AFP - Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf said he thought he had a good chance of winning the next presidential election, in an interview aired Friday.

AP - Gunmen killed 25 people in a series of drug-gang attacks in Ciudad Juarez, marking the deadliest day in more than two years for the Mexican border city, authorities said Friday.

Time.com - After weeks of watching from the sidelines, the European Union has finally condemned France's mass expulsion of Roma migrants. But does France care?

AP - Chile is sparing no expense to rescue its 33 trapped miners, mounting three separate drilling efforts to carve escape tunnels through nearly a half-mile of solid rock and collapsed mine shafts. The latest — an oil-well drill so big it takes 40 trucks to carry it — began arriving Friday.

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 - Iran on Friday postponed the planned release of an American woman jailed along with two friends for more than a year, state media reported, dealing a blow to the hopes of three U.S. mothers who have pleaded for the trio's release.

AP - Iran's state news agency has confirmed that Tehran has postponed the planned release of an American woman who has been jailed for more than a year.

AP - Nearly two decades after Holly Washa was raped, tortured and murdered by an Oregon convict who had skipped out on his parole, her family is satisfied that the killer has been put to death, but they question why it took so long.

AP - A land swap that will bring a Revolutionary War museum to Philadelphia and preserve 78 acres of land at nearby Valley Forge was heralded as a victory by those on both sides of what had been a contentious battle over the historic battlefield.

AP - Investigators searched the smoldering rubble of a quiet, middle-class neighborhood tucked into the hills overlooking San Francisco on Friday, looking for answers to why a gas line ruptured and fed a giant fireball that killed at least four people.

AP - Tropical Storm Igor is strengthening some as it swirls across the open Atlantic Ocean.

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 - 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.

AP - Elated by a major court victory, gay-rights activists are stepping up pressure on Congress to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy this month. They want to avoid potentially lengthy appeals and fear their chances for a legislative fix will fade after Election Day.

AP - A 25-year-old soldier from Iowa who exposed himself to enemy gunfire to try to save two fellow soldiers will become the first living service member from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Friday.

AP - The son of a pastor who suspended plans to burn copies of the Quran to mark the 9/11 anniversary says Islam's holiest text will not be torched at their Florida church Saturday.

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.

AFP - The Champions League Twenty20 tournament got off to a thrilling and surprise start Friday with local outfit Highveld Lions of South Africa defeating star-studded Mumbai Indians by nine runs.

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.

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 - 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 - Hundreds of sex abuse victims have come forward in Belgium with harrowing accounts of molestation by Catholic clergy that reportedly led to at least 13 suicides and affected children as young as two, a special commission said Friday.