AP - Buyers returned to Wall Street Friday after two days of heavy losses, mindful of the economy's growing problems but attracted by stocks' lower prices. Analysts said the advance was to be expected as Wall Street experiences a rocky recovery from October's devastating selling.

AP - A hillside school where roughly 500 students usually crowded into several floors collapsed during classes on Friday, killing at least 30 people and injuring many more. Rescuers used bare hands to pull bleeding students from the wreckage.

AP - Inheriting an economy in peril, President-elect Obama warned on Friday that the nation faces the challenge of a lifetime and pledged he would act urgently to help Americans devastated by lost jobs, disappearing savings and homes seized in foreclosure. But the man who promised change cautioned against hopes of quick solutions.

AFP - US President-elect Barack Obama on Friday said he would act "swiftly" as soon as he takes office to confront the economic crisis head on, during his first news conference since his historic election.

AP - Reports that Angolan troops joined Congolese soldiers battling rebels near the city of Goma raised new fears the conflict could spread in the region, but the U.N. chief holding a peace conference in nearby Nairobi denied the reports.

AP - In his preparation to become president, Barack Obama said Friday that he has had discussions with all former presidents — or almost all of them.

Reuters - U.S. gross domestic product will drop sharply in the fourth quarter, but hard-hit housing prices may start to stabilize in the first half of next year, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday.

AFP - A crisis summit on eastern DR Congo called for an immediate ceasefire Friday and the creation of humanitarian corridors amid fresh fighting on the ground and a warning by UN chief Ban Ki-moon that the conflict could spread.

Reuters - The unemployment rate shot to a 14-1/2 year high last month as employers slashed jobs by an unexpectedly steep 240,000, suggesting President-elect Barack Obama will face a deep recession when he takes office.

AP - General Motors Corp. reported a $2.5 billion loss in the third quarter and warned Friday that it could run out of cash in 2009 if the U.S. economic slump continues and it doesn't get government aid.

Reuters - Senior U.S. diplomats held substantive talks with a North Korean official about moving forward with the process of North Korea abandoning its nuclear programs, the State Department said on Friday.

Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is considering "all options" regarding implementation of the $700 billion financial rescue plan, including areas of the financial sector beyond traditional banks, a senior Treasury official said on Friday.

Reuters - General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co reported far deeper-than-expected quarterly losses on Friday and said their rate of cash burn had accelerated, as an extended slump in car sales raised questions about the future of the U.S. auto industry.

Reuters - Iran said Friday EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had urged the Islamic state to hold fresh talks to remove remaining concerns over its disputed nuclear program, the students' news agency ISNA reported.

AP - The nation's unemployment rate bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were cut, far worse than economists expected and stark proof the economy is deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace.

AP - The Bush administration, in the midst of a wide review of its war strategy in Afghanistan, is likely to recommend soon to the incoming Obama administration that the U.S. push for further expansion of the Afghan army as the surest path to an eventual U.S. withdrawal, The Associated Press has learned.

AP - Carlos Pena grabbed attention for all those balls he hit. Now the Tampa Bay first baseman and his teammates are getting noticed for the ones he caught.

AP - Colleagues of a Barack Obama campaign worker from California have identified him as the man whose shoulder Oprah Winfrey cried on during an Election Day rally in Chicago. Co-worker Karen Wark says the man in pictures is Sam Perry, who worked at the Silicon Valley for Obama office. Wark couldn't give other details about Perry or his trip to Chicago.

AP - The U.S. government arrested and deported record numbers of illegal immigrants — nearly 350,000 — in the past year, authorities say. It has also naturalized a record number of new Americans during the same time period, more than 1 million. Bush administration officials consider these to be great accomplishments within a system that President-elect Obama calls "broken and overwhelmed" on his transition Web site.

AP - Barack Obama is signaling a shift in tactics and temperament as he moves from candidate to president-elect, picking sharp-elbowed Washington insiders for top posts. His choice Thursday for White House chief of staff — Rahm Emanuel, a fiery partisan who doesn't mind breaking glass and hurting feelings — is a significant departure from the soft-spoken, low-key aides that "No-Drama Obama" has surrounded himself with during his campaign.

AP - President Bush and Barack Obama on Monday will hold their first substantive talks about the nation's daunting priorities as the transition to a Democratic administration accelerates.

Reuters - Britain and Europe slashed interest rates on Thursday amid recession fears deepened by some of the worst U.S. retail sales in decades and an IMF forecast for an economic contraction not seen since World War Two.

AP - Wall Street plunged for a second day, triggered by computer gear maker Cisco Systems warning of slumping demand and retailers reporting weak sales for October. Concerns about widespread economic weakness sent the major stock indexes down more than 4 percent Thursday, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which tumbled more than 440 points.

AP - As president-elect, Barack Obama faces a tricky task as he begins dealing ever more directly with the economic meltdown, grappling with the worst financial crisis in seven decades but not yet wielding the power to do much about it.

AP - A wintry blast of punishing wind and more than 3 feet of snow in places pummeled the Northern Plains on Thursday, knocking out power to thousands and forcing highways to close. As much as 40 inches of snow fell in higher elevations of western South Dakota's Black Hills as the early season blizzard caused havoc. Drifts as deep as 6 feet covered roads in Spearfish.

Reuters - Top executives of the three U.S. automakers lobbied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday for up to $25 billion in additional aid and access to the Federal Reserve's borrowing window, industry sources said.

Reuters - A senior Iraqi official on Thursday explicitly backed U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's plans to withdraw combat troops from the country by mid-2010, Baghdad's clearest endorsement yet of Obama's exit strategy.

AFP - Barack Obama will make his first visit to the White House as president-elect on Monday for talks with President George W. Bush on crisis issues including Iraq and the economy, officials said.

Reuters - The fate of a convicted felon will help determine the size of the Democrats' expanded power in the U.S. Senate, and may provide a new job opportunity for failed vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama choose Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff on Thursday, spurring Republicans to question why his first key appointment was a Washington insider and fiercely partisan Democrat.

Reuters - Barack Obama will meet his economic team on Friday and hold his first news conference since becoming U.S. president-elect as the country awaited signs of how he might tackle the economic crisis.

Reuters - Former New York Governor and aggressive white collar crime prosecutor Eliot Spitzer will not face criminal charges for his involvement in a prostitution ring that led to his resignation, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

AFP - Rebels and pro-government militia have killed at least 20 civilians in recent fighting, Human Rights Watch said Thursday, on the eve of a regional summit on the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reuters - The number two Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, will announce on Thursday he will not run to keep his leadership position after his party's election losses, Republican sources said.

Reuters - Vanishing jobs and slumping markets confronted Barack Obama on the first day after his historic election as U.S. president, escalating pressure for urgent action to curb the world's relentless financial crisis.

AP - Before resting from the grueling presidential race, John McCain began discussing with senior aides what role he will play in the Senate now that he has promised to work with the man who defeated him for president.

AP - In a heartbreaking defeat for the gay-rights movement, California voters put a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state's highest court.

AP - Over and over, Barack Obama told voters if they stuck with him "we will change this country and change the world." They did, and now their expectations for him to deliver are firmly planted on his shoulders. Many supporters greeted his victory with euphoria.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his new administration on Wednesday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff while aides stepped up the pace of transition work that had been cloaked in pre-election secrecy.

Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) -Stocks plummeted on Wednesday, a day after Barack Obama's historic victory in the U.S. presidential election, as a fresh batch of dismal economic data underscored the massive challenges awaiting his administration.

Reuters - Some 71.4 million Americans watched prime-time television coverage of U.S. election night on Tuesday, a 21 percent increase from the presidential election in 2004, according to ratings released on Wednesday.

AP - A Los Angeles judge has signed off on the amicable end to Danny Bonaduce's nearly 18-year marriage. Bonaduce will pay $16,000 a month to his ex-wife, Gretchen, for spousal and child support. The former couple will retain joint custody of their children, who are 14 and 7 years old.

AP - Russia will deploy short-range missiles near Poland to counter U.S. military plans in Eastern Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday, setting a combative tone that clashed with global goodwill over Barack Obama's election.

AP - A slugfest for nearly two years, Minnesota's U.S. Senate race headed into a new round Wednesday as the campaigns girded for an automatic statewide recount to determine whether Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's bare lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken would stand.

AP - At age 106, Ann Nixon Cooper doesn't usually stay awake past midnight. But on Election Night she had special reason to do so: She was waiting for Barack Obama to mention her name. Cooper, one of the oldest voters for the nation's first black president, had been tipped off by the Obama campaign that she would be mentioned in his acceptance speech. Toward the end, she got her moment.

AP - Age is no issue for Greg Maddux when it comes to fielding his position. The 42-year-old pitcher won his record 18th Gold Glove on Wednesday while outfielder Shane Victorino of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies was among five first-time winners in the National League.