AP - Former presidential candidate John Edwards denies he fathered a daughter with a woman he had an extramarital affair with and says he'll willingly be tested to prove it.

AFP - Russian tanks and troops entered Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia province on Friday to repel a Georgian military offensive to reclaim the region amid fighting said to have left hundreds dead.

AFP - China's once-in-a-lifetime Olympic dream became reality Friday as the Beijing Games opened with a dazzling ceremony showcasing the nation's ancient civilization and an offer of friendship to the world.

Reuters - Eyes were on Pakistan's generals on Friday for any gesture of support for President Pervez Musharraf a day after a four-month-old civilian coalition declared plans to impeach the former army chief.

Reuters - Anti-American Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr would dissolve his Mehdi Army militia if the United States started withdrawing troops according to a set timetable, a spokesman said.

Reuters - At least 13 people on their way to a religious festival were killed when a private charter bus crashed north of Dallas, police reported on Friday.

Reuters - A judge on Friday allowed indicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to post $50,000 bond to get out of jail but ordered new restrictions on his movements, while new charges were filed against the embattled mayor.

Reuters - It's not a battleground state and it's unlikely to tip the U.S. election in November, but White House hopeful Barack Obama headed to Hawaii on Friday - minus, largely, his presidential campaign.

Reuters - Resurgent China opened the Olympics on Friday with volleys of fireworks at a spectacular ceremony that wove ancient Chinese history with modern wizardry and aimed to draw a line under months of political controversy.

Reuters - Russian armored vehicles have entered the northern edges of the capital of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, the separatists' press service reported on its website on Friday.

AP - The Baghdad Zoo on Friday welcomed a pair of rare Bengal tiger cubs that were donated by a North Carolina animal sanctuary despite protests by animal rights activists.

AP - A founder of the country band Sugarland is suing the two current members of the popular group for $1.5 million.