AP - Even folks in the Optimist Club are having a tough time toeing an upbeat line these days.

AP - Magic Johnson criticized a pair of talk show hosts Friday for accusing him of faking AIDS but said he didn't want them to be fired.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday the United States is developing plans to buy equity in financial institutions if necessary to halt market turmoil.

Reuters - Finance chiefs of the world's major economies pledged on Friday to take decisive action and work together to stem the escalating financial crisis after another day of gut-wrenching drops on world markets.

AP - Wall Street capped one of its worst weeks ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow Jones industrials rocket within a 1,000 point range before closing with a relatively mild loss and the Nasdaq composite index actually end with a modest advance. Investors were still agonizing over frozen credit markets, but seven days of massive losses made many stocks tempting for traders looking for bargains.

AP - A sharply divided Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Friday that gay couples have the right to get married, saying legislators did not go far enough when they approved same-sex civil unions that were identical to marriages in virtually every respect except the name.