WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz canceled a speech to a health conference on Thursday as the bank's board met late into the night to discuss a controversy over the promotion of his girlfriend, which has paralyzed the poverty-fighting institution .

TIPP CITY, Ohio (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and fellow Republicans struggled on Thursday with comparisons between the U.S. wars in Iraq and Vietnam as the Senate's top Democrat declared the Iraq war lost.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - An inquest into the murder of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer at the World Cup scheduled to start on Monday has been postponed because of 'recent and significant developments' in the case.

AP - After a pregame skirmish, the Anaheim Ducks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 Thursday night to wrap up their first-round playoff series in five games.

Reuters - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz canceled a speech to a health conference on Thursday as the bank's board met late into the night to discuss a controversy over the promotion of his girlfriend, which has paralyzed the poverty-fighting institution .

Reuters - President George W. Bush and fellow Republicans struggled on Thursday with comparisons between the U.S. wars in Iraq and Vietnam as the Senate's top Democrat declared the Iraq war lost.

Reuters - An inquest into the murder of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer at the World Cup scheduled to start on Monday has been postponed because of "recent and significant developments" in the case.

YUBA CITY, California (Reuters) - Teachers locked classroom doors, lowered shades and kept nearly 22,000 school children inside all day on Thursday in two northern California cities after a man threatened to go on a killing spree inspired by Monday's mass murder at Virginia Tech.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Royal Canin USA said on Friday it was voluntarily recalling all of its dry pet food products containing rice protein concentrate after it found a melamine derivative in some products.

AP - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales came to Capitol Hill with only one mission: to placate Republican and Democratic senators dissatisfied with his account of how eight federal prosecutors were fired.

AP - As experts pored over Cho Seung Hui's twisted writings and his videotaped rant, parents and officials urged people to instead focus on the victims of the deadliest rampage by a lone gunman in modern U.S. history.

Reuters - Teachers locked classroom doors, lowered shades and kept nearly 22,000 school children inside all day on Thursday in two northern California cities after a man threatened to go on a killing spree inspired by Monday's mass murder at Virginia Tech.

Reuters - Royal Canin USA said on Friday it was voluntarily recalling all of its dry pet food products containing rice protein concentrate after it found a melamine derivative in some products.

AFP - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was to meet Iraqi leaders Friday, the second day of a visit to Iraq, as a US commander warned that Al-Qaeda could be expected to pursue its bombing campaign.

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - A videotaped diatribe by the Virginia Tech gunman shocked victims' families and mesmerized television viewers, but police said on Thursday it yielded little for their investigation of the campus massacre.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Royal Canin USA said on Friday it was voluntarily recalling all of its dry pet food products containing rice protein concentrate after it found a melamine derivative in some products.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea told the U.N. nuclear watchdog it would invite its inspectors back into the secretive state as soon as it confirms that funds frozen at a Macau bank have been unblocked, the official KCNA news agency said on Friday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on April 25 to discuss whether it is possible to resume negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program, an EU official said on Friday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq's use of the death penalty has risen rapidly since it was reinstated in mid-2004 and it now ranks as the country with the fourth-highest rate of executions in the world, Amnesty International said on Friday.

AP - A suicide bomber slipped past security barriers to kill 12 people Thursday, the latest in a wave of attacks that have shown the resilience of insurgents in the face of a U.S.-led crackdown on major violence in Iraq's capital.

AP - In a bid for party unity, anti-war liberals in the House are reluctant to mount opposition to war spending legislation even if it does not set a firm date for troop withdrawal.

AP - During the 10 years she was married to a handsome young preacher, Mary Winkler said she never told anyone about the bruises and the sexual humiliation she endured.

AP - As they prepared to mark the anniversary of the Columbine school shooting eight years ago and a shooting at Virginia Tech earlier this week, many Littleton families are questioning a judge's decision to seal information about the killers.

Reuters - A videotaped diatribe by the Virginia Tech gunman shocked victims' families and mesmerized television viewers, but police said on Thursday it yielded little for their investigation of the campus massacre.

Reuters - Iraq's use of the death penalty has risen rapidly since it was reinstated in mid-2004 and it now ranks as the country with the fourth-highest rate of executions in the world, Amnesty International said on Friday.

Reuters - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on April 25 to discuss whether it is possible to resume negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program, an EU official said on Friday.

Reuters - Royal Canin USA said on Friday it was voluntarily recalling all of its dry pet food products containing rice protein concentrate after it found a melamine derivative in some products.

Reuters - North Korea told the U.N. nuclear watchdog it would invite its inspectors back into the secretive state as soon as it confirms that funds frozen at a Macau bank have been unblocked, the official KCNA news agency said on Friday.

AFP - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called on election officials to crack down on vote rigging Friday ahead of a crucial presidential poll, while also asking foreign observers for understanding.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea reaffirmed on Friday its commitment to allow U.N. nuclear inspectors back into the country as soon as it had verified that funds frozen at a Macau bank were unblocked.

PARIS (Reuters) - France's presidential candidates began their last day of campaigning on Friday before Sunday's first round ballot, making a final push for support in a vote that will usher in a new generation of political leadership.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet next Wednesday for talks on the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, an EU official said on Friday.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is struggling to strike a compromise over a landmark nuclear deal with the United States amid fears in New Delhi that American business and political pressure could sink it, officials and analysts said on Friday.

YUBA CITY, California (Reuters) - Teachers locked classroom doors, lowered shades and kept nearly 22,000 school children inside all day on Thursday in two northern California cities after a man threatened to go on a killing spree inspired by Monday's mass murder at Virginia Tech.

AP - Clashes erupted between gunmen and U.S. and Iraqi forces around a Shiite mosque in western Baghdad just before Friday prayers, witnesses and local media said. The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports.

AP - Making his third visit in four months to Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates took a decidedly stronger tone as he warned the troubled nation's leaders that American patience is wearing thin.

AP - North Korea restated its commitment to a landmark nuclear disarmament deal Friday, saying it would invite U.N. atomic inspectors and discuss shutting down its bomb-making atomic reactor as soon as it confirmed the release of its funds frozen in a banking dispute.

AP - Stocks pointed to a higher opening Friday as investors reacted favorably to strong earnings from Google Inc. late Thursday.

AP - After some quick work in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks can look forward to some rest.

Reuters - North Korea reaffirmed on Friday its commitment to allow U.N. nuclear inspectors back into the country as soon as it had verified that funds frozen at a Macau bank were unblocked.

Reuters - France's presidential candidates began their last day of campaigning on Friday before Sunday's first round ballot, making a final push for support in a vote that will usher in a new generation of political leadership.

Reuters - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet next Wednesday for talks on the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, an EU official said on Friday.

Reuters - India is struggling to strike a compromise over a landmark nuclear deal with the United States amid fears in New Delhi that American business and political pressure could sink it, officials and analysts said on Friday.

Reuters - Teachers locked classroom doors, lowered shades and kept nearly 22,000 school children inside all day on Thursday in two northern California cities after a man threatened to go on a killing spree inspired by Monday's mass murder at Virginia Tech.

AFP - Heavy fighting between Ethiopian forces and Islamist insurgents resumed in the Somali capital Friday, witnesses said, a day after a United Nations official warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe there.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Iraq's leaders on Friday to pass key legislation aimed at easing sectarian divisions by the end of the summer.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Germany said on Friday it was increasing security at its facilities in response to what it described as an increased threat of terrorism in the country.

LONDON (Reuters) - A flock of robotic falcons has been dispatched to tackle an influx of obese pigeons who are increasing in number and size thanks to an unnatural diet of fastfood.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Bush administration will take into account Iraq's political progress when deciding this summer whether or not to bring home some of the thousands of extra troops the U.S. has sent to tamp down violence there.

AP - U.S. soldiers are building a three-mile wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave surrounded by Shiite neighborhoods in a Baghdad area 'trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence and retaliation,' the military said.

AP - North Korea restated its commitment to a landmark nuclear disarmament deal Friday, saying it would invite U.N. atomic inspectors and discuss shutting down its bomb-making atomic reactor as soon as it confirmed the release of its funds frozen in a banking dispute.

AP - During the 10 years she was married to a handsome young preacher, Mary Winkler said she never told anyone about the bruises and the sexual humiliation she endured. Her risky decision to testify, her lawyers said, had a powerful effect on the jury and probably explains why Winkler will not spend the rest of her life in prison.

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met Iraq's leaders on Friday after warning that America's patience to see faster results on national reconciliation was running out.

Reuters - The U.S. embassy in Germany said on Friday it was increasing security at its facilities in response to what it described as an increased threat of terrorism in the country.

AFP - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates held talks with his top generals and Iraqi leaders in Baghdad on Friday amid new signs that American patience with its Iraqi allies is wearing thin.

AFP - Ethiopian forces battled Islamist insurgents with mortar shells and machine guns in the Somali capital Friday as the United Nations warned of a humanitarian catastrophe with corpses left rotting in the streets.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Iraq's leaders on Friday that U.S. support was not open-ended and legislation to speed up reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi'ites had to be passed by the end of the summer.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy said on Friday he has sent a letter to officials of Widener University and Capella University raising concerns about 'possible inappropriate relationships between lenders and school officials.'

PARIS (Reuters) - France's presidential candidates made a final push for support on Friday, the last day of campaigning before Sunday's first round ballot with rightist Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal favorites to win.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An American man who traveled to Somalia to support Islamic rule there has pleaded guilty to training with al Qaeda, officials said on Friday.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Bush administration will take into account Iraq's political progress when deciding this summer whether or not to bring home some of the thousands of extra troops the U.S. has sent to tamp down violence there.

AP - Wall Street bounded higher Friday after Google Inc. led a series of stronger earnings reports that propelled the Dow Jones industrials further into record terrain and toward its first assault on the 13,000 mark.

AP - The Rolling Stones will rock Belgrade this summer even if their performance at the city's main racetrack distresses hundreds of horses stabled at the venue, concert organizers said Friday.

AP - A store clerk's slip-up at the cash register has paid off big time.

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Iraq's leaders on Friday that U.S. support was not open-ended and legislation to speed up reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi'ites had to be passed by the end of the summer.

Reuters - U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy said on Friday he has sent a letter to officials of Widener University and Capella University seeking information and raising concerns about "possible inappropriate relationships between lenders and school officials."

Reuters - France's presidential candidates made a final push for support on Friday, the last day of campaigning before Sunday's first round ballot with rightist Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal favorites to win.

Reuters - An American man who traveled to Somalia to support Islamic rule there has pleaded guilty to training with al Qaeda, officials said on Friday.

AFP - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates urged Iraqi leaders on Friday to end sectarian conflict and warned that American troops would not stay on indefinitely if no progress is made.

AFP - Ethiopian forces battled Islamist insurgents with mortar bombs and machine guns in the Somali capital Friday as the United Nations warned of a humanitarian catastrophe with corpses left rotting in the streets.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a Broadway dramatization, David Frost is grilling Richard Nixon about whether he obstructed justice in the Watergate scandal when Nixon unleashes his greatest laugh line of the night.

AP - Silence fell across the Virginia Tech campus at noon Friday and bells tolled in churches nationwide in memory of the 32 victims of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.

AP - Wall Street bounded higher Friday after Google Inc. led a series of stronger earnings reports that propelled the Dow Jones industrials further into record terrain and toward the 13,000 mark.

Reuters - The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went.

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - The campus of Virginia Tech university emptied on Friday as memorial services for some of the 32 victims of Monday's shooting massacre began and the nation marked a day of mourning.

DENVER (Reuters) - Officials evacuated a high school in Parker, Colorado, after an explosion outside on Friday, the eighth anniversary of a massacre at nearby Columbine High School.

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Challenging the stereotype of macho Mexico, women are moving into positions of power in male-dominated drug cartels but in the process suffering gruesome deaths in turf wars among traffickers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have enlisted some supremely qualified recruits to retrieve important data on one of the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth. And all these recruits want is a nice fish dinner.

AP - Wall Street bounded higher Friday after Google Inc. led a series of stronger earnings reports that propelled the Dow Jones industrials further into record terrain and toward the 13,000 mark.

AP - The Bush White House called embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales 'our No. 1 crime fighter' Friday, a day after Gonzales' often halting explanations for the firings of eight federal prosecutors brought additional demands for his resignation.

AP - Within hours of Pat Tillman's death, the Army went into information-lockdown mode, cutting off phone and Internet connections at a base in Afghanistan, posting guards on a wounded platoon mate, and ordering a sergeant to burn Tillman's uniform.

AP - As Alec Baldwin's angry words to his daughter were being broadcast around the world, the 49-year-old actor explained himself Friday on his Web site.

AP - Liverpool's pigeon population has it easy. Feasting on fast food and leaving droppings wherever they please, the fat birds are an embarrassment to a city chosen to be next year's European Capital of Culture.

AP - Greg Oden is through with school. The 7-foot freshman said on Friday that he will leave Ohio State after leading the Buckeyes to the national championship game and enter the NBA draft, where he figures to be one of the top two picks.

Reuters - The campus of Virginia Tech university emptied on Friday as memorial services for some of the 32 victims of Monday's shooting massacre began and the nation marked a day of mourning.

Reuters - Officials evacuated a high school in Parker, Colorado, after an explosion outside on Friday, the eighth anniversary of a massacre at nearby Columbine High School.

Reuters - Challenging the stereotype of macho Mexico, women are moving into positions of power in male-dominated drug cartels but in the process suffering gruesome deaths in turf wars among traffickers.

AFP - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates urged Iraqi leaders on Friday to end sectarian conflict and warned that American troops would not stay on indefinitely if no progress is made.

AFP - Nigeria delayed the start of voting in the country's presidential elections on Saturday by two hours because ballot papers printed in South Africa had not arrived in the country.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Workers evacuated a building at NASA's Johnson Space Center and police surrounded it on Friday after reports that a man with a gun was spotted and shots were fired, authorities said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on Friday, with the Dow closing at a record high after coming within 35 points of 13,000, as Google Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. joined the list of companies reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results.

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Friday rebuffed a top Democrat's charge the Iraq war was lost and asserted progress despite some of the worst carnage this week since Bush ordered more troops to the region.

AP - A Johnson Space Center building was evacuated Friday after reports of a gunman inside, Houston police said. Police were called about 1:40 p.m. for Building 44, which houses communications and tracking development laboratory, news reports said.

AP - The family of Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho told The Associated Press on Friday that they feel 'hopeless, helpless and lost,' and 'never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence.'

AP - Within hours of Pat Tillman's death, the Army went into information-lockdown mode, cutting off phone and Internet connections at a base in Afghanistan, posting guards on a wounded platoon mate, and ordering a sergeant to burn Tillman's uniform.

AP - President Bush said Friday that sectarian murders have dropped by half in Baghdad since the U.S.-Iraqi military buildup began in February, rejecting a Democratic leader's claim that the war is lost.

AP - Desperate for support among fellow Republicans, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced grim prospects Friday after a bruising Senate hearing that produced one outright call for resignation and a fistful of invitations and hints to quit.

AP - Wall Street bounded higher Friday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrial average to a record close approaching 13,000 as investors celebrated a week of surprisingly strong earnings reports. The major indexes all had their third straight winning week, their longest such streak since October.

AP - Greg Oden is through with school. The 7-foot freshman said Friday he will leave Ohio State after leading the Buckeyes to the national championship game and enter the NBA draft, where he figures to be one of the top two picks along with Texas freshman forward Kevin Durant.

Reuters - Workers evacuated a building at NASA's Johnson Space Center and police surrounded it on Friday after reports that a man with a gun was spotted and shots were fired, authorities said.

Reuters - U.S. stocks jumped on Friday, with the Dow closing at a record high after coming within 35 points of 13,000, as Google Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. joined the list of companies reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results.

Reuters - President George W. Bush on Friday rebuffed a top Democrat's charge the Iraq war was lost and asserted progress despite some of the worst carnage this week since Bush ordered more troops to the region.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An armed man killed a hostage, then himself, at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Friday, the latest incident to rattle the United States after the shooting massacre this week at Virginia Tech university.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional Republican leader on Friday joined bipartisan calls for U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign but the White House reaffirmed its confidence in President George W. Bush's long-time friend.

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - The family of the Virginia Tech shooter issued a heartbroken apology on Friday for his 'unspeakable actions' as the campus emptied and memorial services began for some of the 32 victims of Monday's massacre.

AP - A NASA contract worker took a handgun inside an office building Friday at the Johnson Space Center and fatally shot a hostage before killing himself, police said. A second hostage escaped with minor injuries. The gunman shot himself once in the head more than three hours after barricading himself on the second floor of Building 44, which houses a laboratory.

AP - Desperate for support among fellow Republicans, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced grim prospects Friday after a bruising Senate hearing that produced one outright call for resignation and a fistful of invitations and hints to quit.

AP - Gov. Jon S. Corzine was breathing on his own again Friday after doctors removed a breathing tube he'd been using since he was critically injured in an April 12 high-speed crash, his spokesman said.

AP - When school officials announce the name of the Fresno High School prom king on Saturday, Cinthia Covarrubias will be wearing a tuxedo just like the six boys vying for the honor. School officials this week added the 17-year-old's name to the ballot for prom king, reversing a previous district policy that allowed only males to run for king and females for prom queen.

Reuters - An armed man shot and killed a male hostage and then himself in a standoff with police at a building at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston police said on Friday.

Reuters - A congressional Republican leader on Friday joined bipartisan calls for U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign but the White House reaffirmed its confidence in President George W. Bush's long-time friend.

Reuters - The family of the Virginia Tech shooter issued a heartbroken apology on Friday for his "unspeakable actions" as the campus emptied and memorial services began for some of the 32 victims of Monday's massacre.

Reuters - Columbine High School and the town of Littleton, Colorado, quietly marked the eighth anniversary of the 1999 massacre on Friday, haunted by the worst shooting rampage in modern U.S. history just four days ago.

AFP - Nigeria announced that voting in Saturday's presidential elections would begin two hours late following a logistical glitch as apparent poll-linked violence erupted in the volatile oil-rich south.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An armed man killed a hostage, then himself, at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Friday, the latest incident to rattle the United States after the shooting massacre this week at Virginia Tech university.

AP - A NASA contract worker took a handgun inside an office building Friday at the Johnson Space Center and fatally shot a hostage before killing himself, police said. A second hostage escaped with minor injuries.

AP - Desperate for support among fellow Republicans, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced grim prospects Friday after a bruising Senate hearing that produced one outright call for resignation and a fistful of invitations and hints to quit.

AP - Miss America 1944 has a talent that likely has never appeared on a beauty pageant stage: She fired a handgun to shoot out a vehicle's tires and stop an intruder. Venus Ramey, 82, confronted a man on her farm in south-central Kentucky last week after she saw her dog run into a storage building where thieves had previously made off with old farm equipment.

AP - Islanders defenseman Sean Hill was hit with a 20-game suspension by the NHL on Friday — just hours before New York faced elimination from the playoffs — for violating the league's drug policy.

Reuters - An armed man killed a hostage, then himself, at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Friday, the latest incident to rattle the United States after the shooting massacre this week at Virginia Tech university.

AFP - Taliban holding two French aid workers hostage in southern Afghanistan have called for the withdrawal of French NATO troops and the freeing of imprisoned militants in exchange for their release, according to a Taliban website Friday.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An armed space engineer killed a co-worker he had taken hostage, then himself, in an attack on Friday at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

AP - Alex Rodriguez hit two more homers, but Coco Crisp tied the game with a two-run triple and then scored the winning run on Alex Cora's blooper during a five-run eighth inning Friday night in the Boston Red Sox's 7-6, comeback victory over the New York Yankees.

Reuters - An armed space engineer killed a co-worker he had taken hostage, then himself, in an attack on Friday at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

AFP - US President George W. Bush said Friday it was too soon to judge whether a US-led security push in Iraq would work, but asserted it was already turning the tide of the war.