AP - Oil prices were steady near four-year lows below $44 a barrel Friday in Asia as more bad U.S. economic news soured the outlook for global growth and demand for crude.

AP - The Justice Department is readying indictments that could send Blackwater Worldwide guards to prison for at least 30 years for their involvement in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians, people close to the case said.

AP - World markets were mostly lower Friday as caution ahead of a key reading on the U.S. jobs market overshadowed big rate cuts by central banks in Europe. Oil traded near four-year lows.

AP - The government would order a major restructuring of Detroit's struggling Big Three auto companies in exchange for a multibillion-dollar bailout under a plan circulating in Congress.

AP - India's top law enforcement official admitted Friday there were government "lapses" in last week's terror attack on Mumbai, amid a public uproar over security and intelligence failures in the deadly siege.

AP - With the economy sinking faster, employers are giving more Americans dreaded pink slips right before the holidays.

AP - Israeli defense officials say the military has been placed on alert to head off settler violence in wake of the evacuation of a disputed building.

Reuters - The United States has made clear progress in steadying its financial system, thanks in part to a $700 billion bailout fund authorized by Congress, but the rehabilitation process still faces many challenges, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday.