Bush signs bill providing extra jobless benefits
President George W. Bush on Friday ensured that millions of laid-off workers will keep getting their unemployment checks as the year-end holidays approach.
Sexism award goes to 'ugly ducklings' mayor
An Australian outback mayor's plea for lovelorn female "ugly ducklings" to move to a remote mining town to reverse a shortage of eligible women has won him the country's yearly award for outrageous sexism.
Blast kills 8 mourners at Pakistani funeral
A blast killed at least six mourners Friday at the funeral of a Shiite cleric in northwest Pakistan who was gunned down hours earlier, police said.
Phone workers peek at Obama's cell records
Verizon employees snuck a peek at President-elect Barack Obama's old cell phone records and will be reprimanded accordingly, the company said late Thursday.
China IDs 19,000 of quake dead
A little over a quarter of the 70,000 people who died in a massive earthquake that struck Sichuan in May have been identified, a Chinese official said Friday.
Madonna, Ritchie granted divorce
The show-business marriage that began in a Scottish castle came to an end in a drab London courtroom Friday as Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce.
Leftist Sandinistas win Nicaragua vote
Nicaragua's ruling Sandinista party won the large majority of municipal races, including the capital Managua, in local elections that have sparked violent clashes and allegations of fraud.
Obama team springs leaks
Barack Obama was famously able to impose discipline and control over his presidential campaign, but it didn't take long for him to discover that running a transition is something quite different.
Bush effigy burned at Iraq protest
Followers of a Shiite cleric on Friday stomped on and burned an effigy of President Bush in Baghdad as they protested a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact on Friday.
Shipper: Militaries must confront pirates
The world's militaries must work together to battle pirates off the Somali coast or ships will have to be diverted, one of the world's largest oil tanker companies said Friday.
