WASHINGTON (AP) - With no end in sight to economic bad news, President George W. Bush on Friday ensured that millions of laid-off workers will keep getting their unemployment checks as the year-end holidays approach. Bush signed an extension of jobless benefits into law just before 8 a.m., as he was preparing to leave the White House for a morning flight to Lima, Peru, to attend the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Thousands of followers of a radical Shiite cleric protested a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security deal Friday, burning an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same square where Iraqis beat a toppled Saddam Hussein statue five years ago. Chanting and waving flags, Muqtada al-Sadr's followers filled Firdous Square to protest the pact that would allow American troops to stay for three more years.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey was given a "clean bill of health" and went back to work Friday after his harrowing collapse at a late-night dinner speech. The 67-year-old Mukasey, accompanied by his wife, Susan, told reporters and cameras at midday Friday that he felt "excellent" as he stepped into a van for a ride back to the Justice Department.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil. Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation, said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska lawmakers have approved adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that resulted in 35 children - including teenagers as old as 17 - being abandoned at state hospitals. Gov. Dave Heineman was expected to sign the bill later Friday, and the law would go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Nebraska will join 13 other states with a 30-day age cap. It has been the only state with a safe-haven law that lacks an age limit.
GM to extend holiday shutdown, will cut production DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. will extend its holiday shutdown or make other production cuts at five factories at as it deals with a continued U.S. auto sales slump and fights to stay solvent. Also Friday, the company announced changes at five other factories that could increase production of some models, all based on a volatile U.S. auto market that has slumped to a 25-year low.
NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street moved in and out of positive territory Friday, with investors taking a breather from the heavy selling of recent days. Energy, utility and technology stocks showed some advances, but bank stocks declined sharply. Energy names advanced as oil prices moved off their record lows from earlier this week. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose $1.87, or 2.7 percent, to $70.38, while Marathon Oil Corp. rose $1.24 cents, or 6.3 percent, to $20.82.
HOUSTON (AP) - Space shuttle Endeavour provided an orbital lift to the attached international space station on Friday as the astronauts encountered more problems with a new water recycling system. The machine for turning urine into drinking water wasn't working right Thursday, and flight controllers turned it back on Friday morning. It shut down after running about two hours.
LONDON (AP) - After the wedding in a Scottish castle, the mansion on a green English estate and the drinks in their own pub, Madonna and Guy Ritchie's eight-year marriage ended Friday in a dreary London courtroom. The case of "Ciccone M.L. v Ritchie G.S." was one of 17 divorce decrees granted by Judge Caroline Reid during a hearing in a harshly lit London court that was over in a few minutes.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Annika Sorenstam has enjoyed plenty of great rounds at Trump International, a course where she won three times in a four-year span earlier this decade. If she doesn't rekindle that magic on the back nine Friday, her storied career could come to an abrupt end.
