AP - President Barack Obama delayed next week's Asian trip on Friday to seize on suddenly improved prospects for his sweeping health care legislation, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi forecast final passage of the overhaul in days.

AP - Two suicide bombers killed 43 people in near-simultaneous blasts Friday, the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week and a clear sign that militants have the power to strike targets despite months of army offensives and U.S. missile strikes.

AP - A group of Republican senators is questioning high salaries and expensive travel bills for executives at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, raising issues that could jeopardize millions in federal funding for the national charity.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI's former German diocese said Friday it made a mistake when the pontiff was archbishop in allowing a priest suspected to have abused a child to return to pastoral work. However, it said Benedict wasn't involved in the decision.

AP - Seizing on an early lead in Iraq's election, the prime minister's political coalition began reaching out to rivals Friday as partial results signaled a tight race that was unlikely to produce a clear-cut winner.

AP - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife underwent surgery Friday after breaking her neck and back in a traffic accident that also injured the senator's daughter, a spokesman said.

AP - Authorities said Friday they had recovered four prescription drug bottles bearing the name of actor Corey Haim but found nothing illegal while investigating his death. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter declined to identify the drugs. Haim was battling flulike symptoms in the days before he died.

AP - The NBA has signed off on Michael Jordan's bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats, and commissioner David Stern expects the league's board of governors to approve the $275 million purchase by the end of next week.

Reuters - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had a narrow lead over rival Shi'ites, partial results in Iraq's tight election race showed on Friday, but a secularist challenger remained far ahead in minority Sunni areas.

Reuters - President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to Indonesia and Australia next week to stay home and focus on his final push for a healthcare overhaul, White House officials said on Friday.

Reuters - San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen, a monetary policy dove, tops President Barack Obama's list to be No. 2 at U.S. central bank, the White House said on Friday.

Reuters - The United States should not make a political issue out of the yuan, a Chinese central banker said on Friday, as the two countries lurched toward a potential bust-up over Beijing's currency regime.

Reuters - Israeli forces sealed off the West Bank and massed riot squads around Jerusalem's Old City and Arab neighborhoods during Muslim weekly prayers on Friday, facing down Palestinian anger over Jewish settlement expansion.

Reuters - In the latest blow to Toyota Motor Corp, a Southern California prosecutor filed the first consumer protection lawsuit against the automaker, claiming it had engaged in "fraud" by hiding evidence of dangerous vehicle defects.

AFP - Twin suicide attacks seconds apart targeted the Pakistani military Friday, killing up to 45 people in the second attack to hit security forces in the country's cultural capital this week.

AFP - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki took a slender lead over his rivals on Friday, preliminary results from the country's general election showed, as opposition blocs alleged blatant fraud.