AP - Hurricane Earl sideswiped North Carolina's Outer Banks early Friday, flooding the vacation islands but causing no injuries and only modest damage, then took aim at New England as a weaker but still dangerous storm.
AP - Private employers hired more workers over the past three months than first thought, a glimmer of hope for the weak economy ahead of the Labor Day weekend. But the unemployment rate rose because not enough jobs were created to absorb the growing number of people looking for work.
AP - A suicide bombing claimed by the Pakistani Taliban killed at least 43 Shiite Muslims at a procession in southwest Pakistan on Friday. The assault sharply drove up the toll of sectarian assaults in a country battered by massive flooding.
AP - Investigators on Friday released a scientist detained at Miami International Airport after screeners spotted a metal canister in his luggage that looked like a pipe bomb, prompting an evacuation, a senior law enforcement official.
AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he saw and heard evidence that the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy is taking hold in critical Kandahar province.
AP - Fidel Castro dusted off his full military uniform for the first time since stepping down as president four years ago, a symbolic act in a communist country where little signals often carry enormous significance.
AP - Unlike the blast that led to the massive BP spill, the latest oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico killed no one and sent no crude gushing into the water.
AP - Ben Roethlisberger's suspension has been cut from six games to four by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The Pittsburgh Steelers' star quarterback met with Goodell early Friday and was told he could return on Oct. 17 against Cleveland.
Reuters - President Barack Obama will outline new measures next week to boost the U.S. economy after August data on Friday showed again that jobs -- the central issue in November elections -- were being created too slowly.
Reuters - Concerns over Israeli access to BlackBerry data, and the use of the device by the United States to spy on the United Arab Emirates are behind the Gulf state's moves to curb the smartphone, Dubai's police chief said.
Pakistan Taliban threaten attacks in U.S., Europe (Reuters)
Reuters - Pakistan's Taliban on Friday threatened to launch attacks in the United States and Europe "very soon" and dismissed a move by Washington to add the group to its terrorism blacklist.
Reuters - U.S. employment fell for a third straight month in August, but the drop was far less than expected and private hiring surprised on the upside, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to prop up economic growth.
Reuters - Hurricane Earl slapped North Carolina's coast with rain, winds and heavy surf on Friday and swirled up the U.S. eastern seaboard toward New England and Canada as a much tamer storm than feared.
Reuters - A suicide bomber struck at a rally in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing at least 54 people in the second major attack this week, piling pressure on a government struggling with a flood crisis.
BP oil spill costs hit $8 billion as ends rig probe (Reuters)
Reuters - BP Plc said the cost of dealing with its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had risen to $8 billion as the oil giant prepared to release the findings of an internal probe into the causes of the disaster.
AFP - Israeli and Palestinian leaders have cleared the first hurdle in what promises to be difficult negotiations, vowing to try to settle core differences within a year and meet every two weeks.
AFP - British police questioned Pakistan bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif on Friday as cricket's governing body insisted the case was not the tip of a corruption iceberg in the game.
