AP - The Senate passed a $60 billion bill early Friday that would extend expiring tax cuts and prevent roughly 14 million families from paying higher taxes through the alternative minimum tax.

AP - Tim Duncan had 19 points and nine rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs held off a late surge by the Houston Rockets in an 86-80 victory Thursday night.

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed on Friday growing calls for the United States to start withdrawing forces from Iraq, saying Iraq was several years behind Afghanistan as a secure country.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate approved a $60 billion tax cut bill on Friday that would impose a $5 billion tax on big oil companies and provide new tax breaks to help rebuild hurricane devastated regions.

Reuters - Two suicide car bombs exploded in central Baghdad on Friday and initial reports said at least four people were killed and 41 wounded, police said.

AFP - Asia-Pacific leaders have gathered for a summit expected to make a strong push to unblock deadlocked global trade talks and draw up joint measures to control the spread of bird flu.

AFP - Socialist Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has won Sri Lanka's tightly fought presidential election with 50.33 percent of the popular vote, according to official results.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two suicide car bombs exploded near a hotel used by foreigners in central Baghdad on Friday and initial reports said at least four people were killed, including two children, and 40 wounded, police said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday narrowly voted to trim social programs for the poor along with farm subsidies, student loans and other federal benefits as part of a $49.9-billion package of spending cuts.

PUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday backed an initiative by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end a stalemate over Iran's nuclear project as the two leaders held talks that appeared to avoid areas of open disagreement.

PUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - The leaders of 21 Pacific Rim economies began talks under tight security in this southern port city on Friday to shore up flagging talks on a global free trade pact and hammer out moves to fight bird flu.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea plans to pull out about one-third of its 3,200 troops in Iraq beginning in the first half of next year, the Defense Ministry said on Friday, but Seoul's foreign minister said no final decision had been made.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are studying the deaths of 12 children in Japan who took Roche AG's flu-fighting drug Tamiflu, but it was difficult to tell whether the drug played a role in any of the cases, officials said on Thursday.

AP - Two car bombs exploded Friday morning near an interior ministry building in Baghdad where U.S. troops earlier in the week found detainees who appeared to have been tortured by Iraqi security forces. At least six people were killed and more than 40 were injured, police said.

AP - House Republicans sweated out a victory on a major budget cut bill in the wee hours Friday, salvaging a major pillar of their agenda despite divisions within the party and nervousness among moderates that the vote could cost them in next year's elections.

AFP - Leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region held summit talks expected to give new impetus to deadlocked global trade talks and issue a rallying cry for the fight against bird flu.

AFP - US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, showing no signs of strains in their relationship, have met for talks focused on nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

AFP - The CIA has set up secret joint counterterrorism centers in Europe, Middle East and Asia to track and capture suspected terrorists and penetrate their networks, The Washington Post said.

AFP - Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has officially won Sri Lanka's tightly-fought battle for the presidency in a victory which analysts said dimmed the island's peace hopes.

AP - The federal government is looking into the deaths of 12 Japanese children who took Tamiflu, but officials cautioned they have no evidence that suggests the anti-flu drug is to blame.

Reuters - At least 38 people were killed and more than 50 wounded on Friday when suicide bombers strapped with explosives blew themselves up inside two Shi'ite mosques in the eastern Iraq town of Khanaqin, police said.

Reuters - Two suicide truck bombs destroyed a Baghdad apartment block on Friday near a hotel and a prison bunker at the center of an abuse scandal, killing at least six people including two children, police said.

AFP - US President George W. Bush told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow's proposed compromise for defusing the standoff over Iran's nuclear program was "helpful," the White House said.

AP - Suicide bombers killed 65 worshippers at two Shiite mosques near the Iranian border Friday while in Baghdad two car bombs destroyed the blast wall protecting a hotel housing international journalists and killed eight Iraqis.

AP - President Bush told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that the United States supports a proposal from Moscow that could deny Iran the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

AP - House Republicans sweated out a victory on a major budget cut bill in the wee hours Friday, salvaging a major pillar of their agenda despite divisions within the party and nervousness among moderates that the vote could cost them in next year's elections.

AP - Hewlett-Packard Co.'s fiscal fourth-quarter sales jumped 7 percent, but net earnings fell 62 percent after the computer and printer company took a $1.1 billion charge for a restructuring first announced in July.

AP - The final day of a U.N. technology summit explored how people, governments and companies can work to speed up technology and content for users in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

AP - A developer has threatened to make a big stink after the Kootenai County Commission denied his request to rezone property he owns at the edge of town for a professional building.

AP - Tracy McGrady made some key shots as the Houston Rockets were rallying from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The San Antonio Spurs answered back each time.

Reuters - Two suicide bombers killed at least 54 people when they blew themselves up inside two crowded Shi'ite mosques in the northeastern Iraqi town of Khanaqin on Friday, police said.

Reuters - One step from U.N. Security Council referral, Iran confirmed it had resumed uranium conversion, and leading European powers were set to meet U.S., Chinese and Russian officials on Friday to discuss a response.

Reuters - Thousands of farm activists and union workers hurled bottles in a clash with police near a meeting of Pacific Rim leaders on Friday and had to be quelled by water cannon.

AFP - A group of United Nations experts called off their scheduled visit to the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, saying Washington was not allowing them free access to detainees there.

AFP - The terms for the part privatisation of French electricity utility EDF value the group at 55.0 billion euros (64.35 billion dollars).

AFP - Shares of General Motors rebounded, closing up 6.29 percent at 22.63 dollars, after CEO Rick Wagoner denied the troubled company had plans to file for bankruptcy.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives killed at least 62 people when they blew themselves up inside crowded Shi'ite mosques at prayer time in the northeastern Iraqi town of Khanaqin on Friday.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran turned over to U.N. inspectors instructions for assembling a key part of an atomic weapon, a diplomat familiar with a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have found no evidence Roche AG's anti-flu drug Tamiflu caused the deaths of children in Japan, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman said on Friday.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United Nations is to set up a bird flu early warning system to alert countries of incoming migratory birds which could be carrying the deadly virus, a U.N. official said on Friday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights investigators rejected an invitation to visit the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, saying on Friday Washington would not let them interview the more than 500 people held there.

BERLIN (Reuters) - In early February, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was having second thoughts about coming to a prestigious annual security conference in Munich.

AP - Iran obtained detailed instructions on how to set up the complicated process of enriching uranium, which can used to make nuclear arms, from the black market network run by a Pakistani scientist, the U.N. atomic monitoring agency said Friday.

AP - Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest network equipment maker, said Friday it agreed to acquire cable-television technology company Scientific-Atlanta Inc. for about $6.9 billion.

AP - A crucial summit on expanding Internet access around the world ended Friday with a firm promise to narrow the digital divide — but little in government funding to make it happen.

AP - Fans are packing theaters for the new Harry Potter movie.

AP - An oriental white stork whose beak snapped off last year after getting stuck in metal wiring got a replacement Friday, a news report said.

AP - Gaston Gaudio saved three match points before recovering to beat Fernando Gonzalez 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 Friday and advance to a Tennis Masters Cup semifinal against Roger Federer.

AFP - Cuban President Fidel Castro has denied CIA reports that he is stricken with Parkinson's disease in a five-hour long speech in which he also vowed to keep the revolution alive and rid the island of corruption.

AFP - Swiss Re announced the purchase of US re-insurer GE Insurance Solutions for 6.8 billion dollars (5.8 billion euros) to make it the biggest re-insurance group in the world, displacing Munich Re of Germany.

AFP - Computer network giant Cisco Systems said it reached a deal to buy cable television set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta for 6.9 billion dollars.

AP - Suicide bombers killed 74 worshippers at two Shiite mosques near the Iranian border Friday, while a pair of car bombs targeting a Baghdad hotel housing Western journalists killed eight Iraqis.

AP - The second of two inmates who escaped from an Iowa prison was caught Friday in southern Missouri, officials said.

USATODAY.com - President Bush seemed irritated when a reporter asked him Thursday which top Republican he agrees with: Vice President Cheney, who said it's 'reprehensible' for critics to suggest he deliberately misled the American people about the Iraq war, or Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who said such questions are patriotic.

AP - Fans are packing theaters for the new Harry Potter movie.

Reuters - Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives killed at least 74 people and reduced two crowded Shi'ite mosques to rubble during Friday prayers in the northeast Iraqi town of Khanaqin.

Reuters - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report on Friday that Iran had given it a document which a European diplomat said contained partial instructions for making the core of a nuclear weapon.

AP - President Bush told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that the United States supports a proposal from Moscow that could deny Iran the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

AP - An audiotape in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq threatened on Friday to chop off King Abdullah II's head and bomb more hotels and tourist sites. The speaker on the tape, identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also said the group's suicide bombers did not intend to bomb a Jordanian wedding party at an Amman hotel last week, killing about 30 people.

AP - Michael Scanlon, partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, was charged Friday with conspiring to defraud Indian tribes the two were representing of millions of dollars.

AP - California officials approved SBC Communications Inc.'s purchase of AT&T Corp. on Friday, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the $16 billion deal and opening the way for the historic telephone merger to close immediately.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush will argue for sticking with his Iraq policy Saturday in a speech to U.S. troops that aides said would avoid attacks on Democrats who accuse him of manipulating pre-war intelligence.

Reuters - Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives killed 77 people and reduced two crowded Shi'ite mosques to rubble during Friday prayers in a northeastern Iraq town, deepening the country's sectarian conflict.

Reuters - Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in court filings that the ongoing CIA leak investigation will involve proceedings before a new grand jury, a possible sign he could seek new charges in the case.

Reuters - A U.S. advisory panel said on Friday it saw no evidence Roche AG's anti-flu medicine Tamiflu caused the deaths of 12 children in Japan but urged regulators to continue monitoring for potential risks.

AFP - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the "weak" response of world governments to the Pakistan earthquake on the eve of an international donors' conference which is hoped to raise cash for the relief effort.

AFP - The United States urged Iran to reconsider a compromise, floated by Moscow, aimed at defusing the standoff over the Islamic Republic's atomic program and easing fears that it seeks nuclear arms.

AP - Suicide bombers killed 74 worshippers at two Shiite mosques near the Iranian border Friday, while a pair of car bombs targeting a Baghdad hotel housing Western journalists killed eight Iraqis.

AP - California officials approved SBC Communications Inc.'s purchase of AT&T Corp. on Friday, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the $16 billion deal and opening the way for the historic telephone merger to close immediately.

AP - A jury reached a verdict Friday in the wrongful death civil case against actor Robert Blake, acquitted of criminal charges eight months ago in the death of his wife.

Reuters - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report on Friday that Iran had given it a document that diplomats said included partial instructions for making the core of a nuclear bomb.

AFP - Iran has handed over a document which describes how to make what could be the explosive core of an atom bomb, the UN atomic agency said in a report, adding that its inspectors were being blocked from crucial military sites.

AFP - Marking the end of an era in the telecom industry, SBC Communications finalized its 16-billion-dollar acquisition of AT&T, creating the biggest US firm in the sector.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate foes of a proposed renewal of the anti-terror Patriot Act have the votes to block it unless there is increased protection for civil liberties, assistant Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin said on Friday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Robert Blake, acquitted in March of murdering his wife, was found liable on Friday for her killing in a wrongful death civil suit brought by her children and ordered to pay $30 million in damages.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a maneuver aimed at hitting back at Iraq-war critics, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives set a vote on Friday on a resolution to pull U.S. troops out immediately, and Republicans expected the move to be soundly defeated.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fighting a decline in public support for the Iraq war and his own leadership, U.S. President George W. Bush and Republican allies have chosen to court his political base with a campaign-style offensive against Democrats.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday voted to extend $60 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses but added a $5 billion tax on big oil companies, drawing a veto threat from the White House.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Californian atheist who has fought a series of legal battles seeking to bar religious references from American public life sued on Friday to remove the phrase 'In God We Trust' from U.S. money and coins.

AP - House Republicans maneuvered for swift and overwhelming rejection Friday of a Democratic lawmaker's call for U.S. troops to be pulled out of Iraq.

AP - Eight months after Robert Blake was acquitted at a criminal trial of murdering his wife, a civil jury decided Friday the tough-guy actor was behind the slaying, and ordered him to pay Bonny Lee Bakley's children $30 million.

AP - Tropical Storm Gamma — the 24th storm of the busiest hurricane season on record — formed on Friday off the coast of Central America, and forecasters said it could threaten Florida by the beginning of next week, perhaps as a hurricane.

AP - Betting that video will drive the future of networking, Cisco Systems Inc. agreed Friday to buy the cable television technology company Scientific-Atlanta Inc. in a $6.9 billion deal that would create a one-stop shop for sending TV over the Internet.

AP - Angelo Dundee was back in Muhammad Ali's corner. The famed trainer visited Ali's hometown on Friday for a firsthand look at a six-story center built to promote Ali's humanitarian work and relive his boxing triumphs.

AFP - Marking the end of an era in the telecom industry, SBC Communications finalized its 16-billion-dollar acquisition of AT and T, creating the biggest US firm in the sector.

AP - President Bush on Saturday swatted down calls in Congress for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, saying that American military leaders believe that retreat now would be "a recipe for disaster."

Reuters - A proposed renewal of the anti-terror USA Patriot Act stalled in Congress on Friday, and Senate foes said they had the votes to block it unless protection of civil liberties were increased.

PUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush rejected critics calling for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq on Saturday, vowing 'we will stay in the fight' until victory.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union reached a tentative deal on Friday to dramatically expand aviation service and boost competition on both sides of the Atlantic.

AP - Ned Colletti, hired as the Los Angeles Dodgers' general manager earlier this week, is planning to meet with Jim Fregosi and Terry Collins to discuss the team's vacant managerial position.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a maneuver designed to discredit Iraq war critics, the Republican-led House of Representatives overwhelmingly defeated a resolution on Friday to pull U.S. troops immediately from Iraq.

AP - The House on Friday overwhelmingly rejected calls for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, a vote engineered by the Republicans that was intended to fail. Democrats derided the vote as a political stunt.

AP - Pushed by fierce Santa Ana winds, a 4,000-acre wildfire crept toward about 200 large, ridge-top homes Friday, prompting a voluntary evacuation.

AP - Terrell Owens appears no closer to returning to the field this season as his grievance hearing against the Philadelphia Eagles went to a lengthy arbitration on Friday.

AFP - Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was to be sworn in for a six-year term as president of Sri Lanka on Saturday, amid concerns for the future of the peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels.