AP - Pages from an Israeli astronaut's diary that survived the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia and a 37-mile fall to earth are going on display this weekend for the first time in Jerusalem.

Reuters - The Dutch government nationalized the banking and insurance activities of Fortis in the Netherlands on Friday after the troubled financial services company hit an acute cash crunch.

AP - Six U.S. warships circled a hijacked ship off Somalia and a Russian frigate headed toward the standoff Friday, while Russia called for naval forces gathering in the area to coordinate their efforts against piracy.

AP - Everyone needs some chicken soup for the soul — even pandas.

AP - Two suspected U.S. missile strikes Friday on villages close to the border with Afghanistan killed at least 12 people, most of them militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

AP - Iraq's presidential council on Friday ratified a law that paves the way for the first provincial elections in four years, officials said.

AP - A 7-year-old boy broke into a popular Outback zoo, fed a string of animals to the resident crocodile and bashed several lizards to death with a rock, the zoo's director said Friday.

Reuters - U.S. diplomat Christopher Hill ended talks in Pyongyang on Friday aimed at convincing North Korea to abide by a sputtering disarmament deal, although Washington has said it would not offer new concessions.

AFP - The death toll in flash floods in a historic Algerian town climbed to 31 Friday, as aid workers battled to help hundreds of homeless and the army was deployed to prevent looting, state radio said.

AP - Mexican President Felipe Calderon has an offer for drug users: Go into rehab, stay out of jail.

AP - As of Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, at least 4,176 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

AFP - Switzerland's biggest bank UBS said it would cut 2,000 more jobs as it revamps its investment bank which had been battered by the US subprime crisis.

AP - Somali pirates on a hijacked cargo ship holding battle tanks and hostages said Thursday that they were ready to battle any commando-style rescue attempt.