AFP - Global advertising giant WPP said Friday that the Beijing Olympic Games and the US presidential elections would boost its fortunes this year as it unveiled a 14.5-percent jump in first-half net profit.

AP - At the Russian-controlled roadblocks around Gori, the deadpan soldiers are firm but restrained, searching cars and checking identification, but not too rigorously.

AP - Iraq and the U.S. pushed close to a deal Thursday setting a course for American combat troops to pull out of major Iraqi cities by next June, with a broader withdrawal from the long and costly war by 2011.

AP - The pan-Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera says a North African branch of Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for recent attacks in Algeria that killed 55 people.

AP - Pakistani leaders were meeting Friday to discuss differences that threaten to tear apart their shaky ruling coalition, a day after twin suicide blasts killed scores outside Pakistan's largest arms factory.

AP - Russian troops held their position in the key town of Gori and were digging in deeper in other strategic areas of Georgia on Friday, the day that Russia's president said a pullback would be complete.

AP - Officials who had planned to euthanize an injured and abandoned baby whale postponed the operation Thursday night after being unable to find the animal in the dark waters off north Sydney.

AFP - Eight international troops including three Poles and three Canadians have been killed in Afghanistan over the last 24 hours, a military source said Thursday.

AFP - Andrew Flintoff believes England's revamped team can use their one-day series against South Africa to establish some badly-needed momentum.

AFP - England fast bowler Steve Harmison is to play in the one-day cricket series against South Africa, which starts on Friday, reversing a decision of two years ago not to participate in the one-day international format.

AP - The jetliner that crashed in Madrid abandoned a first takeoff attempt because of an air gauge that showed overheating, but experts said it was unlikely the gauge was a factor in the accident that killed 153 people.

AP - The U.S.-led coalition said Thursday it had killed more than 30 insurgents in a battle in eastern Afghanistan, fighters an Afghan governor said were responsible for an attack that killed 10 French troops this week. Officials announced the deaths of six NATO soldiers in two attacks.