Shipper: Militaries must confront pirates
The world's militaries must work together to battle pirates off the Somali coast or ships will have to be diverted, one of the world's largest oil tanker companies said Friday.

Myanmar sends comedian, monk to prison
Courts in military-ruled Myanmar on Friday handed long prison sentences to a prominent monk and a popular comedian active in the country's pro-democracy movement.

GM plans more cuts, eyes up to 10 factories
General Motors Corp. will extend its holiday shutdown or make other production cuts at up to 10 factories as it deals with a continued U.S. auto sales slump and fights to stay solvent.

Sexism award goes to 'ugly ducklings' mayor
An Australian outback mayor's plea for lovelorn female "ugly ducklings" to move to a remote mining town to reverse a shortage of eligible women has won him the country's yearly award for outrageous sexism.

Bush signs bill providing extra jobless benefits
The White House said Friday President Bush has signed into law a bill that Congress approved to keep benefits flowing to jobless Americans through the holiday season.

Afghanistan markets pomegranates

Afghanistan is telling the world that it has a trendy, new replacement for its dreaded poppy crop: sweet, juicy pomegranates.

Blast kills 8 mourners at Pakistani funeral

A blast killed at least six mourners Friday at the funeral of a Shiite cleric in northwest Pakistan who was gunned down hours earlier, police said.

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Obama team springs leaks

Barack Obama was famously able to impose discipline and control over his presidential campaign, but it didn't take long for him to discover that running a transition is something quite different.