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Army, drug gangs battle in Mexico amid blockades

A shootout in the northern city of Monterrey killed two suspected drug cartel gunmen and wounded a soldier Friday. Suspected gang members also blocked roads in the city for the second day, in a bold attempt to impede security patrols.

12 wounded in Israeli missile strike in Gaza

Hamas officials say Israeli aircraft have fired five missiles at Gaza's defunct airport and nearby border tunnels, wounding at least 12 people.

Medvedev: Sanctions against Iran possible

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had not excluded the possibility of imposing reasonable sanctions on Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Asia-Pacific

Japanese fish dealers welcome tuna ban rejection

Japanese fish dealers on Friday welcomed the rejection of a proposed trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna - a prized ingredient of sushi - while urging that existing quotas be more strictly enforced to protect the species from overfishing.

F-35 fighter succeeds in 1st vertical landing test

US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin said Thursday the company's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter succeeded in vertical landing test for the first time earlier in the day, a rare piece of good news for the problem prone program.

Science and Health

Acupuncture can spread serious diseases: experts

Bacterial infections, hepatitis B and C, and possibly even HIV are being transmitted via acupuncture through the use of contaminated needles, cotton swabs and hot packs, experts warned on Friday.

Cloak of invisibility takes a step forward

From Grimm's fairy tales to Harry Potter, the cloak of invisibility has played a major role in fiction. Now scientists have taken a small but important new step toward making it reality.

Newsmaker

Kids who helped deliver baby describe ordeal

When their mom went into labor with no one else around, a 9-year-old California boy and his 11-year-old sister quickly responded like pros and helped care for their newborn brother.

Author assumes guise of 10-year-old to punk famous

Secretaries of state, touched by the 10-year-old's handwritten letters on grade-school notepaper, wrote back advising him how to settle a treehouse dispute with his sister. O.J. Simpson's lawyer told him how to get off the hook on accusations he destroyed a doll. A publisher of racy magazines, asked whether there was a version for kids, told him to read the Sears catalog instead, and "you'll be 18 before you know it."

Oldest person in US dies in NH at age 114

Mary Josephine Ray, the New Hampshire woman who was certified as the oldest person living in the United States, has died at age 114 years, 294 days.

Global General

Kids who helped deliver baby describe ordeal

When their mom went into labor with no one else around, a 9-year-old California boy and his 11-year-old sister quickly responded like pros and helped care for their newborn brother.

Israel strikes in Gaza after deadly rocket

Israeli aircraft struck at least six targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said.

Multimillion-dollar UN corruption case uncovered

The deal looked simple enough: US military equipment suppliers bribed an African defense minister's salesmen to secure part of a $15 million gig to outfit a presidential guard.

Taliban: Kandahar bombings a 'warning' to NATO

The Taliban have called their deadly bomb attacks on the southern city of Kandahar a warning to NATO's top general that the insurgents are ready for the war's next major offensive in their heartland.

Russia starts regional elections

Some 32 million Russians, or one third of the total voters, went to the polls in Sunday's regional and local elections.

Global Biz

British Airways cabin crews to go on strike

The union representing British Airways cabin crews decided Friday to go on a seven-day, two-phase strike in late March.

HSBC: data on 24,000 Swiss account holders stolen

Information on 24,000 HSBC customers with Swiss accounts has been stolen, the British bank said Thursday, potentially exposing large numbers of international clients to prosecution by tax authorities in their home countries.

Odd News

US man executed by electrocution

A Virginia man has been executed for killing a teen girl and then bragging about it to prosecutors once he thought he could not face the death penalty.

A lion cub finds a dog mother

The newborn cub, which is the only survivor after its mother and her three cubs died during the delivery, was taken by zoo employees to a mongrel dog to feed.