 AP - President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Tim Geithner, president of the New York Federal reserve, as Treasury Secretary in a time of intense economic turmoil as he rounds out the upper echelon of his Cabinet, an official close to the incoming chief executive said Friday.
 AP - Wall Street got a boost of confidence late Friday following a report that President-elect Barack Obama plans to name New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary.
 AP - Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals.
 AP - Thousands of followers of a radical Shiite cleric protested a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security deal Friday, burning an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same square where Iraqis beat a toppled Saddam Hussein statue five years ago. Chanting and waving flags, Muqtada al-Sadr's followers filled Firdous Square to protest the pact that would allow American troops to stay for three more years.
 AP - Law enforcement officials bracing for the largest crowds in inaugural history are preparing far-reaching security — thousands of video cameras, sharpshooters, air patrols — to safeguard President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in.
AP - A South Florida college student killed himself by overdosing on drugs in front of a live online audience as some computer users egged him on, some debated his method, and others tried to talk him out of it.
 AP - Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.
 AP - Rapper T.I. testified Friday that he believes the bullets fired at his entourage during a wild vehicle chase two years ago were meant for him. He took the witness stand in the trial of Hosea Thomas, 34, who is accused of firing the shot that killed Philant Johnson during a gun battle on Interstate 75.
AP - Authorities said they've arrested a suspect in the rash of so-called "Butt Bandit" vandalism cases. County Attorney Eric Scott said a 35-year-old man was arrested early Wednesday morning. Formal charges have not yet been filed. Some vandal had been skipping from one building to another at night, pressing his naked buttocks, groin or both on windows.
 AP - The New York Knicks were expected to announce a trade for Golden State Warriors forward Al Harrington on Friday. Media reports had the Knicks sending guard Jamal Crawford to Golden State, though it was unclear if he was the only player.
 Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama has selected Timothy Geithner to be his Treasury secretary, putting the respected head of the New York Federal Reserve in a key role as the U.S. economy staggers toward recession, NBC news reported on Friday.
 Reuters - Detroit automakers began work on the turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for a possible $25 billion rescue as General Motors Corp said it will cut production more deeply and drop two of its controversial corporate jets.
 Reuters - Citigroup Inc shares tumbled for a fifth straight day, as Chief Executive Vikram Pandit tried to downplay speculation the banking giant might sell major businesses to restore its health and investor confidence.
Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday he expected to move five combat brigades into Afghanistan next year and wanted at least some of them in place before the country's election next fall, stressing this was a top priority.
 Reuters - George W. Bush headed on Friday to an Asia-Pacific summit aiming to seek support for global financial reform and hold talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program as his presidency winds down.
 Reuters - Iran rejected Friday U.S. reports it had enriched enough uranium to make an atom bomb, saying this would require steps it had ruled out like ejecting U.N. inspectors and leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Reuters - Unknown assailants launched an attack on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline between Iraq and Turkey on Friday, triggering a large fire, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.
 Reuters - President George W. Bush on Friday signed into law an extension of unemployment benefits, the White House said.
 AFP - US President George W. Bush began Friday his last scheduled foreign trip, meeting the leader of increasingly important China ahead of a summit aimed at containing a spiraling financial crisis.
 AFP - Congo's government demanded a stronger mandate for UN peacekeepers in the conflict-torn east Friday, while residents of a squalid refugee camp said soldiers killed a woman during a looting spree.
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