AP - A small plane that crashed into a shallow lagoon off San Francisco Bay on Thursday, killing three people, belonged to the founder of a local steel company who was believed to be among the dead.

AP - South Korea and the United States will hold joint anti-submarine exercises in another show of force against North Korea, officials said Friday, as Pyongyang renewed threats against the drills.

AFP - Sanjay Sathe stood by his vines in a sweeping agricultural belt outside the city of Nashik in western India and punched a number into his mobile phone.

AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Gates is in southern Afghanistan getting a firsthand look at operations in an area of the country where the Taliban has the most influence.

AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Gates is in southern Afghanistan getting a firsthand look at operations in an area of the country where the Taliban has the most influence.

AP - A two-story Comfort Inn has become a makeshift hurricane hostel on North Carolina's Outer Banks for those who want to stay close to their homes but know they need better shelter from the onslaught of Earl.

AFP - Fabio Capello launches his quest for redemption on Friday knowing only a convincing victory by a makeshift England team over Bulgaria can hush a growing band of critics clamouring for his dismissal.

AP - The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 105 mph winds Friday on North Carolina's dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and perhaps most destructive stop on the storm's projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

AP - Soldiers killed 25 suspected cartel members Thursday in a raid and gunbattle in a Mexican state near the U.S. border that has seen a surge in drug gang violence, the military said.

AP - Investigators have identified the owner of a trunk in which the mummified remains of two babies were found, bringing them a step closer to solving the intriguing international mystery.

AP - It will go down as one of the most painful openings to a political debate in recent memory.

Reuters - U.S. employment likely fell for a third straight month in August as more temporary census jobs ended and cautious businesses scaled back hiring, an outcome that could pressure the Federal Reserve to prop up growth.

AP - Oil prices lingered near $75 a barrel Friday in Asia, largely holding onto a big gain the day before as investors put a positive spin on U.S. economic reports and Asian stock markets rose.

AFP - Australia's political paralysis will stretch into a third week with three "kingmaker" MPs still undecided Friday about which party to hand power in the first hung parliament in 70 years.

AP - Don Fosburg recalled friends and family killed in World War II as he marked the 65th anniversary of the end of the conflict on Thursday.

AP - An oil platform that burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday was the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months. This time, the Coast Guard said there was no leak, and no one was killed.

Reuters - Chinese and other investors have approached at least one big Canadian pension manager about a bid for Canada's Potash Corp to rival BHP Billiton's $39 billion hostile offer.

AP - An Indonesian volcano sent a new, powerful burst of hot ash high into the air early Friday, violently shaking homes and trees along the slopes and sending panicked villagers scurrying back to safety.

Time.com - Nine weeks before the midterm elections, Barack Obama finds himself on the wrong side of the polls. Where did all that adoration go -- and is a Republican sweep next?

AP - A man who worked at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was arrested Thursday on suspicion that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items from the luggage of passengers in a case that could include hundreds of victims from around the world.

AFP - South Korea's second largest carmaker Kia Motors said Friday it is recalling about 35,000 vehicles sold in the United States due to faulty wiring in interior lights that could cause fires.

AP - Delaware Republicans call Senate hopeful Christine O'Donnell a liar who "could not be elected dog catcher" in a fierce attack that underscores GOP fears of the tea party-backed candidate knocking off top recruit Rep. Mike Castle and winning the nomination.

AP - Police had been negotiating with James Jae Lee for several hours and intended to keep him talking for as long as it took to safely resolve the standoff at the Discovery Channel's headquarters. Inside the lobby, Lee's three hostages had no intention of waiting.

AP - The former television producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman was freed Thursday after four months in jail for a plot that put a spotlight on the comic icon's office affairs, city Correction Department records show.

AP - Four months before Southern Sudan is scheduled to hold an independence referendum, tensions are already rising in this oil-rich region that sits on the expected future border, with allegations the central government is using violence and ethnic cleansing to sway the vote.

Reuters - The International Monetary Fund will give Pakistan $450 million in emergency flood aid and disburse funds in September to help the country's economy cope with the devastation, the head of the IMF said on Thursday.

AP - The Justice Department sued the nation's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" on Thursday, calling Joe Arpaio's defiance of an investigation into his office's alleged discrimination against Hispanics "unprecedented."