AP - Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand emerged as a leading contender Thursday night as New York Gov. David Paterson closed in on a decision to fill the state's vacant Senate seat, according to party officials monitoring events in the wake of Caroline Kennedy's abrupt withdrawal from consideration.

AP - A U.S. biotech company says it plans to start this summer the world's first study of a treatment based on human embryonic stem cells — a long-awaited project aimed at spinal cord injury.

AFP - US President Barack Obama on Thursday picked two high-powered peacemakers for the Middle East as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan, in yet another swift break with Bush administration policy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. David Paterson has picked Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, The New York Times reported Friday, citing person who had spoken to the governor.

AP - Democratic congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand is the New York governor's pick to fill Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's vacate Senate seat.

AP - Nashville voters rejected a proposal to make English the mandatory language for all government business, easing fears that the measure could damage the city's reputation and cost agencies millions in federal funding.

AP - Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama are having a hard time finding common ground on an economic recovery plan as Republican resistance to the stimulus package emerges in the House.

Reuters - New York Gov. David Paterson has picked Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, The New York Times reported Friday, citing person who had spoken to the governor.

AFP - The Democratic Republic of Congo said Friday that Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda has been arrested in neighbouring Rwanda following a joint operation.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. David Paterson has picked Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported Friday, citing a person who had spoken to the governor.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain went into recession at the end of last year for the first time since 1991, with the economy contracting at its fastest pace in nearly 30 years.

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met a senior Chinese official in Pyongyang Friday, Chinese and North Korean media said, in Kim's first reported meeting with a foreign envoy since a suspected stroke in August.

AP - Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama are having a hard time finding common ground on an economic recovery plan as Republican resistance to the stimulus package emerges in the House.

AP - Gov. David Paterson has picked Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill New York's vacant U.S. Senate seat, an aide to the governor said early Friday, a day after Caroline Kennedy abruptly withdrew from consideration.

AP - Taking on two of his toughest foreign policy challenges, President Barack Obama pledged to find a new course in Afghanistan and to help Israel achieve a broad peace with the Arab world.

AP - A newly released security camera tape shows the emergency ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in all its stunning drama — from seconds after the jetliner splashed into the frigid water until well after the last of the 155 passengers and crew members were rescued.

AP - A high school football coach should have realized a player could collapse from heat stroke in the broiling weather during practice, a prosecutor said in announcing reckless homicide charges in a youth's death.

AP - Two years after a politically embarrassing $1 billion shortfall that imperiled veterans health care, the Veterans Affairs Department is still lowballing budget estimates to Congress to keep its spending down, government investigators say.

AP - The classical music played for millions of people watching President Barack Obama's inauguration was not the live performance it appeared to be.

AP - A billionaire family of Chicago Cubs fans — including one who first met his wife in the bleachers at Wrigley Field — is set to purchase the team and ballpark from Tribune Co.

Reuters - New York Gov. David Paterson has picked Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported Friday, citing a person who had spoken to the governor.

Reuters - Britain went into recession at the end of last year for the first time since 1991, with the economy contracting at its fastest pace in nearly 30 years.

Reuters - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met a senior Chinese official in Pyongyang Friday, Chinese and North Korean media said, in Kim's first reported meeting with a foreign envoy since a suspected stroke in August.

AFP - Congolese and Rwandan soldiers chased down and captured Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda in Rwanda after he fled the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials from both countries said on Friday.

AFP - Britain is in recession for the first time since 1991 after its economy shrank during the final two quarters of last year as a global financial crisis raged, official data showed on Friday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit, meeting Wall Street's expectations, as the U.S. conglomerate and economic bellwether closed out one of the toughest years in its 117-year history.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the world's first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy, Geron Corp said on Friday in a milestone for such research and a marked political shift.

MILAN (Reuters) - A warning of unprecedented staff cuts at Toyota, the world's biggest auto maker, and word of a possible first quarter loss by Volkswagen piled fresh pressure on struggling car manufacturers on Friday.

LONDON (Reuters) - A British computer expert accused by the United States of the 'biggest military hack of all time' won the right Friday to launch a new legal challenge against plans to extradite him.

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is committed to removing nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula and wants to co-exist peacefully, leader Kim Jong-il said on Friday in his first meeting with a foreign envoy since his suspected stroke.

AP - Gaza residents headed for Friday communal prayers and Israeli naval guns were largely silent as grief and shock began to mix with a palpable sense of relief in the coastal strip pounded by weeks of Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults.

AP - An Internet posting purportedly by al-Qaida in Yemen says the group's No. 2 is a Saudi national who is a former Guantanamo detainee.

AP - Investors are set for a big sell-off on Wall Street Friday as many corporate earnings reports are falling short of estimates and the British economy has been officially declared in recession. Stock futures pointed to a sharply lower opening.

AP - On Inauguration Day — one of the highest traffic days ever for the Internet — CNN came out on top.

AP - Ana Ivanovic's hopes of a return trip to the Australian Open final fell apart in a barrage of mistakes Friday as Russia's Alisa Kleybanova ousted the 2008 runner-up with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory in the third round.

Reuters - General Electric Co reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit, meeting Wall Street's expectations, as the U.S. conglomerate and economic bellwether closed out one of the toughest years in its 117-year history.

Reuters - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the world's first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy, Geron Corp said on Friday in a milestone for such research and a marked political shift.

Reuters - A warning of unprecedented staff cuts at Toyota, the world's biggest auto maker, and word of a possible first quarter loss by Volkswagen piled fresh pressure on struggling car manufacturers on Friday.

Reuters - A British computer expert accused by the United States of the 'biggest military hack of all time' won the right Friday to launch a new legal challenge against plans to extradite him.

AFP - Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was under arrest Friday in neighbouring Rwanda awaiting extradition on war crimes charges after his erstwhile Tutsi allies turned against him.

AFP - Britain is in recession for the first time since 1991, official data showed Friday, triggering a plea from Prime Minister Gordon Brown for renewed international help to tackle the financial crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit on weakness at GE Capital and its lighting and appliance units, as the U.S. conglomerate and economic bellwether closed out one of the toughest years in its 117-year history.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly three decades at the end of last year, sending the economy into recession for the first time since 1991 as the financial crisis hit even harder than expected.

TASHKENT (Reuters) - Russia welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to review policy in Afghanistan and is ready to cooperate, including on supply routes for NATO forces, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel's invasion of Gaza has strengthened the hand of extremists and only a credible independent investigation into alleged wrongdoing can quieten growing Palestinian anger, a U.N. aid official said on Friday.

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is committed to removing nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula and wants to co-exist peacefully, leader Kim Jong-il said on Friday in his first meeting with a foreign envoy since his suspected stroke in August.

AP - Gov. David Paterson has picked Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill New York's vacant U.S. Senate seat, an aide to the governor said early Friday, a day after Caroline Kennedy abruptly withdrew from consideration.

AP - Stocks slid Friday for a second day as corporate earnings reports continue to fall in short of estimates and stir fears about the extent of the recession.

AP - Ana Ivanovic's hopes of a return trip to the Australian Open final fell apart in a barrage of mistakes Friday, losing to Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

Reuters - General Electric Co reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit on weakness at GE Capital and its lighting and appliance units, as the U.S. conglomerate and economic bellwether closed out one of the toughest years in its 117-year history.

Reuters - Britain's economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly three decades at the end of last year, sending the economy into recession for the first time since 1991 as the financial crisis hit even harder than expected.

Reuters - Russia welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to review policy in Afghanistan and is ready to cooperate, including on supply routes for NATO forces, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

Reuters - Israel's invasion of Gaza has strengthened the hand of extremists and only a credible independent investigation into alleged wrongdoing can quieten growing Palestinian anger, a U.N. aid official said on Friday.

AFP - A man armed with a knife and wearing face paint went on the rampage at a Belgian crèche on Friday, killing two children and an adult, officials said.

AFP - Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was on Friday under arrest in neighbouring Rwanda awaiting extradition on war crimes charges after his erstwhile Tutsi allies turned against him.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on Friday unveiled a $275 billion package of tax cuts and incentives aimed at boosting the struggling economy and the panel will consider it on January 27.

BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit on weakness at GE Capital and its lighting and appliance units, and warned that 2009 would be 'extremely difficult.'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - European data pointed toward deeper recession and General Electric reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit on Friday as U.S. President Barack Obama met with congressional leaders over his $825 stimulus proposal.

AP - President Barack Obama urged lawmakers from both parties Friday to back his economic stimulus package, saying the economy's dire problems require congressional action even if some members object to portions of the plan.

AP - Two suspected U.S missile attacks killed 14 people Friday in Pakistan just east of the Afghan border, security officials said, the first such strikes since the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

AP - President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortions, officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

Reuters - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on Friday unveiled a $275 billion package of tax cuts and incentives aimed at boosting the struggling economy and the panel will consider it on January 27.

Reuters - General Electric Co reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit on weakness at GE Capital and its lighting and appliance units, and warned that 2009 would be 'extremely difficult.'

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

Reuters - European data pointed toward deeper recession and General Electric reported a 44 percent drop in quarterly profit on Friday as U.S. President Barack Obama met with congressional leaders over his $825 stimulus proposal.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. David Paterson appointed Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday to fill the Senate seat vacated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he expected an $825 billion economic recovery plan to be approved by his target of mid-February and urged congressional leaders to work swiftly to pass it.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was indicted on Friday by a federal grand jury on corruption charges linked to his obtaining brokerage business for unions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Friday he did not expect a dramatic U.S. troop disengagement from Iraq this year given the country will hold a series of elections that will test its gains in security.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel on Friday dismissed international calls for a full reopening of border crossings with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, leaving a shaky ceasefire and post-war reconstruction in doubt.

AP - Gov. David Paterson appointed Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday to fill New York's vacant Senate seat, finally settling on a woman from a largely rural, eastern district of the state to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AP - Suspected U.S. missiles killed 18 people on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border Friday, security officials said, the first attacks on the al-Qaida stronghold since President Barack Obama took office.

AP - German drugmaker Merck Serono is one step closer to releasing the first pill to treat multiple sclerosis, the company said Friday.

AP - Justin Timberlake and David Beckham don't have any real-life beef with each other, but cartoony characters resembling the famous crooner and soccer player will face off — along with 16 other A-list impersonators — in the upcoming Wii boxing game 'Ready 2 Rumble Revolution' from publisher Atari and developer AKI.

AP - Talk about cheesy. Virginia's Tax Department debuted a video on YouTube on Friday intended to promote online filing of state income taxes.

Reuters - New York Gov. David Paterson appointed Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday to fill the Senate seat vacated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Reuters - New York state's former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was indicted on Friday by a federal grand jury on corruption charges linked to his obtaining brokerage business for unions.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

Reuters - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Friday he did not expect a dramatic U.S. troop disengagement from Iraq this year given the country will hold a series of elections that will test its gains in security.

AFP - Missiles fired from suspected US drones on Friday slammed into presumed militant dens in Pakistan killing 15 people, including three children and at least four civilians, officials said.

AFP - President Barack Obama warned Friday the economic crisis may be unprecedented, and must be dealt with rapidly, as he nudged Congress to meet a mid-February deadline to pass a huge stimulus bill.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, charged with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama, said on Friday he will not participate in an impeachment trial that could remove him from office.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Up to 20,000 U.S. Marines could be deployed in Afghanistan as part of a planned major troop build-up to battle worsening insurgent violence, the top U.S. Marine officer said on Friday.

AP - Impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) says he's boycotting his impeachment trial next week because the process is unfair, not because he's being defiant.

AP - An Iowa woman has been arrested because she failed to return a library book. Thirty-nine-year-old Shelly Koontz was arrested Thursday night on a fifth-degree theft charge. She is accused of keeping 'The Freedom Writers Diary,' which she checked out from the public library in nearby Jesup in April.

AP - A skirmish between ethnic rivals, a half-naked streaker and an upset of Ana Ivanovic combined for an extraordinary Friday at the Australian Open.

Reuters - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, charged with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama, said on Friday he will not participate in an impeachment trial that could remove him from office.

Reuters - Up to 20,000 U.S. Marines could be deployed in Afghanistan as part of a planned major troop build-up to battle worsening insurgent violence, the top U.S. Marine officer said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched a drive on Friday to get his $825 billion economic recovery plan through Congress, predicting lawmakers would resolve differences before a mid-February deadline.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday lifted restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, a spokesman said.

AP - President Barack Obama on Friday quietly ended the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option. Liberal groups welcomed the decision, while abortion rights foes criticized the president.

AP - Launching an all-out media blitz as his impeachment trial draws near, Gov.

AP - Gov. David Paterson appointed Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday to fill New York's vacant Senate seat, finally settling on a woman from a largely rural, eastern district of the state to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AP - Authorities in the Bahamas have detained an island lawmaker and a paramedic in an alleged plot to extort money from actor John Travolta after the death of his son, police said Friday.

AP - One of Nigeria's biggest daily newspapers reported that police implicated a goat in an attempted automobile theft. In a front-page article on Friday, the Vanguard newspaper said that two men tried to steal a Mazda car two days earlier in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat as vigilantes cornered him.

AP - Herm Edwards, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs during the worst two-year span in team history, was fired Friday. Edwards goes out with a three-year regular-season record of 15-33 and with one year remaining on a four-year, $12 million contract. As head coach of the New York Jets in 2001-05, he had a regular-season mark of 39-41 and was 2-3 in the playoffs.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama launched a drive on Friday to get his $825 billion economic recovery plan through Congress, predicting lawmakers would resolve differences before a mid-February deadline.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday lifted restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, a spokesman said.

AFP - Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was under arrest Friday in neighbouring Rwanda awaiting extradition on war crimes charges after his erstwhile Tutsi allies turned against him.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama launched a drive on Friday to get his $825 billion economic recovery plan through Congress, predicting lawmakers would resolve differences before a mid-February deadline.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Friday unveiled their proposal to spend $365 billion to help the sagging U.S. economy, just slightly more than the $358 billion proposed by their counterparts in the House of Representatives.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, charged with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama, said on Friday he will not take part in an impeachment trial that could remove him from office.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's former Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was indicted on Friday by a federal grand jury on corruption charges.

AP - President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information — an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century.

AP - Instantly opening a rift among New York Democrats, Rep.

AP - Puffs of smoke, speeches in Latin and multipage encyclicals have all been used by the Vatican to communicate with the faithful.

AP - A 24-year-old man is accused of bludgeoning his parents to death, stashing their bodies in the backyard cesspool and using their credit cards for a big-ticket spending spree, authorities said Friday.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama launched a drive on Friday to get his $825 billion economic recovery plan through Congress, predicting lawmakers would resolve differences before a mid-February deadline.

Reuters - Senate Democrats on Friday unveiled their proposal to spend $365 billion to help the sagging U.S. economy, just slightly more than the $358 billion proposed by their counterparts in the House of Representatives.

Reuters - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, charged with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama, said on Friday he will not take part in an impeachment trial that could remove him from office.

Reuters - New York state's former Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was indicted on Friday by a federal grand jury on corruption charges.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Minister has urged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be careful with sensitive issues that could strain ties, calling the relationship between their two nations one of the world's most important.

AP - Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard's former church disclosed Friday that the gay sex scandal that caused his downfall extends to a young male church volunteer who reported having a sexual relationship with Haggard — a revelation that comes as Haggard tries to repair his public image.

AP - One of Nigeria's biggest daily newspapers reported that police implicated a goat in an attempted automobile theft. In a front-page article on Friday, the Vanguard newspaper said that two men tried to steal a Mazda car two days earlier in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat as vigilantes cornered him.

AP - Serena Williams didn't have to deal with any unexpected distractions Saturday, advancing to the fourth round at the Australian Open. Williams, who won the title here in 2003, 2005 and 2007, started play on Rod Laver Arena on day six with a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 41-ranked Peng Shuai of China.

Reuters - Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drugmaker, is in talks to buy Wyeth, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday, and one source put the possible value of the deal at about $67 billion.

Reuters - China's Foreign Minister has urged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be careful with sensitive issues that could strain ties, calling the relationship between their two nations one of the world's most important.

NEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drugmaker, is in talks to buy Wyeth, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday, and one source put the possible value of the deal at about $67 billion.

AP - Serena Williams didn't have to deal with any unexpected distractions Saturday, advancing to the fourth round at the Australian Open.