AP - Thailand's prime minister and seven of his Cabinet ministers held off a parliamentary challenge Friday as street protesters demanded the coalition government's resignation.

AFP - A cargo plane crashed mid-flight in Sudan on Friday, killing seven crew members, including five foreigners, in the third fatal aviation accident to blight the African country in the last two months.

AP - President Alvaro Uribe has thrown Colombia into political turmoil after a Supreme Court decision questioned the legitimacy of his 2006 re-election, asking that voters have an opportunity to redo the vote.

AP - A member of an extremist cell believed to be behind a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people including three U.S. Marines has been arrested, the U.S. military said Friday.

AP - The gray cooling tower crumbled behind billowing dust clouds in seconds Friday, reducing the structure at North Korea's nuclear reactor into a pile of rubble. It was a choreographed show by the communist regime meant to affirm an intention to stop making atomic bombs.

AP - The white short-haired mutt was found dragging his crushed hind legs through rubble-clogged streets after the massive earthquake devastated China's Sichuan province.

AP - Widespread voter intimidation and low turnout marked Zimbabwe's one-candidate presidential runoff Friday, further damaging the vote designed to bolster longtime President Robert Mugabe's credibility.

AP - Baghdad hasn't been this quiet in years. But the respite from bloodshed comes at a high price.

AP - It took years of talks, coddling and concessions to prod North Korea to step back from its decades-long effort to make atomic weapons, leading to Friday's dramatic destruction of its nuclear reactor cooling tower.

AFP - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Friday that the country did not need to adopt nuclear energy to address climate change.

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

AFP - The prices at Dzidzai Guti's makeshift stall can seem eye-popping, with rotting oranges, a pack of cigarettes and bananas fetching as much as 250 million Zimbabwean dollars.

AP - Colombia's president on Thursday called for a referendum to decide if new presidential elections should be held in the wake of a court decision that is questioning the legitimacy of his 2006 re-election.

AP - Israel has refused for the third day in a row to fully open crossings with the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket attacks. The rockets and closure both constitute violations of a cease-fire that began June 19.