AFP - North Korea Friday blew up the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, according to South Korea's MBC TV.

AFP - Zimbabwe voted Friday in an election which was virtually certain to end in victory for President Robert Mugabe, but dismissed by the opposition as meaningless after it boycotted the poll.

Reuters - Taiwan quietly wrapped up a week of computer-simulated military exercises on Friday, keeping the annual island-wide training event low-key this year as relations improve with its old rival, China.

Reuters - More storms dumped crop-drowning rains on parts of the U.S. Midwest on Thursday, threatening strained levees and slowing recovery from a multibillion-dollar flood disaster in the heart of the world's biggest grain and food exporter.

Reuters - Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan publicly slit the throats of two Afghans on Friday after they were accused of spying for U.S. forces suspected of launching a missile strike in May.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved $161.8 billion in new funds to continue fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next year, without timetables for withdrawing combat troops.

Reuters - Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton take the first step toward healing the wounds of their bruising presidential nominating fight with a joint appearance on Friday in the symbolically named New Hampshire town of Unity.

Reuters - Zimbabweans began voting slowly in a one-sided presidential run-off on Friday after President Robert Mugabe defied mounting world condemnation and calls to postpone an election which the opposition says is a farce.

Reuters - North Korea toppled the cooling tower at its nuclear plant on Friday, a South Korean broadcaster said, a move showing the North's commitment to a nuclear deal a day after submitting a list of its atomic plans.

AP - Minutes after the NBA draft started, Derrick Rose learned he was headed home. Long after it ended, O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love were on the move.

AP - Paris Hilton is making good on her promise to become a better person.

AP - U.S. Army Spc. Kendell Frederick lost his life while trying to become a citizen of the country he was fighting for. Now, his mother hopes a bill President Bush signed into law Thursday will make sure no other soldier dies the way her son did.

AP - Police officers took aim this week at vehicles zipping down a runway in tests meant to convince judges that laser speed guns — increasingly popular among law enforcement — are as accurate as their radar cousins.

AP - Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a prominent attorney who took on tobacco, asbestos and insurance companies, was scheduled to be sentenced Friday for his role in a high-profile judicial bribery case.