Leftist Sandinistas win Nicaragua vote

Nicaragua's ruling Sandinista party won the large majority of municipal races, including the capital Managua, in local elections that have sparked violent clashes and allegations of fraud.

Mexico: Ex-drug czar took cartel money
Mexico's former drug czar took $450,000 to leak information to a powerful cartel, officials said Friday.

WaMu, BNY Mellon latest banks to shed jobs
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Washington Mutual on Friday became the latest in a string of banks to announce layoffs.

Teen commits suicide in front of Webcam
Authorities say a South Florida teen committed suicide in front of a live online Webcam audience after blogging about his plan to kill himself.

Sexism award goes to 'ugly ducklings' mayor
An Australian outback mayor's plea for lovelorn female "ugly ducklings" to move to a remote mining town to reverse a shortage of eligible women has won him the country's yearly award for outrageous sexism.

GM plans more cuts, eyes up to 10 factories
General Motors Corp. will extend its holiday shutdown or make other production cuts at up to 10 factories as it deals with a continued U.S. auto sales slump and fights to stay solvent.

Mukasey feeling better, checks out of hospital

The attorney general was given a "clean bill of health" and went back to work Friday after his harrowing collapse at a late-night dinner speech.

Madonna, Ritchie granted divorce

The show-business marriage that began in a Scottish castle came to an end in a drab London courtroom Friday as Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce.

Bush to promote action plan to deal with crisis

Struggling to get ahead of a global financial crisis, the president hopes to win more converts at a summit in Peru for a plan aimed at showing governments have the will and means to halt the turmoil.