Reuters - The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuelan officials on Friday, escalating a diplomatic crisis between leftist Latin American leaders and Washington that raises the specter of an oil supply cutoff.

Reuters - U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama endorsed on Friday a Pentagon decision to let the next administration resolve a thorny dispute among aerospace manufacturers for a $35 billion Air Force tanker program.

Reuters - Concern that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc may fail to find a buyer because the U.S. government is reluctant to provide financial backing sent the firm's shares down to a 14-year low on Friday.

Reuters - Hurricane Ike closed in on the Texas coast on Friday, pushing a wall of water that weather officials warned could bring certain death to those who did not heed mandatory evacuation orders.

AP - Russian tennis star Nikolay Davydenko was cleared by the ATP on Friday after a yearlong investigation into suspicious betting patterns on a match he lost to a low-ranked opponent.

AP - Cameras flashing and films rolling, a crowd of paparazzi surrounded a police escort, trying to get the perfect shot of Britney Spears' little sister as she left the Los Angeles International Airport.

AP - A Pentagon advisory group recommended Friday that the Air Force, which has been embarrassed by a series of nuclear-related mishaps, should consolidate under a single organization the now-divided responsibilities for its nuclear weapons management.

AP - The United States on Friday accused three members of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's inner circle of aiding Colombian rebels by supplying arms and helping drug traffickers. Washington also expelled Chavez's ambassador as a diplomatic clash intensified.

AP - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday defended two debunked television ads attacking Democrat Barack Obama and claimed erroneously that running mate Sarah Palin never sought money for lawmakers' pet projects as Alaska governor. Palin has sought nearly $200 million in earmarks this year alone.

AP - Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife on Friday released a decade of their personal financial records, showing a veteran U.S. senator who earned less than many of his congressional colleagues.

AP - A car bomb ripped through a crowded commercial district in a mainly Shiite town north of Baghdad on Friday, killing at least 32 people and wounding 43, Iraqi officials said. The explosion in Dujail was apparently targeting a police station but instead it badly damaged a nearby medical clinic, according to police. Concrete barriers largely protected the police station, the officials said.

AP - Republican John McCain has taken a modest lead over Barack Obama entering the final seven weeks of their presidential contest, buoyed by decisive advantages among suburban and working-class whites and a huge edge in how people rate each candidate's experience, a poll showed Friday.

AP - A massive Hurricane Ike sent white waves crashing over a seawall and tossed a disabled 584-foot freighter in rough water as it steamed toward Texas Friday, threatening to devastate coastal towns and batter America's fourth-largest city.

AFP - Russian troops prepared Friday to start a tentative pull-out from Georgia as Moscow vowed to strengthen its military after last month's war and turned its diplomatic fire on Ukraine.