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.

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.

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.

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 - President Barack Obama says that if voters weigh his economic policies against those of Republicans, then "the Democrats will do very well" in November.

AFP - US President Barack Obama on Friday named Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor currently working in his administration, to chair the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).

AP - President Barack Obama says his entire economic agenda is designed to stimulate growth and create jobs, despite his administration's reluctance to call his new proposals a "stimulus plan."

AP - Inventories held by wholesalers surged in July by the largest amount in two years while sales rebounded after two straight declines.

AP - Minutes after a woman was suspended from her job at a Kraft Foods Inc. plant and was escorted out, she returned with a handgun and opened fire, killing two people and critically injuring a third before being taken into custody, police said.

AP - A new mosque recently opened in this well-to-do suburb of Philadelphia, but not many people noticed.

AP - After three nights of violent protests, calm mainly prevailed over a gritty neighborhood where police fatally shot an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who was menacing officers with a knife.