AP - Convicted killer Cal Coburn Brown was executed early Friday by lethal injection for the rape, torture and murder of a Seattle-area woman, in Washington state's first use of capital punishment in nine years.

Reuters - U.S. crude approached a three-week high near $76 on Friday, after record U.S. inventories were offset by the shutdown of a major pipeline, but a leading forecaster said oil demand would remain tepid.

Reuters - Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world's top cellphone maker, brought in Microsoft's Stephen Elop to replace its embattled chief executive and lead a renewed effort to compete in the smartphone market.

Reuters - Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.4 percent at 0850 GMT.

AFP - French carmakers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen said Friday they each plan to pay back a third of their three-billion-euro (3.8-billion-dollar) state loans ahead of time.

AP - Two religious leaders are at odds about whether a deal was struck to stop a Quran-burning at a tiny church in exchange for moving the location of a mosque planned near ground zero, with the church's pastor leaving the door open to still go through with his plan.

AP - Three U.S. mothers who have pleaded with Iranian authorities for more than a year to free their sons and daughter from a Tehran prison finally received a piece of the news they've been longing for.

AP - A massive explosion on Thursday sent flames roaring through a neighborhood in the hills south of San Francisco, destroying more than 50 homes and leaving at least one person dead.

AP - Minutes after a woman was suspended from her job at a Kraft Foods Inc. plant and was escorted out, she returned with a handgun and opened fire, killing two people and critically injuring a third before being taken into custody, police said.

AP - After three nights of violent protests, calm mainly prevailed over a gritty neighborhood where police fatally shot an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who was menacing officers with a knife.

AP - A federal judge said she will issue an order to halt the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, after she declared the ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional.

AP - Weary firefighters hoped the worst was over from a wildfire that destroyed nearly 170 homes in the Rocky Mountains foothills, but crews monitored were monitoring hot spots early Friday amid concerns that erratic winds could fan the flames and send them into Boulder.

AP - Two religious leaders are at odds about whether a deal was struck to stop a Quran-burning at a tiny church in exchange for moving the location of a mosque planned near ground zero, with the church's pastor leaving the door open to still go through with his plan.

AFP - US President Barack Obama will Friday step up his mid-term election campaign and appeal to voters dismayed by the stuttering economy with his first White House press conference since May.

AP - President Barack Obama has chosen one of his longtime economic advisers, Austan Goolsbee, to be the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, a White House official said.

AP - A federal judge on Thursday declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional and said she will issue an order to stop the government from enforcing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy nationwide.

AP - Japan's economy isn't quite as weak as first thought, but it still needs help, the government said Friday as it unveiled details of a new $11 billion stimulus package.

AP - The European Central Bank's president says it may take a while yet to phase out special efforts to keep banks supplied with credit in the wake of the financial crisis.

AP - Striving to gain the upper hand on a crucial political issue, President Barack Obama is faulting Republicans for refusing to help him turn around the sluggish economy or support some proposed new tax breaks for businesses that the GOP has backed in the past.

AP - Striving to gain the upper hand on a crucial political issue, President Barack Obama is faulting Republicans for refusing to help him turn around the sluggish economy or support some proposed new tax breaks for businesses that the GOP has backed in the past.

AP - At least three people were still missing early Friday after flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine swept vehicles from Texas roads and overpowered swimmers in the Guadalupe River.

AP - A Metrolink commuter train struck and killed two people who may have been sleeping on the tracks and injured a third in Orange County on Thursday, authorities said.

Reuters - BP Plc said it would delay the release of its third quarter results by a week because of added complexities in its accounts due to costs associated with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Reuters - President Barack Obama has chosen Austan Goolsbee as the new head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, U.S. administration officials said on Thursday, promoting a longtime adviser from his inner policy circle.

AP - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was unhurt in a two-vehicle accident near his home Thursday morning before practicing as usual with his team ahead of the season opener and agreeing to a four-year contract extension that, according to two people familiar with it, would make him the NFL's highest-paid player.

AFP - US President Barack Obama has chosen Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor currently working in his administration, to chair the Council of Economic Advisors, an official said.

AP - If Rahm Emanuel decides to run for Chicago mayor, the White House chief of staff would easily be the best-known figure in the race, with national name recognition that few others could match and invaluable experience from helping engineer the Democrats' takeover of the House in 2006.

Exclusive to Yahoo! News - Just over two weeks ago, Kenneth Feinberg took over the process for handling damage claims from the Gulf oil spill, pledging to cut down the response time from BP’s widely criticized system to two days for individuals and seven days for businesses that file fully documented claims.

AP - Donald Trump offered Thursday to buy out a major investor in the real estate partnership that controls the site near ground zero where a Muslim group wants to build a 13-story Islamic center and mosque.

AFP - The Pentagon on Thursday said it was concerned about the fallout from a grisly murder case involving a dozen US soldiers accused of killing Afghan civilians and conspiring to cover it up.

AP - "Advocate tolerance, and disregard the ignorant," one book counsels. Advises the other, "Be gentle towards all, ... forbearing."

AP - Sen. Russ Feingold calls himself the underdog in his re-election bid against a Republican challenger no one had heard of six months ago but who, like other GOP newcomers this year, is tapping his own fortune to start a political career at the top.

Reuters - A set of U.N. goals aimed at drastically reducing poverty and hunger worldwide by 2015 are achievable, despite setbacks caused by the global financial and economic crises, a draft document said.