AP - An Argentine court convicted two former generals on Thursday for the murder of a senator during the country's seven-year military dictatorship and sentenced them to life in prison.

AP - Iran's official IRNA news agency says the government now has nearly 4,000 centrifuges operating in its uranium enrichment plant.

AFP - Celtic boss Gordon Strachan has said he is looking forward to another Champions League clash with old rivals Manchester United but he believes they will be even harder to beat than before.

AP - Air safety investigators confirmed Friday that an exploding oxygen cylinder ripped a gaping hole in a Qantas jet's fuselage midflight last month, but said they were no closer to solving the mystery of why the tank failed.

AP - The spinning core of Gustav bore down on southern Jamaica on Thursday after leaving 67 people dead in Hispaniola. Texas and Louisiana put their national guards on standby, and New Orleans said a mandatory evacuation might be necessary.

AP - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is scheduled to enter pleas Friday at the U.N.'s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal to 11 charges that include genocide and crimes against humanity.

AP - Officials in South Ossetia say Russia intends eventually to absorb the breakaway Georgian province.

AP - Russia's invasion of Georgia presents the West with a difficult choice: Punish Moscow by kicking it out of clubs like the Group of Eight or pursue a strategy of placating it that could invite further bullying in places like Ukraine, the Baltic states or Moldova.

AFP - Darfur rebels claimed to have shot down a Sudanese military spy plane in a wild mountainous area of the war-torn region on Thursday.

AP - More than 200 oil-slicked penguins have washed up dead on the beaches of a popular Brazilian resort, and officials say they are searching for a cause.

AP - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday rejected the idea that Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon might be forced to stay there permanently, saying they should have the right to return home.

AFP - Celtic striker Scott McDonald can't wait to savour the Battle of Britain atmosphere after his side were pitted against Manchester United in Thursday's draw for the Champions League group stages.

AP - Tourists and oil workers fled Thursday as Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force. Louisiana called a state of emergency and put the National Guard on standby, hoping to avoid the chaos of Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

AP - A surge of violence continued unabated in Pakistan's tribal border region Thursday, with a car bomb blasting a bus filled with Pakistani police and government workers off a bridge and killing eight people aboard.