AP - EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.

AP - Farrah Fawcett, the "Charlie's Angels" star whose feathered blond hair and dazzling smile made her one of the biggest sex symbols of the 1970s, died Thursday after battling cancer. She was 62.

AFP - The United States said it was "deeply disturbed" by the reported arrest of prominent Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and joined a mounting chorus calling for his release.

AFP - A top Iranian dissident cleric warned the nation's rulers that their continued suppression of opposition protests over the disputed presidential election could destabilise the regime.

Reuters - California's controller said on Wednesday that he would have to issue IOUs in a week if lawmakers can't quickly solve a $24 billion budget deficit, and the state's treasurer plans to tap a reserve fund to meet debt service costs.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Wednesday renewed sanctions against North Korea, declaring that its nuclear program posed a national security risk to the United States and a danger to the Korean Peninsula.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law a $106 billion measure to fulfill his plans to wind down the war in Iraq and ramp up operations in Afghanistan where fighting against militants is intensifying.

Reuters - China on Thursday stepped up accusations that Google is spreading obscene content, a day after U.S. officials urged Beijing to abandon plans for controversial filtering software on new computers.

Reuters - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford tearfully admitted on Wednesday he had been unfaithful to his wife, likely ending any chance he might be a Republican contender for the U.S. presidency in 2012.

Reuters - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused President Barack Obama of behaving like his predecessor on Iran and called on him to apologize for what he called U.S. interference following the Iranian elections.

AP - The Cleveland Cavaliers are close to acquiring center Shaquille O'Neal in a trade that would pair him with MVP LeBron James, multiple people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press early Thursday.

AP - Harmless comic characters or racist robots? The buzz over the summer blockbuster "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" only grew Wednesday as some said two jive-talking Chevy characters were racial caricatures. Skids and Mudflap, twin robots disguised as compact hatchbacks, constantly brawl and bicker in rap-inspired street slang. They're forced to acknowledge that they can't read. One has a gold tooth.

AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke likely will face hostile questions from a House committee investigating whether he and other government officials pressured Bank of America Corp. into a "shotgun wedding" with Merrill Lynch that cost taxpayers $20 billion.