 suspects Friday who may have helped them.

AP - A man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit will be charged with killing a woman whose vehicle was found near his home, a prosecutor said Friday.

AP - A continued slide in oil prices gave Wall Street a moderate advance Friday, with earnings from Dell Inc. and a labor deal at General Motors Corp. feeding the gains. The major indexes ended the week more than 1 percent higher, their third straight winning week.

AP - Martin Brodeur returned to the lineup to end the New Jersey Devils' four-game losing streak, making 21 saves to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Friday in a Veterans Day matinee.

Reuters - The EU's three biggest powers have drafted a proposal offering Iran the chance to transfer sensitive nuclear activities to Russia to ensure Tehran does not produce fuel for atomic weapons, an EU diplomat said on Friday.

Reuters - The United States will stay committed to what it hopes will be an inclusive Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday, but violence flared even as she touched down in the Iraqi capital.

AFP - Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, the fugitive former number two of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, reportedly died, as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a surprise visit as part of a regional tour.

AP - U.S. servicemen and women are "tracking the enemies of freedom" in the war on terror and bringing them to justice, Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

AP - Peter F. Drucker, revered as the father of modern management for his numerous books and articles stressing innovation, entrepreneurship and strategies for dealing with a changing world, died Friday, a spokesman for Claremont Graduate University said.

AP - Jack Roush is taking personally NASCAR's decision to limit the number of teams a car owner can field beginning next year.

AFP - A short-term ban on public meetings will be imposed in Paris on Saturday, amid fears that suburban rioters may be planning to bring violence into the capital over a holiday weekend.

AP - Authorities stepped up security Friday and placed restrictions on some public gatherings after tip-offs from Internet and text messages suggested "violent actions" over the weekend in the French capital.

AP - Allen Iverson outplayed Kobe Bryant in an anticipated matchup of the league's leading scorers, scoring 34 points and sinking the winner with 22.2 seconds left to lead the 76ers to an 85-81 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will try to overcome wariness of Washington's reform agenda in the Middle East at a conference on Saturday aimed at spreading democracy in the region.

Reuters - A Bangkok toddler has tested positive for bird flu, a senior official said on Saturday, the first human case in the Thai capital since a fresh flare-up of the deadly disease a month ago.

AFP - South Korea's chief delegate to six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program has expressed optimism a row over US sanctions imposed against companies from the Stalinist country could be resolved.

AFP - Global "compassion fatigue" could deliver a shameful blow to "smashed" Kashmiri earthquake survivors worse than the tremor and years of bloodshed, novelist Salman Rushdie says.