AFP - An impassioned President Barack Obama Friday warned Americans must not turn on one another over religion, after rows over Islam sparked global fury, nine years after the September 11 attacks.

AP - Facing big Democratic losses in November, President Barack Obama blamed Republicans and election-year politics Friday for thwarting his efforts to do more to spur a listless national economy. He challenged Congress to quit squabbling and quickly approve "what we all agree on" — a reprieve for expiring tax cuts for the middle class.

AP - Facing big Democratic losses in November, President Barack Obama blamed Republicans and election-year politics Friday for thwarting his efforts to do more to spur a listless national economy. He challenged Congress to quit squabbling and quickly approve "what we all agree on" — a reprieve for expiring tax cuts for the middle class.

AP - President Barack Obama elevated his longtime adviser Austan Goolsbee to chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers on Friday, signaling his determination to stand by an economic team that has faced criticism for the slow pace of the recovery.

AP - Fire crews tried to douse the remnants of an enormous blaze and account for the residents of dozens of homes Friday after a gas line ruptured and an explosion ripped through in a neighborhood near San Francisco, killing at least four people.

Reuters - Fidel Castro said on Friday his recent comment that communist-led Cuba's economic model does not work was badly understood and that what he really meant was that capitalism does not work.

AP - A two-stone ring with a rare triangular blue diamond the size of a quarter on a gold band with baguette-cut diamonds could bring at least $15 million when it is offered at auction in New York next month.

AP - New General Motors Co. CEO Daniel Akerson will get the same $9 million pay package as the man he replaced, Ed Whitacre.

AP - For almost a decade, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was marked by somber reflection and a call to unity, devoid of politics. Not this time.

Reuters - The Dow and S&P 500 were on track on Friday to close the week with a seventh gain in the last eight sessions, a period that has seen investors worst fears about the economy start to dissipate.

Reuters - President Barack Obama accused Republicans on Friday of holding the middle class hostage and defended his efforts to stimulate the sluggish economy as he tries to reverse grim election prospects for his fellow Democrats in November.

AP - The bodies of two men found Friday in swollen Texas waterways pushed the death toll caused by remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine to six, while a scaled-back search resumed for another woman swept away in flooding caused by a record drenching.

AFP - US President Barack Obama said Friday the "hole" left by the worst recession in decades was "huge" and admitted the recovery had been "painfully slow," but vowed his policies were working.

AP - Crews held a wildfire near Boulder at bay Friday, allowing some 2,000 evacuees to return home with a warning to be prepared to flee again.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday named a member of his inner circle as top White House economist and gave a strong personal endorsement to a leading candidate to run his new consumer protection bureau.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday named a member of his inner circle as top White House economist and gave a strong personal endorsement to a leading candidate to run his new consumer protection bureau.

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 - Iran's president intervened to secure the release of Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans jailed for more than 13 months, in part because of her gender, a news agency reported Friday.

Reuters - Wholesale inventories surged the most in two years in July, adding to signs that economic growth in the third quarter of the year may prove a bit stronger than many forecasters had expected.

AP - The imam leading an effort to build an Islamic center near the World Trade Center site says he has no plans to meet with a Florida pastor who had threatened to burn copies of the Quran.

AP - The Greek government pledged Friday to radically overhaul loss-making state rail company OSE, as official data showed efforts to cut the country's bloated budget deficit remained on track, if slightly asthmatic.

AP - President Barack Obama says that if voters weigh his economic policies against those of Republicans, then "the Democrats will do very well" in November.

AFP - US President Barack Obama on Friday named Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor currently working in his administration, to chair the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).

AFP - US President Barack Obama on Friday named Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor currently working in his administration, to chair the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).

AP - President Barack Obama says his entire economic agenda is designed to stimulate growth and create jobs, despite his administration's reluctance to call his new proposals a "stimulus plan."