AP - Rats from a heavily infested house here are being trapped to be offered for adoption as pets.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama on Friday blamed high gasoline prices on Washington and a political establishment, including his rivals for the presidency, that he says hasnt stood up to oil companies. Hillary Rodham Clinton highlighted his vote for an energy bill she opposed and his campaign contributions from oil company executives.

AP - Three detectives were acquitted Friday in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day, a case that put the NYPD at the center of another dispute involving allegations of excessive firepower.

AFP - China said Friday it would soon open fresh talks with aides to the Dalai Lama in response to fierce pressure from world leaders less than four months before Beijing hosts the Olympic Games.

AP - Riot police and intelligence officers ransacked opposition party headquarters and the offices of independent election monitors Friday, hauling away material documenting President Robert Mugabes apparent electoral defeat.

Reuters - Armed riot police raided the
headquarters of Zimbabwes main opposition party on Friday and
detained scores of people in the biggest crackdown on the MDC
since disputed elections last month, officials said.

AP - Tiger Woods is no longer on crutches since surgery last week on his left knee, but he said Friday in his monthly newsletter that he does not know when he will return.

AP - Wall Street ended its second straight winning week with a moderate advance Friday, overcoming investors concerns about consumer confidence and inflation.

AP - Oil prices rose sharply Friday on news that a ship under contract to the U.S. Defense Department fired warning shots at two boats in the Persian Gulf. Retail gas prices as expected rose further into record territory, nearing $3.60 a gallon.

AP - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for an end to Iraqi bloodshed on Friday and said his threat of an open war applies only to U.S.-led foreign troops ? stepping back from a full-blown confrontation with the government over a crackdown against his followers.