AFP - Polls closed in Zimbabwe's run-off election Friday with President Robert Mugabe certain of victory as the sole candidate in a contest that the opposition urged world leaders to reject.

Reuters - The Mississippi River burst through an earthen levee on Friday, inundating a small Missouri town as more heavy rains fell and adding to the U.S. Midwest's multibillion-dollar flood disaster that is fueling fears of global food price inflation.

Reuters - A New Jersey dentist behind a scheme to steal body parts from corpses, including that of British journalist Alistair Cooke, was sentenced on Friday to a minimum of 18 years and a maximum of 54 years in prison.

Reuters - Oil prices rose to a record near $143 a barrel on Friday as a drop in global equities markets sent fresh investors into commodities.

Reuters - North Korea toppled the cooling tower at its plutonium-producing reactor on Friday in a symbolic move to show its commitment to an international nuclear deal, a day after submitting an inventory of its atomic program.

Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he would oppose a government bailout of the ailing auto industry and voiced strong support for free trade in the hard-hit state of Ohio.

Reuters - Consumer confidence fell more than expected in June, hitting another 28-year low as surging prices and mounting job losses contributed to a bleak outlook, according to a survey released on Friday.

Reuters - Many Zimbabweans boycotted the one candidate-election on Friday but witnesses said government militias forced people in some areas to vote for 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe.

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.

AP - Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic was knocked out in the third round of Wimbledon on Friday by 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie of China, extending a spate of stunning upsets at the All England Club.

AP - Lindsay Lohan's father says he's looking into a claim by a woman who says she had a daughter by him.

AP - Wall Street pared its losses late Friday as the approaching end of the quarter had investors picking up stocks to close out their portfolios — the practice widely known as window dressing.