AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is likely to recommend to President Bush that he nominate a former Air Force executive, Michael B. Donley, to the service's top civilian post, a senior defense official said Friday.

AP - Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a global warming bill that would have required major reductions in greenhouse gases, pushing debate over the world's biggest environmental concern to next year for a new Congress and president.

AP - President Bush is considering new measures to help stimulate the battered economy, the White House said Friday.

AP - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton met rival Barack Obama face-to-face with no one else present, hours before her campaign formally announced she would endorse him Saturday at an event in Washington.

AP - Wall Street plunged Friday on two troubling economic developments: oil prices that surged more than $10 a barrel to a fresh record and a jump in unemployment that was much larger than the market anticipated. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 300 points.

AFP - The UN Security Council expressed concern after Zimbabwe police detained US and British diplomats in a dramatic confrontation at a roadblock amid signs of an intensifying crackdown ahead of a presidential run-off election.

AFP - The alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks and two co-conspirators defiantly demanded Thursday to be sentenced to death at a US military hearing here, saying they had long sought martyrdom.

Reuters - Broadcom Corp's former CEO took cocaine and spiked customers' drinks with ecstasy while also directing a criminal stock-options backdating conspiracy that cost the microchip company $2.2 billion, federal indictments released on Thursday charged.

Reuters - The Phoenix lander has returned the highest-resolution pictures ever taken of dust and sand on the surface of another planet as it prepares for its primary mission of searching for signs of life on Mars, NASA scientists said on Thursday.

Reuters - Zimbabwe indefinitely suspended all work by aid groups on Thursday and police held a group of U.S. and British diplomats for several hours after they visited victims of political violence ahead of a presidential vote.

Reuters - UBS AG is considering whether to reveal the names of up to 20,000 wealthy American clients as federal authorities intensify an investigation into offshore bank accounts, the New York Times said on Friday, citing people close to the inquiry.

Reuters - The Boston Celtics rolled to a 98-88 win over the Los Angeles Lakers to win Game One of the NBA finals on Thursday, opening another chapter in professional basketball's most storied rivalry.

Reuters - The accused al Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks stood in a U.S. military court on Thursday, sang a chant of praise to Allah and said he would welcome the death penalty.

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the Air Force's top two officials on Thursday after mistakes involving their most sensitive mission -- the safety and security of America's nuclear weapons.

Reuters - Likely U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama met privately with former rival Hillary Clinton on Thursday as the party sought to unite for the general election campaign after a long nomination battle.